Professor reveals Ben Hogan’s secret swing
Bowler hits hole in one with new book

By James Laber
J-School Web Reporter

“My phone rings and it’s a guy named Tom Bertrand in San Diego, says he has 30 pages of golf instruction notes based on secret teaching of the legendary Ben Hogan and he wants some help getting it written properly,” Printer Bowler tells me between sips of coffee at Break Espresso. “I’m a bit skeptical because tons have been written about Hogan’s ‘secret’ – yet nobody seems to know what it is. I start asking him questions and it soon becomes clear that he really does have intriguing new insights on this famous subject.  So I agree to help and we start organizing ourselves for the task.”

photo by Lizz Rauf

Printer Bowler gives his News Editing II class a brief history of everything digital.

The “task” for Bowler, who graduated from the J-School in 1963 and now teaches publication design here, was organizing dozens of pages of writing and data collected by Bertrand into a single cohesive book titled “The Secret of Hogan’s Swing.”

The book is the fifth by Bowler and has sold more than 8,500 copies since it hit shelves in late September of last year. It was nearly a three-year process from Bertrand’s call to publication of the hardcover book.

Bertrand contacted Bowler after an Internet search turned up another book Bowler had written, “The Cosmic Laws of Golf (and everything else).” Bertrand told Bowler he couldn’t give him any money up front, but wanted his help in writing the book and getting it published.

“As a writer and golfer, I wanted to be in on this and said ‘OK, I’ll do it on spec,’ ” said Bowler.

Working on the project felt like a major investigative reporting assignment, he said. Bowler was “the hard-driving sports editor” and Bertrand the “go-get-it reporter.”

“I relished the feeling of being back in the slot on the news desk following leads and nailing down facts,” said Bowler. “We dug up hundreds of reports and anecdotes to fill out the larger story implied in Tom’s notes. When we first started he had no clue that his initial 30-page idea would evolve into a full-length book.”

Bertrand was a student of former PGA tour pro John Schlee, one of only a handful of golfers to receive extended first-hand tutelage from Hogan. Hogan, whom many regard as one of the all-time greats in golf, is often credited with the invention of the modern golf swing. But to have a swing as successful as Hogan’s, one needs the secret.

“There are actually two secrets,” said Bowler. “One is to follow your own interests and work your ass off and you will find your own magic. That’s a huge secret; in fact all the other secrets of golf, and life, begin with self realization.”

The second secret is more mundane, if not less important. It contains “simple moves with the arms, the left elbow in particular.” Many analysts and golf gurus knew about Hogan’s incredible work ethic, but didn’t have the “missing piece” that Bowler had to complete the puzzle. 

While working on the book, Bowler and Bertrand did not meet face to face until six months after the book was sold to John Wiley & Sons Publishing, more than two years after the initial phone call from Bertrand.  All contact between the two during that time was through cell phone and e-mail.

“This was my first totally cyber-age deal,” said Bowler. “I know it’s a ‘flat’ world, pretty much leveled by instant communications technology. But I grew up in a round one. Even though this project worked out great, I still like to seal my deals with a look in the eye and a handshake.”

Bowler said he will continue to write in between class sessions, but isn’t sure what his next book topic will be.

“It won’t be a golf book, that’s for sure,” he said.

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