Born, raised, educated and a lifelong resident of Denver, Dan Hogan may have been the most golf-savvy individual ever inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. In fact, nobody ever had been more appropriately named than this Hogan. It is doubtful, too, if anybody in this state, maybe even in the state of Texas, was better grounded in the history and methodology of World Golf Hall of Famer Ben Hogan (no relation) than this Regis High School and University product.
The retired Burlington & Northern railroader was to Colorado golf what Donald Ross was to golf course architecture. A well-trophied player and a walking encyclopedia of history, Hogan knew Colorado golf from its dusty crabgrass roots to the most delicately manicured venues, and he traveled all the paths as a class competitor. He played in the British Amateur Championships of 1970 and 1977, and qualified six times for the U.S. Public Links Championships, three times as the local qualifying medalist.
Cutting his golf teeth in the caddie shacks of Park Hill and City Park, Hogan won the Denver Municipal Course title in 1963, ’64 and ’69. He was runner-up in 1961 and ’64. He won the old Overland Four-ball with Don Chavez in 1973; won the City Park Open of 1973; 10 times was City Park Club champ, three times Los Verdes champion and once club champion at Foothills.
But Dan’s contributions to golf far exceeded his consummate playing talents. He was local chairman of the United States Golf Association Public Links Committee for six years and served on the mayor’s Golf Advisory Committee in the 1960s and 1970s. He spent 10 years on the Colorado Golf Association’s Board of Governors and has served four terms as president of the board for the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Additionally, Dan spent two terms as president at City Park, where he was a member 20 years, and served in many other capacities in his four years at Park Hill and 20 at Los Verdes.
Accumulating thousands of golf books and artifacts over the years, Dan turned his Denver home into a Hall of Fame in its own right, and in 2018 he donated his extensive golf library to the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame. Dan passed away September 20, 2021, 11 days shy of his 91st birthday.
2015 Lifetime Achievement
This walking encyclopedia of Colorado golf has for decades served as chairman of the Hall of Fame’s historical committee and the curator, contributor and watchdog for its showcases during the Hall’s 17 years at Brighton’s Riverdale Golf Courses.
