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 WALTER J. TRAVIS
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER J. TRAVIS 
 
 ILL USTRA TED FROM 
 PHOTOGRAPHS 
 
 NEH~ <~-- REVISED EDITION 
 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
 
 Copyright, 1901, 1909, by HARPER & BROTHERS. 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 F-0
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. STANCE AND GRIP i 
 
 II. THE SWING 17 
 
 III. THE LONG GAME 30 
 
 THE SECOND SHOT 35 
 
 IV. APPROACHING 42 
 
 V. PUTTING 63 
 
 VI. PUTTING Continued 76 
 
 VII. PLAYING OUT OF HAZARDS .... 87 
 
 VIII. GENERAL REMARKS 97 
 
 IX. CLUBS 108 
 
 X. CLUB SHAFTS 121 
 
 THE BRASSEY AND OTHER CLUBS. . 124 
 
 XI. BALLS 134 
 
 XII. CADDIES 147 
 
 XIII. THE CONSTRUCTION AND UPKEEP OF 
 
 COURSES 151 
 
 XIV. PUTTING-GREENS 165 
 
 XV. HANDICAPPING 178 
 
 XVI. HAZARDS Additional 187 
 
 XVII. ALUMINUM CLUBS 198 
 
 THE RULES OF GOLF 203 
 
 DEFINITIONS 705 
 
 GENERAL AND THROUGH THE GREEN . . . 209 
 
 958512
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE RULES OF GOLF (Continued}: 
 
 HAZARDS AND CASUAL WATER 223 
 
 PUTTING-GREEN 226 
 
 GENERAL PENALTY 231 
 
 DISPUTES 231 
 
 SPECIAL RULES FOR MATCH PLAY COM- 
 PETITIONS 232 
 
 RULES FOR THREE-BALL, BEST BALL, AND 
 
 FOUR-BALL MATCHES 233 
 
 SPECIAL RULES FOR STROKE COMPETITIONS 236 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LOCAL RULES . . 246 
 
 FORM AND MAKE OF GOLF CLUBS . . . 246 
 
 ETIQUETTE OF GOLF 247 
 
 INDEX OF RULES . 249
 
 ILL US TRA T I O N S 
 From photographs by T. C. Turner 
 
 WALTER J. TRAVIS Frontispiece 
 
 DRIVING? 
 
 PLAYING OFF THE LEFT LEG . ) PAGE 
 
 PLAYING OFF THE RIGHT LEG > 5 
 
 STANDING SQUARE ) 
 
 CLUB GRIPS 9 
 
 THE SWING 15, l6 
 
 TOP OF SWING. . . ) 
 
 FINISH OF DRIVE ) ' 25 
 
 PLAYING A HANGING LIE 37 
 
 TOP OF SWING CLEEK SHOT . . . ) 
 FINISH OF SWING CLEEK SHOT f ' 
 
 APPROACHING: 
 
 ADDRESS FOR MASHIE SHOT, 100 YARDS } 
 
 TOP OF SWING > 47 
 
 FINISH OF SWING ) 
 
 GRIP FOR APPROACHING 50 
 
 ADDRESS FOR MASHIE SHOT, 60-80 YARDS 
 
 TOP OF SWING f 51 
 
 FINISH OF SWING 
 
 ADDRESS FOR A BAD LIE 
 
 TOP OF STROKE ^ .,,,.. 57 
 
 FINISH OF STROKE 
 
 V
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 PUTTING: 
 
 PUTTING OFF THE LEFT LEG . } PAGR 
 
 PUTTING OFF THE RIGHT LEG > 69 
 
 STANDING SQUARE ) 
 
 PUTTING GRIP 72 
 
 CUTTING TO THE LEFT . 
 
 CUTTING TO THE RIGHT / 8l 
 
 LOFTING A STYMIE 
 
 PLAYING OUT OF HAZARDS: 
 
 A.DDRESS FOR BUNKER SHOT } 
 
 TOP OF STROKE f 89 
 
 FINISH OF STROKE.. 
 
 CLUBS MODERN DRIVERS 114, 115 
 
 BALLS. 134-137 
 
 A TYPICAL CADDIE 148
 
 IN T R O D U C TION 
 
 THE articles in the following pages first 
 appeared in serial numbers in Golf, and 
 met with such gratifying encouragement that 
 I have been led to present them in a compre- 
 hensive form. 
 
 Their aim is to diffuse some practical knowl- 
 edge of the "why and wherefore" of Golf, in 
 order to the better assist in working a gen- 
 eral improvement in play. 
 
 With this hope this volume is dedicated to 
 all lovers of the game. 
 
 WALTER J. TRAVIS.
 
 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 
 
 WITH the ink scarce yet dry it becomes nec- 
 essary to issue a second edition, and I frankly 
 own that I gratefully appreciate the ready rec- 
 ognition which the first met with. The origi- 
 nal work remains intact, with the exception 
 of a few verbal corrections. 
 
 Growing out of more extended observation 
 and experience, a new chapter has been added 
 on "Hazards"; also new chapters concerning 
 the development of the "Haskell" ball and 
 the introduction of aluminum clubs. 
 
