Ben Hogan's bag or specs??

[mesegrn]

What was in his bag???

Does anyone have any info on what was in his bag. I heard him mention a 4 wood one time on an interview, but that's it. I know his 9 iron was probably the same loft as today's pitching wedges or close anyways.

[1badbadger]

I'm pretty sure the last set of irons he "really" played with were Apex II. I had a chance to look at one of the sets built for him...really flat, heavy, coat hangers under the grip for his "rib", and the rib was positioned at about 4 or 5 o'clock so the grips were very open. Two of the irons in the set had a little different muscle than the rest. I think it was the 5 iron and the 7 or 8 iron. The muscle bulged out a little more and was thicker on those 2 clubs. They still have some of his clubs at Shady Oaks, and I've talked to a few players (pros) fortunate enough to have been allowed to take a club or two to the range to hit, and they all say the same thing...unhitable! The way his stuff was set up, no one else could play them (his irons anyway, I don't know about his woods). But there are several guys around Fort Worth who shagged balls for him when they were kids, and when they would stand where he wanted them to, they wouldn't have to step to one side or the other to pick up a ball he struck. They would just bend down and pick it up at their feet.

[Seanmx]

See Power Golf

 

Driver

Brassie

3 Wood

4 Wood

1- 9 iron

PW

SW

Putter

 

Note that this was before the 14 club rule

[Ascan]

There's a chapter in the book "Afternoons with Mr. Hogan" by Jody Vasquez that goes into a pretty detailed description of Hogan's clubs. I think it mentioned that he used a version of the Hogan Personal model.

[mesegrn]

Thanks I will check it out!

[mesegrn]

Just bought it on ebay!

[duffer888]

I'm pretty sure Hogan didn't carry a PW. He used an "Equalizer" instead. :rolleyes:

[mesegrn]

Wasn't it the same loft as a pitching wedge.

[texcrom]

Yes. Hogan irons always had an "E", or Equalizer in place of the pitching wedge. Same loft as a pitching wedge, just a different name.

 

Grew up playing Hogans, and the quality was always second to none.

 

Always perfectly balanced, and the last company (and only company for many years) that continued to pin the heads to the shaft.

[Swingtheclub]

Ok and equalizer was a pw back in the day the most noticeable thing about Hogan clubs were the shafts were stiffer

 

there 111 was a very firm regular and the 1v was a very stiff club

 

I also remember the reps talking a lot about the fact that all of Hogans irons were ground to swingweight he never put powder down the shaft to weight them

 

Back when swingweight was talked about a lot the word was and ounce of powder moved the sweet spot a quarter inch closer to the heel

 

Hogan made great irons but the truth was they were too stiff for most average players

 

then again his speed slot woods were never anything to special

 

Based on the same subject one of the most popular irons in the seventys was Lynx there shafts were a bit softer than normal

 

ego's were kept in tact and they sold a lot of clubs ha ha

 

Never doubt the shaft is the most important part of the golf club at least in my opinion and most people play shafts too stiff

[freddiec]

Hogan Apex irons were the real deal in the day. Many topics on this have been covered. All the PGA guys in the late 70 and 80 used Apex irons as well as Mac and these guys didn't change models every 2 years. A set of Apex irons when Hogan Co. was still in full swing was something special to carry in your bag.

[rich13]

For most of his competitive career, Hogan played Macgregor Tommy Armour Silver Scot irons, and Macgregor Persimmon woods (with a plain insert, not eye-o-matic or keyhole, maybe the 985?), as did almost half of the Pros on the tour at the time. His clubs were set around 4 degrees flat, a couple of degrees open, and he used ribbed grips that were aligned VERY open.......after all, the hook made him want to "vomit"! Very stiff shafts, and very thick grips.

 

 

 

Balls were usually Acushnet (now Titleist), but this could vary.....Macgregor kept pleading with him to play the Tourney ball, and invited him to the factory to show the "Iron Byron" robot hitting the Tourney's....his response........"well, why don't you enter the effing machine in the Open!", and then went out and won the Open playing a Spalding Dot ball!! Macgregor's also put out up to 8 retail models with Hogan's name on, and not great quality, usually on sale in sports shops and department stores, which partly led to Hogan setting up his own company in 1953/4. From 1955, he used the Hogan Precision Irons, and Hogan Personal Persimmon woods His putter was generally a brass-headed centre-shafted design....hope this helps!

 

 

 

[mesegrn]

It helps alot. I really appreciate the info. Any particular place you picked it up?

[arkboulder]

Does anyone know the lofts of Mr. Hogan's irons? I am interested the loft gaps between each of his irons.

[Ascan]

Does anyone know the lofts of Mr. Hogan's irons? I am interested the loft gaps between each of his irons.

 

 

There is something on your question in the Afternoon with Hogan book I referenced in an above post.

[mesegrn]

For the Hogan fans that have not read, An afternoon with Mr. Hogan, it is a wonderful book! It also mentions his specs in the book.

