Ben Hogan Essay, Research Paper
Ben Hogan had more dedication than any athlete today. Throughout his life
Mr.Hogan overcame a very traumatic childhood, recovered from a nearly
fatal head-on collision with a bus and built a golf equipment empire.
Ben Hogan was born in a small town in Texas called Dublin. He was one
of three children. When Ben was only six years old he witnessed his father
commit suicide while playing in the same room. ” At age nine my childhood
was shot through the heart”.(p.14) obviously Hogan was traumatize by the
tragedy.
Hogan’s instinctive reaction was to become protective of his mother. After the
suicide the family underwent serious financial problems. To do his part Ben
began selling newspapers, until he heard that their was big money to be made
at the local golf club for caddies. This was Hogan’s ticket into golf, with golf
being considered a “rich man’s” game Hogan probably would never have
started playing
golf. Because of the poor wages the caddies recieved, most of the caddies
made
money by gambling on golf, this was where Hogan’s dedication was shown
even as
a child. Hogan was much smaller than any of they other caddies so they
usually
beat him. But Hogan wouldn’t accept it, instead he would show up for work a
couple of hours early and practice his heart out, ” Sometimes I practised until
my hands bled.”(p.11) Finally he began winning the bets, but also caddy and
junior tournaments too.
Secondly, on February 1, 1949 Hogan was on top of the world, having won
the
US OPEN, the MASTERS and appearing on the cover of Time life Magazine.
Until he collided head on with a twenty thousand pound passenger bus. Hogan
suffered a broken collarbone, broken left ankle, broken right leg, broken pelvis
and a few broken ribs. In the weeks after the accident several other
complications
occurred like blood clots in his lungs, the doctors said he would probably
never
play competative golf again. However in the months of recovery that followed,
Hogan practiced the things he could do with his injuries like practice his short
game. For the next thirteen months Hogan practiced to the best of his ability,
gradually improving. Thirteen months later he entered the L.A open and
finished second
this demonstration shocked the world, for it was only thirteen months earlier
people thought they would never see Hogan play again.
In 1953 Hogan decided to produce his own line of clubs. In 1954, after a
year
of struggling sales, Hogan bought out his partners due too “creative
differences”.Hogan took time off his regular playing schedule in order to over
see
operations of his plant and to, “see if I can make some damn money out of
this
thing.”(p.207) Hogan worked harder than anyone in ‘54 designing clubs that he
liked
and felt were traditional. But it wasn’t until he realized people wanted
something new, that he made money. After his revolutionary cavity back
design made his
company number one in sales he decided he had done enough. Hogan
decided to
sell the company. He sold the company that he started for only 500 000
dollars
thirty years later, for approximately 210 million dollars.
In conclusion, Ben Hogan had a difficult life filled with adversity. But he
made
the best of what was given to him. He overcame a traumatic childhood too
become the best golfer of his time. When doctors told him he probably
wouldn’t play golf again because of his accident, he decided he wasn’t
finished yet and practiced his way back to his old form and in to the record
books. And finally when his own friends didn’t have faith in the company he
built he bought them out , put a lot of hard work into it and sold it for
millions. Ben Hogan was a truly dedicated champion.