culture makers have culture bombed us all. i recently turned to gambling on golf and watching it more. sadly it's the only telecast you can watch now and it still feel somewhat how it once was. watching basketball or football on tv is over. too much rap music and culture bombing going on. it's over.
You’re welcome. I was so upset the full version wasn’t on RU-vid, I had to buy the VHS on eBay and convert it. Then figured the world deserves to see this too!
@@WhereTheyPlayForPay I didn't even realise these were available on VHS. I'm looking through those I haven't seen now and thinking about ordering some that haven't already been uploaded. One of the Knudson matches and the one at Bamf springs were what got me started playing golf. Great stuff, best golf presentation ever in this Shell Series in my opinion, and this particular episode is a rare chance to see two of the all time greats from the pre TV era in color both still playing very well (In Hogans case on this day exceptionally well).
@@poocrayon4588 I believe a few were released on VHS ~30 years ago. I love George Knudson - thankfully many of his episodes are on RU-vid. I also just bought the book by Fred Raphael that goes over the history of the series!
My hands are stinging with just the thought and I haven’t even tried it yet. I had a one iron back in my younger days but it’s full steam ahead with hybrids nowadays. Lol
Hogan hit every fairway and green in regulation, his shots never straying more than a few yards from their intended target. He did so with butter-knife blades and balata balls, at the age of 52. Some of his avid fans have said that if he'd had the putting game of his contemporaries like Casper, he'd have been shooting low 60s and even sub-60 every time he stepped up. IMHO, if he were playing today at his peak, he'd have ground most everyone into the ground.
" IMHO, if he were playing today at his peak, he'd have ground most everyone into the ground." His ball striking was beyond compare. However, his putting was poor, by his own admission, and that would prevent him from grinding everyone today into the ground. He'd certainly hold his own, though.
@@johndickson9542 I agree, putting was his Achille's Heel. By 'grinding' I mean this. Hogan was frequently outdriven by his contemporaries. He ground them down by approach shots that put pressure on them. His consistency was the key to his success. It's very tricky to make generational comparisons. But I've an idea that with identical equipment, he would give any of today's players a tough time, especially in matchplay. If he had Jack or Tiger's putting game? Scary thought.
@@FabrisFanatic Not to mention the constant pain in his legs. And yet he won 6 of 7 tournaments he entered in 1953, including 3 majors. Astounding, indeed.
This is the equipment that should still be used today and then you would know how much of the distance is due to technology and how much is die the skill of the player. Current pros hitting 350 yard drives with the current club technology and juiced balls is like pro baseball players being allowed to use metal bats and then crowing about how far they hit it or how many homers they hit. Nobody would buy that as legitimate, yet in golf the powers that be have allowed technology to take over the game. Aaron Judge hits his 450’ bombs with a stick of wood just like Ruth & Gehrig did.
@@dorothygale1104 Exactly, it's ruined continuity within the game and many courses and the overall style of play (not to mention it looks cartoonish to see those big ass driver heads, they're like bumper bowling for golf). The metal drivers were first meant to be for women and the elderly so they could keep some pace with grown men - now we have the best of the grown men using models far easier to hit with than those meant to give worse players an advantage. It's a ridiculous situation which should never have happened.
12:50 lightning strikes twice. Snead doesn’t even re-start his pre-shot routine. Just stripes it long and straight with a club that today would be size of a hybrid.
Green Distant Star's comment is spot on. William Ben Hogan is the greatest shotmaker in the history of golf. That includes Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, or any other player before or since!! What makes this clip so compelling is that Hogan, in this match, was absolutely brilliant. Even for Ben Hogan!! He hit every Fairway, Every Green. In doing so, his shots didn't vary 10 feet the entire day from the tee shot to the flag!! A true case study in the golfing genius of the "Wee Ice Mon." As the Scots referred to him. Even scarier is that Hogan in an average round was almost as good. Probably the most unbelievable golf stat I've ever heard is what Hogan accomplished in 1940, while winning three consecutive tournaments in North Carolina. In those 216 holes played, Hogan missed a total of two greens!! The average leader in GIR on the current tour is about 75 percent. How about 99 percent for Hogan?! What kept Jack and Tiger in the discussion for the greatest player was their superior putting. No one, NO ONE, controlled a golf ball like Ben Hogan. This great video is a timeless look at a genius like no other.
