48 Tri State Golf | Fall 2023 Ben Hogan only played in one Open Championship, but he left an indelible mark on Scotland’s east coast because of how he won the game’s oldest major and how he prepared for it. The Hawk famously captured the 1953 Open at Carnoustie Golf Links by shooting a final-round 68 while battling the flu. He topped four men by four shots in his lone voyage to Scotland, which came four years after an automobile accident that nearly killed him. That journey, however, began two weeks earlier when Hogan, accompanied only by his caddy, Cecil Timms, arrived at Panmure Golf Club to acclimatise to the terrain of links golf and to acquaint himself with the smaller 1.62 inch British ball that was used at the time. Ben Hogan was the only participant in the Open given the privilege of playing at Panmure Golf Club. Panmure, at that time, was an extremely private Club and Hogan was able to practice away from the prying eyes of the public and the press. Legend has it that Hogan studied Macdonald Smith’s swing intently to improve his own. Macdonald Smith and his family started life in Barry, Carnoustie, before emigrating to America in 1908. Smith is widely regarded as one of the best players of all time who never won a major championship. When he returned to Panmure in 1931 to qualify for the first Open Championship at Carnoustie, Smith set a new course record of 70. Panmure is a historic Scottish club, only 1.5 miles from Carnoustie Golf Links and a 45-minute drive from St. Andrews. It was founded in 1845 by a collection of 17 gentlemen and the Club’s name and shell logo come from the close connection with the Maule Ramsay family. The Rt. Hon Earl of Dalhousie remains the Club’s honorary president and King George VI accepted honorary membership of the Club in 1930. Panmure is the world’s 21st oldest golf club and moved to its current site in Barry in 1899. The original layout was designed by Old Tom Morris and constructed by R. Duff of Edinburgh, who also built the New course at St Andrews and Muirfield. Many of the original holes remain. Five-time Open champion James Braid gave suggestions for modifications in the SCOTLAND GOLF TRAVEL Experience Panmure Golf Club On Your Next Scotland Golf Trip Walk in the steps of legendary Ben Hogan where he prepared for the 1953 Open
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