Customer Reviews

Hogan

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I found this book to be one of the best biographies I've ever read. Sampson leads the reader through the pivotal and formative events of Hogan's life, slowly revealing the character and personality of one of the most complex figures in the history of sports. Most people view sports legends as individuals blessed with an abundance of natural ability and instinct. I was inspired to discover this does not describe Ben Hogan. He was not, by any stretch of imagination, the most talented golfer on tour. To read accounts of his early struggles puts the stunning success he later enjoyed - and the work that enabled him to accomplish that success - in clear perspective. To often, sports biographies are superficial tributes that ignore the complexities of a sport and the men who play it. This is a book that digs deeply into the life of its subject, revealing both the noble and the base. Curt Sampson allows the reader to form his own opinion of the man based on a detailed and objectively rendered portrait. Anyone who truly loves the game of golf needs to read this book. Rick Mathes Thousand Oaks, C

No one knew Ben Hogan, but everyone seemed to revere him. Why? At face value, it's hard to understand because the man was aloof, arrogant - and, often, rude. Nevertheless, golf fans and most of his fellow professionals worshiped the turf he walked on. No writer has done a better job of capturing the Hogan mystique than Curt Sampson does in this fine biography, which is neither critical nor lavish with praise. It's an objective, smoothly written and compelling account of a complex man whose intensity and dedication were unprecedented.

When I was growing up the names of Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, Player, and their generation were the top competitors. Ben Hogan was a revered name, but one of past glory. His great year of 1953 was in the past. I had heard about his auto accident and his amazing comeback, but this book helped me see the man who "dug it out of the dirt" through hard work, discipline, and ferocious tenacity.

Mr. Hogan started out with less than most. His father's suicide and the family's subsequent poverty didn't leave him with many open paths to success. He found golf and found that it not only matched his physical skills, but was an even better match for his nearly obsessive temperament.

The swing he developed has become the pattern millions of us try to emulate, although he would find our haphazard approach to the game less than useless. Why we love being duffers would be beyond him. He knew how to work and to practice. I still cannot fathom the kind of internal strength it would take to come back from that terrible leg shattering accident when his Cadillac was struck by a bus. He played in great pain for the rest of his life and had four surgeries on his left shoulder. When I realize that his greatest achievements and most of his wins at major tournaments were after the accident I am simply dumbstruck.

Mr. Hogan was a very private and enigmatic figure. Mr. Sampson does a good job in teasing what facts we know into a good story. We get interesting stories from the golf side of his life (mostly stories told about Hogan by others) and those are very enjoyable. However, I like the way Mr. Sampson puts all that in the context of a real person - a real man. Ben Hogan wasn't a fictional character even though the media version of him was a distortion of the actual hard working man who practiced, practiced, and then practiced some more, who loved his wife, Valerie, and built a successful golf equipment business.

Ben Hogan made a long journey through life and I think this book tells the story well.

Two sports, golf and baseball are not time bound, i.e. they are not governed by a clock such as hockey, football, soccer and basketball. Rather baseball has 9 innings and golf has 18 holes; an entirely different way of measuring when the game starts and ends. Therefore, with a different pace than other sports, baseball and golf produces the best sports writing. This biography of one of the top 3 or 4 golfers of all time is such a book. I read this shortly after Hogan died and revisited the book recently. Good golf writing tends to get into the mind of a golfer and this biography attempts to understand the enigmatic Hogan, a driven man with less ability than most of his contemporaries, who willed his way to greatness through sheer effort and practice. Hogan did not have a reputation of having a generous, open personality and this book explores the issue, examining the trauma of Hogan's dad's violent death when Ben was young. There are great pictures including one of Ben at the end of his career when he realized he no longer had it and left the course in a golf cart in mid round. Sam Snead was always open and was quite a showman and was seen on TV all the time. In a sense, we got to know Sam through his interviews after television matches (the fore runner to "Shell's Wonderful World of Golf"). Not so with Ben, we never really got to know him. Accordingly, this book helps introduce us to a very private man.

This book really only confirmed what I had thought for a long time, behind Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan was a tremendous golfer who was way ahead of his time. Hogan nearly won the grand slam, and could not compete in the PGA because of the fact it started almost the same time the British Open was finishing. As we all watch Tiger Woods try for the grand slam, let us not forget Ben Hogan who was as close as anyone has ever come to doing it. The most amazing part of Hogan's story was the fact he won the US Open after almost dying in a car crash.

Sampson does a nice job with this book, telling about Hogan like he was, stearn and driven, and definitely not writing a fluff piece like some biographies can be. Hogan was tough, and I would equate him as the "Ted Williams" of golf, so good it was hard for him to teach anyone because he set such high standards for himself. I recommend this book to golfers and people who want to read about a remarkable man.

Ben Hogan was a no nonsense, focused champion who realized early in life that hard work was the path to success. Curt Sampson does a great job in presenting the real Hogan, not just the golf legend. This book should be required reading for all golf fans.
Especially the goofs who scream "You da man!" everytime Tiger hits a shot. There will never be another Ben Hogan.

This book is a fascinating look into the life of Ben Hogan, a golfing legend by anyone's standard. This book reveals things about Hogan that are more important than his skill and achievements. This book reveals Hogan's intense determination and will. He was not a "natural". It was this determination and will that made him great. The book also leaves you with the impression that Hogan not only had high standards for golf, but more importantly for life and how to live it. This book will definitely inspire golfers to become even better and I'm sure it would even inspire non-golfers as well. I've read many books in my lifetime, but aside from "A Catcher in the Rye", this is the only book I've ever read twice.

Ben Hogan is in my view one of the greatest golfers the game has seen. His work ethic and practise regime is second to none,and that includes Woods,Palmer and Nicklaus.

There are very few books about Hogan because he was such a private individual. He gave very few interviews.

I have read most of the books ever written about him and this is probably the best. There are others but they are mostly out of print. Sampsom has researched his subject as best he can and presents the fullest picture of Hogan as possible. As I stated earlier there is not that much information available.That is the way Hogan obviously wanted it. He wanted to be remembered for his golf nothing else.

The book does not give any new information on Hogan as there is very little available but it is well written and covers the subject as well as anything else. It is better than some other books on Hogan.

Without golfers like Hogan and earlier Walter Hagen the PGA Tour would not exist and the prize money would not be what it is.To find out what golf was about, where the game devloped from,and the struggle golf professionals had to go through to earn a living then you should read this book. If nothing else you will come to understand one of the games greatest players.

I'm a 17 year old golfer with dreams of becoming a PGA Tour card carrier. After reading this book, I relized I have an easy life and should gives thanks to my mom and dad. With the hardships that Mr. Hogan went through in his childhood, it is hard to beleive how he went through life having the success he did. He is an inspiration to all people who have gone through a near death experience. This man was probably the most respected athlete of his time.

This book is above the best I've ever read. Not only does Sampson cut through the clutter and hype of the hogan mystique, but brings to light the man himself. Ben Hogan was a hero to many, including myself. However, it becomes easier to understand his faults and pains. As awestruck as we all become as we reminisce about what the infamous one iron shot was like, the same feeling comes to mind when you can discover the personal hardships and psychological strains that Hogan had held throughout his life. Looking from the outside, he was comprised of somewhat an introvert, stubborn, and jealous man. Yet how he broke out of his shell and overcame adds one more dimension to a timeless hero. Not only his ability to overcome the game of golf and his physical handicaps, but overcoming the mental obstacles that it takes to become not only an excellent golfer, but an excellent man. Hats off to Curt Sampson

shawnwellnitz@yahoo.com