Technology has come a long way since the days of Ben Hogan.
On Tuesday, ahead of this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, Rickie Fowler and three members of the crew from Dude Perfect, the sports and comedy group, played Colonial Country Club’s famed “Horrible Horseshoe,” the nickname for hole Nos. 3-5, with Hogan’s clubs from the 1950s.
Fowler estimated that Hogan’s persimmon driver flew 20 yards shorter than his Cobra gamer.
“With the current ball, it isn’t as much as you would think if you hit it out of the middle,” he said. “Irons are still irons but it’s the mishits where the difference is most noticeable.”
He noted, “The amount of precision it took with the old ball and old equipment is very different compared to today.”
Throwback equipment has developed a niche following in recent years and Fowler is a fan of teeing it up with equipment from another era.
“I still love going back and playing with some old stuff I have,” Fowler said. “It makes hitting current stuff especially driver feel a lot more inviting.”
As for Tyler Toney, Garrett Hilbert and Coby Cotton of Dude Perfect – whose YouTube channel has more than 60 million subscribers – Fowler said they held their own.
“They did not embarrass themselves,” Fowler said. “Ty is the best of the group but Garrett and Colby hit some solid shots considering their handicaps.”
Fowler noted a couple shots were not so great but he cut them some slack as they weren’t given a chance to warm-up with the Hogan relics. Dude Perfect also played in the Wednesday pro-am with Keegan Bradley and K.H. Lee.
Like 60 million others, @Keegan_Bradley's sons are huge fans of @DudePerfect.
Today, their dad got to tee it up with them at the @CSChallengeFW pro-am 😊 pic.twitter.com/3zIn0j5D5n
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 22, 2024
The Hogan clubs also made their way to the range at Colonial, where Rafa Campos and Justin Rose put them through their paces.
“They look small, no doubt. No room for error, and yeah, very sharp. Everything is very straight-edged,” Rose said of the irons.
“Why can’t we go back to this?” Campos said after hitting a driver.
Rose took one look at Hogan’s short stick and said, “I mean, no wonder he didn’t enjoy putting.”
A throwback range session 🏌️♂️
Rafa Campos and @JustinRose99 tested out Ben Hogan's clubs before teeing it up @CSChallengeFW. pic.twitter.com/b0Teu69N2E
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 22, 2024