[victor2000]

I'm pretty sure the last set of irons he "really" played with were Apex II. I had a chance to look at one of the sets built for him...really flat, heavy, coat hangers under the grip for his "rib", and the rib was positioned at about 4 or 5 o'clock so the grips were very open. Two of the irons in the set had a little different muscle than the rest. I think it was the 5 iron and the 7 or 8 iron. The muscle bulged out a little more and was thicker on those 2 clubs. They still have some of his clubs at Shady Oaks, and I've talked to a few players (pros) fortunate enough to have been allowed to take a club or two to the range to hit, and they all say the same thing...unhitable! The way his stuff was set up, no one else could play them (his irons anyway, I don't know about his woods). But there are several guys around Fort Worth who shagged balls for him when they were kids, and when they would stand where he wanted them to, they wouldn't have to step to one side or the other to pick up a ball he struck. They would just bend down and pick it up at their feet.

 

It was not a coat hanger but a piece of string. I worked for the Hogan Company from 1989 - 1991 and I saw first hand how they put this string under the grip. Even had them put this on my clubs. Really made the right index finger into a trigger finger. Great stuff.

[dlygrisse]

here is a good discussion on the subjet

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?sh...0specs&st=0

[sfagolfjp]

You worked for the Hogan CO.? Did you know a man named Don Ingerman? His new company, Dimension Z, built my new set of blades. The feel very much like hogan forgings...

[jwfgolfpro]

Does anyone know the lofts of Mr. Hogan's irons? I am interested the loft gaps between each of his irons.

 

 

here is some good info:

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?sh...0specs&st=0

 

JWF

['53 Precision]

Mr. Hogan never played Apex II's in competition, he retired in the middle of a round in Houston in 1971 and the Apex II's came out in 1979.

 

According to Jody Vasquez, Mr. Hogan played 1954 Hogan Personal Blades. Another interesting fact is that the Hogan Company manufactured the clubs for the first and second place finisher in the US Open in 1955, Jack Fleck and Mr. Hogan, less than two years after founding the company!

 

The club information the OP is wanting is on page 41 of Afternoons with Mt. Hogan.

[bbrenner]

Any one out there still using Apex Shafts in their irons? What about the Pro's? How do you think they compare with Project X, Dynamic Gold or other shafts used in current iron sets? Would love to stick a set in my Mizuno irons to see how they work for me.

[txcountrylawyer]

Any one out there still using Apex Shafts in their irons? What about the Pro's? How do you think they compare with Project X, Dynamic Gold or other shafts used in current iron sets? Would love to stick a set in my Mizuno irons to see how they work for me.

 

 

My practice set is 1998 Apex Redlines with Apex 4 shaft. Note: I would expect most o the older real Apex shafts to be parallel tips rather than tapers. I really like the apex shaft--it provides a medium height that penetrates and has a great feel--much better than Project X or Dynamic gold. Also have a set of 67 staff irons with Apex 4's and love wa they perform.

[Corgi]

I was told that the earlier Apex shaft was very closely related (if not actually the same) to the TT Dynalite shaft. Both lighter weight and low kickpoints compared to the original Dynamic shaft. It was a local PGA pro here in DFW who seemed to know Hogan clubs very well.

[webber]

Apex shafts were made by Royal Precision (Rifle) for Hogan. I don't know about now but up until a few years ago guys played Apex shafts in other branded irons.

[Deadpool_25]

A long time ago I was getting fitted for some Hogan Apex blades. I tried them with the Apex 4 shaft and they seemed pretty nice. However, the pro said I should try the Apex 5 shaft and noted that they were thicker at the tip. I compared them to the Apex 4 and the 5 was definitely thicker where it entered the ferrule. Not sure why that was. Anyway, while the 4 felt good, the 5 felt AMAZING. My eyes popped out of my head because the felt so good and I was hitting them so well. I was probably a 6 hcp at the time IIRC. Anyone else try the Apex 5 shaft? Did you notice that it was thicker in the tip?

[texcrom]

I too had experience with the Apex 5 shaft.

 

I originally had a set with Apex 4's, and they were pretty good.

 

One day hit a buddy's five iron with an Apex 5 and fell in love. Picked up a new set, and this was in the day (late 70's, early 80's) when you could buy a set of irons 1 - PW (or in the case of Hogan's, 1 thru E).

 

I actually used to hit the one iron off the tee and would just kill it. Low and dead straight, kind of like a "stinger" today.

 

In addition, had a Hogan "Speedslot" driver and three wood, and a Hogan "SI" sand wedge. Again, this was back in a time where you carried one sand wedge and opened the face when you wanted to hit a higher flop or lob around the green.

 

Add a putter (yes, a Ping Answer, and if I still had it it would probably be worth something) and you had fourteen clubs.

 

The good ole days sure make you feel old!!!

[freddiec]

I just read the 1st 60 pages of "afternoons with Mr. Hogan", what an awesome read! His irons were about 2 to 3 degrees flat compared to the standard back then and when you put the iron on the gound it sat 5 degrees open according to the book. He played the Hogan personal model.

[Texsport]

We had an Assistant Pro at my former club who worked at Shady Oaks.

 

He said that Hogan's driver was very heavy, very open, and had the face shaved back so far it was impossible to hit the ball high---unless you were Ben Hogan.

 

Texsport

[birdiemachine61]

I have hit Dimension Z blades for over three years. they're great! Don Ingerman worked for Mr. Hogan for about 15 years. Dimension Z are really great clubs if you're fitted properly.