Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Praise for Ben Hogan Collection

A while back we received this wonderful bit of praise for 'The Ben Hogan Collection' 3 dvd set and Interactive Software. It was unsolicited and was appreciated by all involved in the planning, production, and funding of the 'Collection'.


Please forward my congratulations to Jim for putting together The Ben Hogan Collection. The collection is by far the biggest bargain of information and price ever.
The guest speakers were all fabulous, a treasure. Your work finally puts to rest all of the silly "Hogan's Secret" claims by some rather lame teachers out there.
The way the DVDs are laid out, anything Mr. Hogan had to offer is right there to see. My favorite section is the "Y" factor as it also shows left shoulder and left elbow height as he reaches the back side/at/and a bit through the impact zone.

The Interactive EXE. file is a stroke of genius. Thanks for doing that.

Best Always,

Larry Mowry
1989 PGA Seniors Champion

Over the past couple of years we have received terrific reviews from golf publications. These can be seen in the media section at our website: www.BenHoganCollection.com.

It would be nice to hear from other satisfied customers.

We also have provided sample copies to quite a few tour players including the Callaway Tour Staff for both the PGA Tour and European Tour. I wonder how they liked being able to view Ben Hogan on the dvds and being able to control the swing speed with the software?

Please forward my congratulations to Jim for putting together The Ben Hogan Collection. The collection is by far the biggest bargain of information and price ever.
The guest speakers were all fabulous, a treasure. Your work finally puts to rest all of the silly "Hogan's Secret" claims by some rather lame teachers out there.
The way the DVDs are laid out, anything Mr. Hogan had to offer is right there to see. My favorite section is the "Y" factor as it also shows left shoulder and left elbow height as he reaches the back side/at/and a bit through the impact zone.

The Interactive EXE. file is a stroke of genius. Thanks for doing that.

Best Always,

Larry Mowry
1989 PGA Seniors Champion

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Ryder Cup History - Ben Hogan

Since this is the most pretigious week in match play golf in the world it seems fitting to provide a little history on the Ryder Cup, especially about Ben Hogan and those other great players on his American Team. Some of the names on those historic teams are easily recognizable as members of golf 'legends' category and others were just plain great golfers! All deserved and received a tremendous amount of attention and praise for their participation and play during those earlier years of competition between the US and Great Britain.

Ben Hogan's record in the Ryder Cup was perfect both as a player and as a captain of the team. Hogan played in 1947 and 1951. He was the captain in 1949 and 1967. We could sure use someone like him now! I hope Paul Azinger and the PGA get a bit of inspiration from Hogan's record.

In 1947 Hogan was a player/captain. The team consisted of Sam Snead, Jimmy Demaret, Herman Barron, Lew Wersham, Lloyd Mangrum, Byron Nelson, Dutch Harrison, Herman Keiser, and Ed Oliver. The results was a lopsided 11-1 vitory for the American team.

In 1949 Hogan was still recovering from the trauma of the auto accident with a Greyhound bus that nearly killed him and his wife, Valerie. He still made the trip over to Great Britain. Pictures of Hogan shows a somewht gaunt physique. Team members were Skip Alexander, Jimmy Demaret, Chick Harbert, Dutch Harrison, Lloyd Mangrum, Clayton Haefner, Ed Dudley, Sam Snead, Johnny Palmer, and Bob Hamilton. The Brits made a real competition of it this time but were defeated 7 to 5.

Hogan was back again as a player in 1951 to contribute to another overwhelming American victory margin of 9 1/2 to 2 1/2. The American team was comprised of Jackie Burke, Jr. Ed Oliver, Jimmy Demaret, Henry Ransom, Sam Snead, Lloyd Mangrum, Clayton Haefner, Skip Alexander, and Dutch Harrison. The American squads continued in this tradition for many more competitions between the two friendly golf giants.

1967 was a remarkable year for Hogan with his near win at the Masters and his captaincy of the American Ryder Cup team that once again came away with the cherished cup prize. His players included many new golf stars that you may recognize such as Arnold Palmer, Al Geiberger, Julios Boros, Gardner Dickinson, Gene Littler, Billy Casper, Johnny Pott, Bobby Nichols, Gay Brewer, and Doug Sanders. Hosted by the new Champions Club in Houston this was a squad of well known and flambouant players as TV had started to make its mark on golf as a spectator sport in the US and abroad. In the new scoring format the Americans doused the Brits again with a 23 1/2 to 8 1/2 final score. Ben Hogan's speech at the team dinners really said it when he introduced his team as 'the finest golfers in the world'. The Brits never had a chance!

In our archives, we actually have some film clips from the 1947 Ryder Cup. Its black and white but of very good quality.

www.TheBenHoganCollection.com would like to have you visit. There is a free downloadable screensaver available on the site comprised on an excellent Ben Hogan swing sequence as well as our other products and software. You can also view the three 60 second commercial spots that aired on the Golf Channel and Fox Sports Net. For an interesting treat also visit www.ClassicSportsBrands.com that we are partnering with to produce the 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf' dvd. The Request for Proposals were sent out this past week but can still be accessed by request. The deadline for the Proposal submissions is October 2, 2008.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods Career Winning percentages

Ben Hogan's tournament career record is phenomenal. I have worked up some of the percentages both before the accident and after the accident during his comeback years. As Mr. Hogan said himself he felt he was better before the wreck. The percentages rival any other player ever with similar percentages by a current legend in his own time, Tiger Woods.

