Melvyn explained by Dan Jenkins

[Garland Bayley]

"I can't see why I'm supposed to like it that every 90-pound weakling can now drive the ball 310 yards, find no rough anywhere he plays and, due to superior maintenance, make 10-footers like he used to make two-footers. A pro named David Ogrin once described me so accurately, saying I'm a "hostile voice from a previous generation." Well, somebody has to be."

Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2011-03/photos-golf-world-backspin#ixzz1HdUVrwkg

[Lester George]

My favorite golf writer of all time and one really nice guy as well. 

Lester

[Bill_McBride]

My only experience with David Ogrin was indirect and unpleasant.  My son caddied for him at an insurance agents' junior tournament exhibition.  Ogrin stiffed him. 

So David (my son) has got that goin' for him!

[Tim Martin]

Dan Jenkins has a way of sizing things up like few others. The author is rare that can bring you to tears of laughter and Dan fits the bill. Semi-Tough is still one of my all time favorite quick reads. Before the Golf Channel and the digital media came onto the scene no one had more access to players than Jenkins. Unfortunately that ship has sailed and has been made even worse by guys like Jim Gray who players knock down old ladies and cub scouts to get away from.

[Ronald Montesano]

I don't agree with you, Tim. I think that players are keen to speak with people they can trust to represent them honestly; they trust Jim Gray to interfere, but that shan't influence their dealings with others.  Oddly, in this day of anonymous social networking, players are more available for an initial contact than ever before.

Jenkins, however, still kicks massive ass!!

[Sam Morrow]

The same quote could be said of Ogrin.

[Melvyn Morrow]

Garland

“A Hostile voice from a previous generation” –  no, not me.  Mine is the voice of salvation, to free one’s mind and body from the modern temptations that just make one lazy, unhealthy, forgetful due to lack of regular usage  of the little grey cells.

The world authorities are getting concerned about health and weight, more so as we see that its can reduce our life span. The need for regular exercise is now keenly recommended by many a Medical Agencies worldwide, plus the latest adult learning aids to maintain an active thinking mind.

The modern golfer and some on this site ride carts and utilise distance aids falling into the danger zone of all the current public health warnings. The end result will be all those who play golf in this fashion will soon be ‘no more’ leaving behind upset family and relatives, all for the sake of not honouring the traditions of the Game of Golf.

So I suppose I could say that I am doing my public duty, bringing home the dangers of ignoring good medical advice, so it’s very simple, continue being selfish seeking a shorter  life, ride your carts and do not use your brains, as it will not be you that first notices the deterioration but close friends and family members. You will not have a clue because you can’t remember.  Perhaps that explains your rather good score the last time you remember playing – no that’s a joke

Perhaps after all I have God on my side and I am here to preach the real message of long and healthy life, who knows , but one thing is for certain the game of Golf is far more pleasurable when one walks and thinks the moves with just the natural gifts we were given at birth.

Maybe I do have friends in high places after all. Whatever you have been warned again from a guy firmly in touch with today’s generations.

Thanks Garland, when you see Old Tom can you say Hi from me – past generations indeed!

Melvyn

[Terry Lavin]

There's no question that Dan Jenkins has a tremendous body of work.  His gravitas cannot be questioned by any fair-minded individual.  I regret that he seems to have turned sour in the past ten years or so.  Whether this is the well-weathered attitude of a person convinced that the old way is the better way, the shtick of a guy who knows how to remain quotable or the rantings of a committed curmudgeon is surely fodder for great debate.  There is no debating, however, that his tone has gone more acid, his writings more unabashedly sentimental and his logic at times mushy.  A noun, a verb and Ben Hogan does not always a good sentence make.  That's one mangled way to articulate the puzzle that is the current Dan Jenkins.

[David_Tepper]

Terry Lavin -

I agree with much of what you have said. Dan Jenkins has turned into a bit of a grouch. In the GolfWorld article, he refers to the competition Tiger Woods has faced as being "pitiful." Are Mickelson, Els, Harrington, Singh, Furyk, et al. "pitiful" golfers and competitors? I don't think so.

DT   

[Terry Lavin]

He'll find plenty of sympathy in whining about the effects of technology on the game, a subject which writers have been bleating about since the 1920's.  I, too, find it slightly disturbing that Jonathan Byrd and his ilk can bomb the ball 320 yards when they only weigh half that much in pounds.  I think Jenkins' main issue is that he longs for a day when the technology made the game look like one for mere mortals.  In that element, in his mind, Ben Hogan was superhuman, an immortal.  Looking at some of the newer whelps, he is underwhelmed.

I never saw Ben Hogan play.  I wasn't around when he overcame enormous physical disabilities to compete and win on golf's biggest stage.  I've often thought that it would be great to see a shotmaker like Ben Hogan play with the clubs that currently bear his name, but I'm not sentimental enough to think that the golfers of that era were better, just because they played with persimmon and tour blades.

[PThomas]

There's no question that Dan Jenkins has a tremendous body of work.  His gravitas cannot be questioned by any fair-minded individual.  I regret that he seems to have turned sour in the past ten years or so.  Whether this is the well-weathered attitude of a person convinced that the old way is the better way, the shtick of a guy who knows how to remain quotable or the rantings of a committed curmudgeon is surely fodder for great debate.  There is no debating, however, that his tone has gone more acid, his writings more unabashedly sentimental and his logic at times mushy.  A noun, a verb and Ben Hogan does not always a good sentence make.  That's one mangled way to articulate the puzzle that is the current Dan Jenkins.

i thought the great Mike Royko got grouchy near the end too....but I still miss Mike

[JR Potts]

I much prefer a noun, a verb and Bill Murray over a noun, a verb and Ben Hogan.

[David_Tepper]

"I've often thought that it would be great to see a shotmaker like Ben Hogan play with the clubs that currently bear his name"

Terry Lavin -

It is a sad thing that clubs are no longer made that bear Hogan's name. When Callaway bought Spalding, they acquired Ben Hogan Golf, which was then owned by Spalding. Within a couple of years, Callaway expanded their line of forged irons, which made the Hogan line redundant and it was put to sleep.

Ben would have to go to e-bay to find a set of Hogan irons. Hopefully he could find a set in good condition.

DT