HHI
May 4, 2022
A cloudy day. And high humidity. The kind of day that zaps my energy. The heat feels good -- I am glad I have an air conditioned place to sleep. Last summer when I was in the heatwave in Oregon -- boy, it was tough to sleep.
I finally made it to Hudson's Seafood. The gumbo was awesome -- the fish & chips weren't. When you've have had fish & chips in Scotland, nothing else quite measures up.
As I was walking to my truck after lunch, a fellow commented on my stickers and asked me what I thought of Sweetens Cove. The conversation turned to the book, The Match, which is about a match played among
Nelson/Hogan/Venturi/another amateur in 1956. The fellow, who was wearing a Wake polo, said this year is the 66th anniversary of him caddying for Hogan. It wasn't clear to me whether he was saying he was Hogan's caddy for The Match or another time. By the time I had processed what he had said, he was nearing the restaurant.
So absent any other information, I'm going with a met the fellow who caddied for Hogan at The Match!
Here is a description from the sales pitch for the book, The Match.
In 1956, a casual bet between two millionaires eventually pitted two of the greatest golfers of the era — Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan — against top amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi.
The year: 1956. Decades have passed since Eddie Lowery came to fame as the ten-year-old caddie to U.S. Open Champion Francis Ouimet. Now a wealthy car dealer and avid supporter of amateur golf, Lowery has just made a bet with fellow millionaire George Coleman. Lowery claims that two of his employees, amateur golfers Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi, cannot be beaten in a best-ball match, and challenges Coleman to bring any two golfers of his choice to the course at 10 a.m. the next day to settle the issue. Coleman accepts the challenge and shows up with his own power team: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, the game's greatest living professionals, with fourteen major championships between them.
In Mark Frost's peerless hands, complete with the recollections of all the participants, the story of this immortal foursome and the game they played that day-legendarily known in golf circles as the greatest private match ever played-comes to life with powerful, emotional impact and edge-of-your-seat suspense.
That conversation put me in the mood to hit some golf balls so I headed over the First Tee Lowcountry facility located on Hilton Head. What a find! A $10 donation (or nothing if you are associated with First Tee) you get access to unlimited range balls, a putting green and a six-hole chip & putt course. The facility reminded me of the First Tee facility in Richmond. After some range balls and the chip & putt course, I was soaked (temperature and humidity) and headed back to Base Camp.
The sun is peeking out -- time to go to the beach.
SO WHO WON?!?!?!?