In 'The Ben Hogan Collection' 3DVD set we provide a complete record of his tournaments and his position in each located in one of the special features section. Also, included is a swing gallery and a CD with motion control buttons of several of his swings.

Career Summary

Total Career
Top 10’s = 241 out of 292 Career Starts (82.5%)
Top 3’s = 150 out of 292 Career Starts (51.4%)
Victories = 68 out of 292 Career Starts (23.3%)

Career Before Accident
Top 10’s = 183 out of 201 Career Starts (91%)
Top 3’s = 119 out of 201 Career Starts (59.2%)
Victories = 54 out of 201 Career Starts (26.9%)
Majors Won = 4 (Including 1942 Hale America Open)

Career After Accident
Top 10’s = 58 out of 91 Career Starts (63.7%)
Top 3’s = 31 out of 91 Career Starts (34.1%)
Victories = 14 out of 91 Career Starts (15.4%)
Majors Won = 6

Total Career Official Earnings = $354,986
Majors Won = 10 (Includes 1942 Hale America Open)
Leading Money Winner = 5 times
Vardon Trophy Winner = 3 times
PGA Player of the Year = 4 times
Ryder Cup Record = Player 3-0-0, Captain 3-0-0

U.S. Open Record (22 Career Starts)
Top 10’s = 15 (68.2%)
Top 3’s = 8 (36.4%)
Victories = 4 (18.2%)

Masters Tournament Record (25 Career Starts)
Top 10’s = 17 (68%)
Top 3’s = 6 (24%)
Victories = 2 (8%)

PGA Championship Record (13 Career Starts)
Victories = 2 (15.4%)

British Open – 1 Career Start
Victory = 1 (100%)

For more information visit www.BenHoganCollection.com.

For information on other related projects such as the production of the 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf' DVD go to www.ClassicSportsBrands.com.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Ben Hogan Course Management Ideas

During the research phase of producing 'The Ben Hogan Collection 3DVD set and Interactive Software we found numerous pieces of the Ben Hogan strategy on playing tournament golf. While there were many more that Mr. Hogan used these were some of the best and most significant. I hope it helps you lower your golf score. These along with viewing the golf swing fundamentals demonstrated by Mr. Hogan in 'The Collection' should result in better golf.


Hogan’s Course Management Concepts

1. Hogan would practice the shots that would be found on the course he was to play including areas off the fairway and in the rough.

2. Hogan would only hit those shots on a course that he had already practiced and not try miracle shots or shots he had not planned for in advance.

3. Hogan would avoid caffeine before a round as it excited his nerves too much to maintain a calm and methodical demeanor.

4. Added an extra spike to his right shoe to help push off his right side on the downswing. The shoes were made by the Maxwell Shoe Company in England.

5. “You never fight your eye when you look at a hole. If it looks one way, play it that way. Don’t make a big deal out of an easy shot.”

6. It’s a black and white thing. If it looks like it falls left to right, let it go left to right; if it looks like it falls right to left, let it go right to left.”

7. On a dogleg right, you don’t try to hook it, on a dogleg left don’t try to fade it.”

8. “When you practice try to find a situation to fit the shot you’re trying to practice

9. If the pin is on the right hand side of the green, the shot goes from left to right.

10. If the pin is in the left, it goes right to left.

11. If the pin is in the front, it goes in high.

12. If the pin is in the back, it comes in lower.

13. Always drop down a club when in doubt, go to a seven if it’s between a 7 or 8 iron.

14. Hogan would simply block off the past shots, good or bad, on the course by envisioning a wall following him down the fairway. The only thing he was concerned with was what was in front of the wall, the present, the current and next shot, not the shot he just hit or anything before it during a round.

For more information on 'The Collection' go to www.BenHoganCollection.com. For more information on Classic Golf Brands and their subscription Classic Wine Program go to www.ClassicGolfBrands.com.

Also, we will be sending out the Request for Proposals (RFP) next week for the production of the new instructional golf dvd, 'Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf' by Ben Hogan with Herbert Warren Wind and Anthony Ravielli.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The Ben Hogan Coat of Arms, The Ben Hogan Collection


In our pre-production work for the 'Ben Hogan Collection' 3 DVD set we managed to find the actual Coat of Arms for the Hogan Family. It is quite interesting and we will be using it in the future for some of our products.

For those readers that have a sense for the information included in the picture I would like to hear from you about it. Your comments will be posted and shared with others.

I am currently doing research on Mr. Hogan's history from the time of birth to his passing away. If you have some interesting tid bits that you can share I will be glad to post. This information is for our new project 'Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, by Ben Hogan with Herbert Warren Wind and illustrations by Anthony Ravielli. We are transforming this classic into a modern classic using high definition 3D computer animation and motion capture technology. We should have a 3D animated trailer available for marketing purposes around January 2009 with a launch date of June 2009 at the US Open at Bethpage Black in NY.
We are currently reviewing potential vendors for production of the 'Five Lessons' dvd project.
McTee's Champions, the company that produced The Ben Hogan Collection and Classic Sports Brands, producers of sports and golf related products including a new wine label are partnering together for the project.


Cordially,

Tom