Walter Hagen - sartorial elegance personified

Walter Hagen was sartorial elegance personified in the early days of the golden age of golf.

Hagen was the first sportsman to make the best dressed list and the first to make a million dollars.

When the discussion involves golf, names like Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones come to mind. But let me tell you about the man, who I consider the most important in the game when it comes to sartorial musings. With a dashing style in play and the finest threads money could buy, "The Haig" as he was referred to, ruled the fairways like no one ever had and to this point no one ever has. His famous line: "I never wanted to be a millionaire. I just want to live like one." has made it in not only the vocabulary of golfers but our populace at large.

At age five Walter began playing the game in the family's cow pasture. "I would herd the cows all in one spot where I made the hole, so they could eat the grass and make a close putting surface." One wonders if this was the reason he became known as the greatest pressure putter of his era. Hagen developed his taste for the finest things in life at the exclusive country clubs where he would caddy. Tall and handsome with sleek black hair, he was always nattily attired in an individual manner only Walter could pull off. His expertise at golf allowed him to mingle with the elite on the course, but in those days golfers were not allowed entry in the clubs themselves, especially in England.

When Hagen made his first trip to The British Open in 1920, he shocked the elite by having champagne delivered to his Rolls Royce limousine parked in the club's driveway. In those days professional golfers were only allowed in the side or back door, so Hagen made a point of not going into the clubhouse at all. His clashes with the establishment on both sides of the Atlantic were legendary, but it elevated the game of Golf and its best players to a new level. His unrivaled flamboyance and colorful personality attracted increased sponsorship dollars to the game, eliciting Hagen's great friend and fierce rival Gene Sarazen to comment: "All the players who stretch a check between their fingers should say a silent prayer to Walter Hagen. It was Walter who made professional golf what it is."

His tailored look with the finest wools and cashmeres, plus-fours and two tone spectators made Walter Hagen a recognizable sports icon on both sides of the Atlantic. The golf fans in Great Britain took a great liking to the man, who single handedly brought a sense of style, color and elegance to the great game of golf. A stark contrast to the English country clothes in drab browns and gray, considered the appropriate uniform for the game. Walter Hagen backed up his flamboyant appearance with a game feared by his opponents, especially in match play. He won 11 major golf Championships, of which 5 PGA Championships in a time when it was contested in the match play format. Hagen was a crooked driver of the ball, but owned a short game that forced this irritated statement from Bobby Jones: "When a man misses his drive, then misses his second shot and then wins the hole with a birdie, it get's my goat." It came after Hagen delivered Jones' most lopsided defeat in a 72-hole "World Championship" on Florida in 1926. Hagen called it: "My greatest thrill in golf."

The legacy Walter Hagen leaves behind can be best illustrated with some heartfelt comments of the greatest of his contemporaries from the world of golf and the world of life.

Former President Dwight Eisenhower: "Your achievements at home and in Great Britain have earned you both the PGA's Hall of Fame and an enduring place in the affection of all for your stout heart and great talent."

Ben Hogan: "Without you, golf would not be what it is today. I give you my deepest thanks."
But the current King of golf Arnold Palmer said it best: "The biggest thrill I got when I set a British Open record of 276 strokes at Troon, was to have Walter Hagen phone me from Traverse City to congratulate me. I didn't even know The Haig knew I was alive until then."
Arnold Palmer paid the ultimate tribute to Hagen, by being one of his pall bearers after his death on Oct. 6, 1969.

May we give Sir Walter his rightful place in the golf conversation today ... One of the greatest players of all time, but most definitely the greatest dresser of all time.

Auke