@scottreiber6879 We have to agree to disagree on this one. The Merry Mex was a solid number two. In the wonderful golf channel bio "Hogan" Trevino joked that "you had to turn sideways to see the flag because his golf ball covered it every time he hit it!! Their other similarity is in how rough they had it growing up. Trevino didn't have a home with electricity until he joined the Marines. Both outworked their peers in every way. "The greatest thing in golf is confidence," Trevino observed in Hogan. The more dirt you move, the more confidence you get." Both had another less fortunate similarity in their career. They both suffered terrible accidents. Hogan from a terrible car collision with a Greyhound bus. Trevino, decades later, was struck by lightning. It's easily the toughest pair ever to trod the links. Anytime. Anywhere.
What a great upload. Even the music was great. Loved the intro with the neighborhoods and background info. I know it’s been said over and over, but their talent was unreal. That old equipment, 7000 yards,….they could handle it. Sure, it’s been mentioned almost cliche and I’m doing it here, but fun to imagine what these two men would do with todays equipment and technology. The best today would still be incredible if they were given this old equipment to mind you.
This head-to-head format would be nice to repeat with some of today's Senior golfers. Shell is still around, too. They might sign on to be sponsor again. Other than the Majors, I'm not too interested in the big 4-day tourneys anymore. But I might watch a shorter one-day event like this, on youtube.
The grass on the greens in those days was probably longer than the grass on the fairways the pros play on today. There were a lot of 'wristy' putters. Here's Billy Casper, one of the best putters of his era: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mXDwxMXUpB0.html
Now you can see why he went side saddle and even croquet style later on until they banned the croquet style. I never really noticed his putting stroke before but you are correct that shit is all over the place. I thought my stroke was bad. Lol
“Par 72 and it’s a long baby playing 7,056 yards”. 😊 The PGA at Valhalla this year is 7,609 yards and is a par 71. Amazing what technology and player fitness has done to the game. I like the old days better though. Skill and a good golf noggin was required more than in today’s game.
The avg driving distance on PGA Tour in 1980 was 256 yards and I am positive it was lower by at least 10 yards in the 1960’s. The avg driving distance on PGA tour is about 300 yards. And all clubs are going much further because of the ball on irons, fwy woods. And Hogan and Snead were 52 years old so they were playing a course that was considered long by 1964 PGA tour standards. The U.S. Open at Congressional was 7056 yards and was the longest US Open course up until 1964
Aside from a few people really training speed I think it's mostly the tech. It's not just that the drivers (especially) hit further, you can also swing like crazy because you dont have to really middle the ball in a smaller sweet spot. There may be some distance increase without the tech because of players working out, but I dont think it would be anything crazy. You've gotta remember both these guys were in their 50's at this point.
Agreed. They are an absolute delight. George Thomas is smooth. To anyone who knows, Gene knows the game inside out and we get to see some players who were regarded as the best in the 60s and were so good they are still regarded as the best 6 decades later . Sam played pretty well and Ben without even seeming to hole much best him by 3. 😊😂
The Astrodome is NOT EVEN COMPLETED in this video! When i saw it, all i could think of was the smell of the hamburgers they sold there. And yes, Slammin' Sammy has a swing that is unmistakable. 7,000 yards was long when you hit wooden drivers and irons that have a sweet spot the size of the tip of your little finger. I think i remember that the Colonial course in Ft. WORTH (Byron Nelson open) was 7200 in 65 and 7700 in 75.
@@patrickdumass7611 I think you are correct, I thought about it afterwards. I know and watched an amateur who played in the pro-am in 79?. I just remember looking down some of the par 4s from the black tees... I hit it a long way back then, but man... 6 par 4s over 440 yards and a 585 yard and 635 yard par 5.
7000 yards with those clubs and balls, and in Houston's low elevation and high humidity. That course was playing LONG. Modern equivalent would likely be well over 8k.
I think it goes to show that you work with your natural swing. To me it looks like Hogan never takes a “full” backswing. It’s the speed coming forward that counts
Lee Trevino, Bobby Nichols, and Jerry Heard were hit by lightning at the Western Open in Chicago. When asked what he was doing after seeing lightning Mr. Trevino said he held up a 1 iron. Why, doesn't that act like a lightning rod? Mr. Trevino replied, 'Not even God can hit a 1 iron.
