Editorial Content for The Wee Ice Mon Cometh: Ben Hogan's 1953 Triple Slam and One of Golf's Greatest Summers
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Reviewer (text)
In the world of golf, great names continue to be fondly remembered and exalted. 2024 saw Scottie Scheffler rise to the #1 ranking and win multiple tournaments on the PGA Tour, including the Players Championship, the Masters, the FedEx Cup and the Olympic gold medal. This comes at a time when professional golf is divided into two groups: the traditional PGA and the LIV Tour, a Saudi Arabian-funded enterprise that seeks to change the way that golf is traditionally played.
Scheffler’s outstanding season recalls the accomplishments of golfing legends Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. Ed Gruver’s excellent book, THE WEE ICE MON COMETH, is a reminder of an achievement that many consider the greatest in golf history. In 1953, Ben Hogan won the Triple Crown: the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open. The only other golfer to win three majors in one year was Tiger, but his victories occurred in a different era and under far less difficult circumstances.
"THE WEE ICE MON COMETH accurately portrays an important but often overlooked athletic accomplishment in magnificent fashion. It is a wonderful addition to any sports library."
Gruver opens his account of the 1953 season with a brief but important biographical note about Hogan. Unlike modern golfers who enjoy major sponsorships and financial backing, Hogan started his career with a car and a miniscule bank account. Following years of struggle and a break for service in World War II, he finally found success in golf nearly 10 years after turning pro. It was not until 1946 and 1948 that he won major titles (the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship).
Then, in early 1949, while driving from Arizona to Texas, Hogan and his wife, Valerie, were nearly killed in an automobile accident. Gruver deftly uses this information as background for those perhaps less familiar with Hogan’s career. It seamlessly sets the stage for the 1953 championship season that would end with Hogan receiving a ticker-tape parade in New York City following his return from Great Britain.
For each of the three tournaments involved in Hogan's Triple Crown, Gruver pens an introductory chapter that addresses the status of the golfing world that year. As the 1952 season concluded, 40-year-old Hogan was facing questions regarding his game. He had failed to win either the Masters or the U.S. Open. Although he wasn’t too old to be a professional athlete, his car accident placed great physical limitations on his golfing abilities.
Discussing the 1953 season, Gruver begins with some informative history regarding Augusta National Golf Club. In 1930, Bobby Jones won the open and amateur championships in both the United States and Great Britain. He then retired from competitive golf with the dream of building and creating a golf course in his home state of Georgia. He hired architect Alister MacKenzie to replicate what he considered to be the essence of the great courses he had played in the US and the UK. Each year in April, golfers travel to Augusta for a storied and revered tournament.
Hogan began his preparation for the 1953 Masters with weeks of practice at the course. Modern professional golfers have weekly events with million-dollar purses. In Hogan’s era, there were not that many tournaments, so he could focus on an event such as the Masters. There is a full account of his victory at Augusta and the additional fact that he told his wife that he would enter the British Open if he won the U.S. Open in June.
And win it he did. The 1953 U.S. Open was held in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. It was a difficult and lengthy course made even more so for Hogan because at that time it concluded with 36 holes of golf on the final day. His injuries from the accident meant additional preparation for a round of golf, which included soaking his legs and wrapping them with Ace bandages. Once again, Gruver sets the scene admirably and recounts Hogan’s victory. He led after every round and joined a small group of four-time winners there.
The final section is the trip to England and his triumph at the British Open at Carnoustie. Once again, Gruver furnishes readers with history, personalities and a detailed account of Hogan’s preparation and play as he secured a victory that made him a sports legend.
THE WEE ICE MON COMETH accurately portrays an important but often overlooked athletic accomplishment in magnificent fashion. It is a wonderful addition to any sports library.
Teaser
It is considered by many the greatest season in golf history. In 1953, Ben Hogan provided a fitting exclamation point to his miraculous comeback from a near-fatal auto accident by becoming the first player to win golf’s Triple Crown --- the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open --- within a span of four months. It was closer than anyone had gotten to the modern-day Grand Slam of winning all four of golf’s major tournaments. THE WEE ICE MON COMETH is the first book to detail Hogan’s historic accomplishment. Ed Gruver weaves together interviews with members of Hogan’s family, golf historians, playing partners and business partners, along with extensive research and eyewitness accounts of each tournament.
Promo
It is considered by many the greatest season in golf history. In 1953, Ben Hogan provided a fitting exclamation point to his miraculous comeback from a near-fatal auto accident by becoming the first player to win golf’s Triple Crown --- the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open --- within a span of four months. It was closer than anyone had gotten to the modern-day Grand Slam of winning all four of golf’s major tournaments. THE WEE ICE MON COMETH is the first book to detail Hogan’s historic accomplishment. Ed Gruver weaves together interviews with members of Hogan’s family, golf historians, playing partners and business partners, along with extensive research and eyewitness accounts of each tournament.
About the Book
It is considered by many the greatest season in golf history. In 1953, Ben Hogan provided a fitting exclamation point to his miraculous comeback from a near-fatal auto accident by becoming the first player to win golf’s Triple Crown --- the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open --- within a span of four months. It was closer than anyone had gotten to the modern-day Grand Slam of winning all four of golf’s major tournaments.
THE WEE ICE MON COMETH is the first book to detail Hogan’s historic accomplishment. His 1953 season remains the world’s greatest, and golfers seek to match his achievement every year. Bobby Jones in 1930 and Tiger Woods in 2000–2001 achieved comparable “slams,” but the Hogan Slam stands alone due to the car crash four years before that left Hogan on shattered legs. He nonetheless won with record-setting performances on three of the most challenging courses in the world: Augusta National at the Masters, the U.S. Open at Oakmont and the British Open at Carnoustie, Scotland. Ed Gruver weaves together interviews with members of Hogan’s family, golf historians, playing partners and business partners, along with extensive research and eyewitness accounts of each tournament.
Seventy years after his historic feat, the Hogan Slam still serves as a symbol for the many comebacks Hogan had to make throughout his life --- his father’s death by suicide when Ben was a boy, desperate days during the Great Depression, frustrating failures in tournaments early in his career, and the horrific accident that nearly killed him just as he was finally reaching the pinnacle of his profession.