 W. J. T. 
 
 Feb. 14, 1902.
 
 PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION 
 
 THE universal use of the rubber-core ball 
 has made it advisable to recast the chapter 
 on "Balls," and some entirely new matter 
 on the general subject of the modern ball 
 has been added. The new Rules of Golf, 
 together with the interpretations made by 
 the U. S. G. A. in 1909, are appended, in 
 place of the old code.
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 i 
 
 STANCE AND GRIP 
 
 THE main object in the game of golf is to 
 get the ball into the hole in the fewest possible 
 number of strokes. I do not, therefore, pur- 
 pose entering into any account of the history 
 of the game, but will simply, in a practical 
 way, confine myself to an endeavor to assist 
 the player who has passed the rudimentary 
 stage by describing in detail, as concisely 
 as possible, not only the several ways of mak- 
 ing the various strokes, but also the more 
 common causes of failure. 
 
 It was my misfortune or was it my good 
 luck? to take up golf without the assistance 
 of professional coaching or the aid of any 
 good player, and that, too, at a somewhat 
 advanced age, regarded from a golfing stand-
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 point. Appreciating after a few attempts 
 my comparative helplessness, I first provided 
 myself with all the available literature on 
 the subject, and after digesting, as well as 
 the circumstances would permit, the manifold 
 instructions laid down by several eminent 
 writers, I then endeavored to discover by as 
 constant practice as permitted which particu- 
 lar method best suited me and promised the 
 best results. 
 
 Of course this involved a w r orld of experi- 
 menting before any fairly well-defined style 
 was finally evolved, but all this experimental 
 practice was not by any means thrown away. 
 It brought me into actual touch with a variety 
 of ways of making the different strokes and 
 producing the desired results, and, best of 
 all, gave me a fairly clear insight into the 
 true relation of cause and effect valuable 
 information in times of stress. If I happened 
 to top, sclaff, slice, or pull, or do any of the 
 things which I had better left undone, it did 
 not take me long to locate the actual trouble 
 and to apply a remedy. 
 
 It is therefore a question in my mind whether 
 I am not better off as a result of all the enforced 
 groping at fundamentals, and having been 
 forced to work out my own salvation, than if 
 
 2
 
 STANCE AND GRIP 
 
 I had started under more favorable condi- 
 tions, and had the benefit of the ordinary 
 professional instruction procurable. Which 
 leads me to remark, en passant, that as a 
 general rule the average professional, while 
 he may be a good player, lacks the faculty 
 of imparting proper information to beginners. 
 He can again and again give one a practical 
 illustration of how a certain stroke should be 
 made, having, as a rule, learned the game 
 imitatively when young, and making the 
 shot intuitively without troubling himself 
 to analyze the why and wherefore, but when 
 it comes to dissecting the stroke and explain- 
 ing the producing causes well, that's an- 
 other matter, and usually unsatisfactory to 
 one of an investigating turn of mind. 
 
 Nevertheless, for the general run of be- 
 ginners a professional coach is necessary 
 Necessity for the cultivation of a proper st3 7 le at 
 Q3 * d the start if any degree of proficiency is 
 style sought. If left to himself the tyro is 
 very apt to sacrifice future possibilities of ac- 
 quiring the art of making a stroke properly 
 and which can only be attained by constant 
 practice of what at first seems the hardest and 
 most unnatural way in favor of what ap- 
 pears the easiest. He wants to "get there." 
 
 3
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 He does, after a fashion. He arrives quickly 
 at a certain stage of mediocrity, but improve- 
 ment beyond such a point is extremely diffi- 
 cult, if not impossible. And before any sub- 
 stantial or permanent improvement can be 
 effected, he will require to unlearn a good 
 deal, and start afresh on correct principles. 
 
 On the other hand, the player who models 
 his game on the lines of first-class players 
 will find improvement comparatively slow, 
 but having developed a correct method and 
 sticking to it, improvement is bound to follow, 
 and he will have acquired a style which can 
 be fairly depended upon to decrease his handi- 
 cap. All good players work practically on 
 the same basic principles. There are of course 
 certain individual mannerisms and peculiari- 
 ties, but underneath all these the bed-rock 
 of the stroke is substantially the same. It 
 matters little whether one plays off the right 
 leg, the left leg, or stands square; the stroke 
 is fundamentally the same, with some slight 
 modifications, more or less effective. 
 
 Let us now proceed to consider the drive, and 
 
 endeavor to illuminate its most salient 
 stlnce features. The position or stance taken 
 
 for making the stroke has more or less 
 influence on the flight of the ball. These po- 
 
 4
 
 y
 
 STANCE AND GRIP 
 
 sitions are usually known as playing off the 
 right leg, standing square, or off the left leg. 
 Dealing with the former, which is that most 
 usually adopted probably for the reason that 
 the player can see better the proper direction, 
 and feels less liable to send the ball flying off 
 at a tangent the right foot is placed more 
 or less in advance of the left, parallel with the 
 line of play, and according to the extent to 
 which the right foot is advanced so is the 
 weight of the body transferred. 
 
