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.