The Match

[Ira Fishman]

I was telling a buddy at lunch about the book, and it prompted me to ask if it is true that there is unwritten code that no one is supposed to break Hogan's course record at Cypress and that players have intentionally avoided doing so.


Thanks in advance to you historians,


Ira

[Kevin_Reilly]

If only Bob Huntley were still with us.   


Yes, that unwritten rule has been in place for ages.

[Jim Nugent]

I bet that rule did not apply to touring pros when they played the Crosby there. 

[Mike Sweeney]

Somewhere in the archives, I have bowed to the legend of Ben Hogan at Newport Country Club. Hogan did not play, but Sam Snead and many others acknowledged Ben Hogan at NCC.


That said, SCREW BEN HOGAN!!


If I had the ability and opportunity, I would stick whatever legend he has at Cypress Point in a bag and send it to China. I would go as low as possible!!


PS - I shot 78 at Bethpage Green from the back with an Eagle on a Par 5 from 175 yards in the rough, so I am feeling feisty.

[Matt_Cohn]

Yes, it's true. I'm blanking on the name, but some well-known golfer was once -9 on the 18th tee, turned around, and hit one into the Pacific.

[Nigel Islam]

Isn't it more that Jim Langley, the long time pro, and Casey Reamer, the current pro,  have a share of the record that prompts people to not break it?

[Rob Marshall]

Who would want a record that people intentional don't break?

[Kalen Braley]

I'm pretty sure Hogan doesn't care if someone breaks it....


Even if some current top player did break it, which they easily could, it wouldn't be oranges and apples.  Give em the same equipment and balls Hogan used and I'd like to see em try....

[Rob Marshall]

I'm pretty sure Hogan doesn't care if someone breaks it....


Even if some current top player did break it, which they easily could, it wouldn't be oranges and apples.  Give em the same equipment and balls Hogan used and I'd like to see em try....

That's true of just about every record in every sport.

[Ira Fishman]

Rob,


One of the reasons I asked the question is that my experience tells me that the "Hogan Code" at Cypress is a bit different than other sports because golfers have such a strong respect for tradition that the code is a great tribute to Hogan that might not occur outside of golf.  Admittedly, The Match was not an official tournament so the record may have far less weight.  However, given both CP's status in the golf universe and The Match's continued hold on golfers even some 60 years later, it strikes me as a very potent story.


Ira

[Andy Stamm]

Isn't this more lore than anything anyway? Do people actual consider this a club record? Did Hogan?


Hogan was conceded putts. And the Rules of Golf don't even allow simultaneous play of match and stroke play. So I don't see how a match could result in a club record in any sort of official sense.

[Eric LeFante]

Isn't this more lore than anything anyway? Do people actual consider this a club record? Did Hogan?


Hogan was conceded putts. And the Rules of Golf don't even allow simultaneous play of match and stroke play. So I don't see how a match could result in a club record in any sort of official sense.

I agree. He was conceded putts. On the 5th hole I believe he had a 10 footer for birdie, Nelson already made birdie, so hogan picked up and took a par for his own score. Doesn't seem like his score should be official.

[Steve Lang]

   Geez, Now some would like to re-write history, wasn't official... please


Perhaps best rule I've heard is that attributed to Trevino, ... ask what course record is and if its the local pro, avoid it, otherwise fair game, more a professional courtesy

[Kalen Braley]

I didn't want to break his record, so thats why I put two in the drink on 16 to make sure!! 

[Bill Shamleffer]

Perhaps best rule I've heard is that attributed to Trevino, ... ask what course record is and if its the local pro, avoid it, otherwise fair game, more a professional courtesy

Per Ken Venturi, it was Byron Nelson that lived by that "rule".  Venturi said when they did exhibitions, Nelson would always ask the course record, and who held the record.  If the current pro held the course record, he would not break it, as a courtesy to that club pro.

[Michael Wolf]

I believe Bob Ford declined to post a score bettering Arnie's course record at Latrobe, and someone else I can't recall did the same at Camargo while Bob Jones held it.

[David Davis]

Was recently at Oak Hill for the first time.


64 was the course record and held by none other than Ben Hogan and Curtis Strange. Until recently when Jason Dufner broke it with a 63.


Rather than redoing the plaque they just created a new one, I mean, which club in it's right mind would want to deface history and honor with a guy who's claim to fame is a physical act of putting his hand down his pants while lounging on his sofa in front of the tv?


On top of that, the game is no resemblance of what it once was due to equipment (yet another off topic thread).