Deane Beman - "Playing with Hogan" SHORT TRACK

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle.

Deane Beman 0:13

Then it started to I can remember uh qualifying for the US GA Junior uh at uh at Chevy Chase Club in Bethesda, Maryland, and uh we uh we I shot uh I think sixty-seven three part of the last green as a matter of fact, and I was national medalist and that was nineteen fifty-three and as a result of that uh you know I was only I was fifteen. I just turned fifteen, and they had age brackets in those tournaments. Uh the middle that was the Middle Atlantic uh junior championship, which they used to qualifying for the Middle Atlantic Junior for the n for the USGA junior. So the same event qualified you for those two events. And I was low scorer, I believe low scorer in the country. Uh and uh qualified me to go to uh Tulsa, Oklahoma to play uh in the US Junior there where I met Jack Nicholas actually uh for the first time. And uh we had uh as a result of being uh national medalist, uh Ben Hogan was just coming back from winning uh the British Open uh after his uh uh parade in New York, uh returning, and he had scheduled an exhibition in uh Virginia for a brand new golf course in Leesburg, Virginia. And uh I was chosen to play with him in an exhibition, so I got a chance at age fifteen to play with Hogan.

Mike Gonzalez 1:53

What a thrill.

Deane Beman 1:55

Oh man. It was it was quite something. Funny, funny story about that, you'll love this, Bruce. Um I didn't have uh I didn't have a decent golf bag. I didn't have a decent pair of golf shoes. So a friend of mine, I found a name David Shedler, had a brand new pair of foot joy golf shoes. They were beautiful. Unfortunately, they were about a size and a half too big for me. So I wore three pairs of socks and his shoes. My brother was my brother was a had a wonderful golf bag, and I borrowed his golf bag and and played in the exhibition. And interesting, 30 years later, Bruce, um as we were opening the uh uh golf course in Washington, D.C., the uh Avenel, TPC at Avenel, uh, we were getting ready to open that golf course. I was in a hotel and at the desk was a package for me. And uh David Shedler had kept those shoes and delivered that pair of shoes to me 30 years later. And the only problem was that he had been using them for 30 years. It was all unbelievable. Well, we we uh it was it was a great thing to think back on that uh on that match and and um and play my first uh my first uh at age 15 to play an exhibition with Ben Hogan.

Intro Music 3:24

Boy, what a thrill.

Mike Gonzalez 3:26

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Intro Music 3:46

Whack down the fairway. It went smack down the fairway, and it started just like just snitch off line. It headed for two, but it bounced off line. Like head is as long as you're still in the stage, you're okay.