Many advances on getting 'The Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf' by Ben Hogan to dvd. We are finalizing our promo reel that provides a great overview of our project and the applications we are devloping including the dvd and interactive website. We also are looking at some TV shows for 'The Making of the Ben Hogan Avatar'. We also put together financing packages for investors and sponsors as we move along. The 'Ben Hogan Avatar' is almost ready to hire a sports managment agent!

I promised some photos of the Ben Hogan Exhibit at the USGA's Golf House in New Jersey. These shots were taken during some of the filming of 'The Ben Hogan Collection' 3 dvd set. Its available on Amazon.com and select golf retailers. Ask for it.

This is a quick post and a couple of the photos are turned sideways. I will fix them later. Andy Mutch was the museum curator. The fellow in the white shirt and tan pants holding holding Ben Hogan's driver that he used in 1953 to win The Open at Carnoustie is me. That was a real treat, getting a feel of that historic golf club!

Ben Hogan Trophy

As promised here are some more photos of the amazing trophy presented to the winner Dave Schultz and Colt Knost of the inaugural Ben Hogan Invitational in Fort Worth last month. The detail in the crystal is quite fine and duplicates the original casting very well.

The Ben Hogan Foundation is in the process of creating some new castings in bronze as well. The first photo is from an exhibit at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth where the original casting was shown to the public. Ben Hogan felt so strongly about the importance of a good grip on the golf club that he dedicated 17 pages in his book, 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf''. We should should take note of this precision when we put our hands on the golf club. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods use an interlocking grip while the rest of their grip fundaments are the same as presented by Mr. Hogan.

There is a nice video clip on YouTube showing an older Mr. Hogan demonstrating the key points in setting his grip into place as well as some of the actual feelings he gets when its properly done.

Ben Hogan Foundation Charity White Hot Gala

The charity gala was a huge success for the Ben Hogan Foundation and the Henry House charities. The Foundation is building a Ben Hogan Learning Center in Fort Worth, similar in concept to the Tiger Woods Learning Center in California. It will be located at the local municipal golf complex that already serves approximately 10,000 kids in their First Tee Program. The Foundation also supports the First Tee Program.

We were one of the Gold Sponsors for the event. They ran a slide show of the sponsors in photo #1. Next is one of the floral arrangements using original Ben Hogan golf clubs from the 60's as part of the display. Next is one of the ice sculptures that served as a table. David Feherty was there with his wit and stories about Tiger Woods and one of our severely injured service men who was a star at a recent Tour event when he met Tiger. The two paintings are on 6 foot canvases. They were painted on the spot as the artist spun them around on their mountings to creat likenesses of Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan. A shot of the crowd pouring over the silent auction items and finally the Proprietor of JanKris Winery from California who launched Ben Hogan Label wine selections, Merlot, Chardonet, and a Cabernet. All very good and well spoken of in wine circles. My choice was the Merlot!

Ben Hogan Invitational Golf Tournament - Winner David Schultz

Last week The Ben Hogan Foundation and The Henry House Foundation hosted the 1st Annual Ben Hogan Invitational Tournament at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth Texas. The winner was Dave Schultz, a local prodigy that is currently 21st on the Nationwide Tour's money list. He and his partner Colt Knost put down a 9 under par round at the championship venue on a windy day that was just plain perfect. The galleries were treated to the antics of 8 tour professionals who enjoyed a fun round of golf while continually blasting each other with trash talk. PGA Tour champions Rory Sabbatini was a great instigator as was Harrison Frazar who sported a pair of shiny irridescent bronze golf shoes. Mark Brooks, past PGA Champion, held his own both on the course and with trading barbs.

The Invitational raised funds for The Ben Hogan Foundation that sponsors various charities in the Fort Worth area including The First Tee Program, Folds of Honor, Camp Bronco, and the Cook County Medical Center. The Ben Hogan Foundation plans to build the first Ben Hogan Learning Center in Fort Worth at the Rockwood Municipal Golf Course Complex. Already, a new practice area has been established that includes a large grass tee as well as mats, a putting green and deep sand bunker area. Also, a nine hole junior course is operational. The site of the building has already been marked off and a large rendering is displayed on an outdoor sign located next to the site. Contributions can be made at their website, www.BenHoganFoundation.org. I will upload some images in a later post.

Now, look at the prize trophy. It was made from an actual cast of Ben Hogan hands holding onto a golf club. The details are perfect and the professionals were simply playing for this coveted trophy. The respect for Mr. Hogan was evident throughout the event and especially when talking about winning this trophy. I took multiple photos of the 8 pounds of crystal in order to preserve the moment and be able to later do a detailed study of Mr. Hogan's grip. I will post that study here at a later date.

Also, on Sunday night before the tournament the two Foundations held a wonderful 'White Hot Gala' event. I'll share some of my photos of that event later. Everything was in white including everyone's attire for the eventing. The big suprise was watching 3 large (6'x6') paintings completed in the space of a half hour and later auctioned off to happy attendees.

More to come!

Ben Hogan on the Ed Sullivan Show

I just found this terrific old clip that was posted on YouTube a few weeks ago. It is from the Ed Sullivan Show that originally broadcast in the 1950's and 60's. I actually watched this show when it was originally shown but was not a big golf fan at that time. I was just a kid then.

Hogan beats on Ed Sullivan a little by doing an impersonation of Sullivan's golf swing. It is very funny and shows a side of Hogan that was never really appreciated by the public or the golf writers of his time. This was a comedian Ben Hogan, a role he enjoyed with his close friends.

Also, and another really great part of this is a swing drill Hogan used and demonstrates here. It is similar to the one shown in the 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf' and is a good way to get rhythm and a sense of what a good golf swing should feel like before all the technical swing thoughts jump into it.

This is the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr-b7OsZjF0

Golf Swing Fundamentals for Tiger Woods: See Ben Hogan

I am really stumped. For the life of me I cannot see why our golf announcers/writers/teaching professionals simple defy common sense about golf swing fundamentals as demonstrated by Ben Hogan. Too often I hear or read that Hogan was the best ball striker ever. Ask Butch Harmon. Ask Gary Player. Ask Jim McLean. Ask Tiger Woods.

Then, in the same sentence/breath I hear or read that a golfer cannot copy his swing; his grip and his 'secret' would only work for him and would only 'confuse' a golfer and/or simply create a really big slice. The fact is that Hogan went from a very strong grip in the evolution of his swing to a more neutral grip and finally into a weak grip that he used to hit his power fade. A shot that went left to right only a few yards and started off on line.

It should be relatively easy. There is new technology in the instructional arena. There is a perfect model. There is video analysis. There is biomechanical analysis and instant feedback. There are excellent instructors that advertise that they teach the 'Hogan' swing. There are motivated students of the golf swing who are willing to put in long hours of practice and dig it out of the dirt for themselves. There is video. There are excellent instructional books from Ben Hogan himself, 'Power Golf' and 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf'. There are detailed photo swing sequences.

So, the question is where and who has an exact replica copy of Ben Hogan's golf swing? If you have it or see it, let me know!

Hogan Swing from 'The Ben Hogan Collection' on YouTube

I have seen many of the swing clips we used in 'The Ben Hogan Collection' set appear in YouTube.com over the past couple of years. We produced the dvd in order for all golfers to enjoy Mr. Hogan's swing. Here is a link to one of the postings that actually did some justice to our original and copyrighted production.

This posting does not condone the illegality of the postings on YouTube of copyrighted material.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNgMNK3CtWU

Check it out. It is a really good sequence of swings by the legendary Mr. Hogan.