Hogan peppers the flag more than Ian Baker Finch in the latter's scorcher when he won the Open. From his record, I guess that was pretty typical for Hogan. Makes it look so easy
Would be great to see this without the screen being stretched to fit. They look 5ft tall and their swings look flatter than they were. Other videos of this match are the same unfortunately.
if it can be downloaded then played on VLC I'm sure a proper aspect ratio can be found. I'm not even sure I can watch this, Snead's body looks freakish.
5 grand in those days was a lot for a golf match. In tournaments, guys who made the cut for the weekend but finished at the bottom of the heap would take home less than $100 bucks.
Absolutely. One of the biggest changes since Tiger came along has been that mediocre players, who may never win in their careers can still become very rich men.
250+ yard drives on soft fairways and 190 yard 6 irons with those old clubs. I played with these kind of clubs when I was a kid in the 80's. Those 6 irons have the loft of today's 8 irons of course. I hit one drive 275 downhill when I was 15 and I thought I was headed to the PGA. How good were these guys? And how hard did they hit it? I would love to know if someone could find a way to estimate their club head speed. It had to be moving good to carry 250 with persimmons. Not to mention the old, wound golf balls. It also boggles my mind that modern players don't move their drives in both directions. Was Hogan that much more talented then them?
You could be sure both players in their prime would be as long as the top pros today, given the same equipment. Especially Snead. He absolutely crushed it in his youth. Old drivers had a different weight distribution and characteristics that made it easier (and necessary) to work the ball. Balata balls spun like crazy not only on approaches but all the time. This helped a draw or a fade. Today with the giant heads it is almost impossible.
I played persimmon clubs back in the 70s which was only 10 years after this and I gotta believe they were hitting it past 250 yds. Today’s pros on a 7000 yd course would be driver wedge all day.
They were much slower, which in my opinion is a little better than today because they hold more irons, but there's a better in between. Probably about 80's era is optimum green speed in my opnion. Fast enough that good steady putting is rewarded, slow enough that you dont have to use crazy spin to keep shots on the green. But remember it rained heavily during this match so greens were wet.
Here's the thing- Tiger Woods is indisputably the greatest golfer of All-Time. If I met him, I would say, "Tiger, keep firing!" If I met Ben Hogan I would not say anything, unless spoken to. He is royalty. "Thank you, Mr. Hogan!" would be the only words I could muster.
@@johndickson9542 Yah, yah. My dad and I watched most of his career, together. He is my emotional GOAT. I have to be objective, and forget money. Ben Hogan is not 2x better than Nicklaus. He is just 2% better in my mind. Obviously, if you catch me on a Sunday, I might say Jack. ha,ha!
The equivalent course length today given the equipment advances should mean 8,000 yard courses regularly for the pros. 21 under winning a major (‘24 PGA) is a joke.
255 off the tee. My how things have changed. Not necessarily for the better in my opinion. No such thing as driver, sand wedge into 400 yard par fours. This is back when golf was really great.
@@davidshuff8838 Todays irons yes. But its still a long way anyway you slice it. It's a long distance to stand and look from point A to B from. If your hitting the ball so far you can barely see it land on every other club and have to walk 100 more miles to play, whats the point? It's like using suped up metal baseball bats that hit the length of 2 stadiums then having to increase stadium size to play the same basic game, it's just so stupid that it reached this point.
1965, when America was on the gold standard and had honest money that could not easily be corrupted and created for free, out of thin air, whilst other people have to work for it, thereby diluting the value of every dollar that they earn and own, thereby stealing the value of their life's work, effort and time from them. In 1971, that all changed and began the evil, thieving and corrupt fiat money standard. And look at America now! All roads lead to Bitcoin now. The most honest and incorruptible money that the World has ever had. That is inevitable.
So nice the Great Game back then. Everybody well dressed and behaved and none of this getting drunk and shouting get in the hole like the YANKS keep screaming today in their horrible slurry drunk accents.
Also, nobody yelling stupid shit like, “Go in the hole” or “Baba Booey” or “ Mashed potato “ . People had class then and didn’t have to shout out stupid shit to make it all about themselves.