 In standing square both feet are on the 
 same line, and the weight rests equally on 
 each. Off the left leg means that the right 
 foot is withdrawn, being more or less back 
 of the left, and the weight of the body rests 
 more or less on the latter. 
 
 I rather favor driving off the left leg, as it 
 appears easier to get the arms and body around 
 in the upward swing without the hitch which 
 one seems to encounter about three-quarters 
 of the way up when the right foot is in front. 
 Apart from this, however, there is very little 
 difference in actual results of length of drive. 
 The ease and rapidity with which the weight 
 of the body and arms is transferred from the 
 left leg to the right and back again, joined to 
 wrist action concerning which reference will 
 
 7
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 later be made are largely, if not wholly, re- 
 sponsible for long driving. If one man can ac- 
 complish this more easily and naturally by a 
 certain stance, then by all means let him stick 
 to it. It matters little whether he now and 
 then slices or pulls with more or less frequency ; 
 these faults are not the outgrowth of any of 
 the styles referred to, but proceed from other 
 causes which will be dealt with in due course. 
 
 Reference to the first illustration shows 
 that the right foot is a few inches back of the 
 left. An inch or so either way matters little, 
 but the more the right is advanced, the greater 
 is the check towards getting the arms and body 
 around, and the upward swing is curtailed 
 accordingly, and the distance of the resultant 
 stroke shortened. So clearly is this recog- 
 nized that by far the large majority of good 
 players instinctively control and regulate 
 their approach shots in this manner. The 
 shorter the distance to be traversed, the more 
 the right foot is advanced, as a general rule. 
 With but few exceptions the very longest 
 drivers have the right foot slightly back of 
 the left. So much for the stance. Now for 
 the grip. 
 
 Reference to Fig. 4 shows that the club 
 rests more at the base of the fingers, while 
 
 8
 
 FIG. 
 
 FIG. 5 
 
 FIG. 6
 
 STANCE AND GRIP 
 
 Fig. 5 indicates a firmer grip well in the palms 
 
 of the hands. The latter is, in my opinion, 
 
 more conducive to greater power and 
 
 Concern- 
 ing the productive of longer distance. Fig. 6 
 
 shows a still sturdier grip, with both 
 hands, more in the palms and with the knuc- 
 kles well under. This style is more affected 
 by cricketers and baseball-players, but is open 
 to the objection that it induces a tendency to 
 hit the ball with tautened muscles, and dis- 
 courages a proper follow through. Nor does 
 it permit of a sufficiently free play of the 
 wrists, which is absolutely essential to long 
 driving. 
 
 The relation of the hands to each other is 
 a very important point. If the left hand is 
 held with the knuckles under, as shown in 
 Fig. 6, the right hand must also be gripped 
 well under ; otherwise, if held with the knuckles 
 not so far around, as shown in Fig. 4, an 
 almost certain slice will be the result. In- 
 versely, if the left hand grips as in Fig. 4, 
 and the right as in Fig. 6, a pull will result. 
 The reason is simple and apparent. By way 
 of practical illustration rest the club squarely 
 on the ground, held lightly in the tips of the 
 fingers, with the face at a right angle to the 
 line of play, then grip with the left hand only, 
 
 ii
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 with the knuckles well under; withdraw the 
 club a yard or so and bring it back to its orig- 
 inal position, and it will be found to have the 
 face turned outward slightly to the right. 
 Unless the grip of the right hand also has the 
 knuckles well under, the hands are not acting 
 in unison, and the ball will go to the right. 
 On the other hand, if the club be held with the 
 right hand only, with the knuckles well under, 
 and the same operation repeated, it will be 
 found that the face of the club will be slightly 
 turned in and a pull will be the outcome. This 
 matter of grip is one of the most pregnant 
 causes of slicing and pulling. There are 
 others of comparatively lesser importance, 
 however, which will be treated further on. 
 Perhaps the best guide to insure the proper 
 relation of the hands is to grip with both hands, 
 with the knuckles well up, so that the Vs 
 formed by the junction of the thumb and first 
 finger of each hand are in a straight line as 
 viewed by the plaj^er looking down the shaft. 
 This position, however, is cramped and un- 
 comfortable, and is not recommended, ex- 
 cept for the purpose mentioned. Now it is 
 important to remember that in changing from 
 the position described, as the left hand is 
 turned towards the left, outwardly, the right 
 
 12
 
 STANCE AND GRIP 
 
 hand must also be turned to the right, out- 
 wardly, in a corresponding degree. If either 
 hand is allowed to turn more than the other 
 the face of the club will not present a true 
 right angle to the ball, and a slice or pull 
 will the more likely be produced, as the case 
 may be. 
 
 The laws of motion are unchangeable, and 
 a ball hit in exactly the same manner each 
 time will follow the same course again and 
 again without the slightest variation. To 
 do this, however, is extremely difficult, if not 
 impossible, and therein lies half, or perhaps 
 more than half, of the fascination of the game. 
 It is human nature to be forever striving for 
 the unattainable in golf, to repeat at every 
 hole that magnificent drive, that approach 
 w r hich came within an ace of holing out and 
 which is absolutely dead, or that putt a dozen 
 or so yards off which found the bottom of the 
 tin, and was destined to do so from the start. 
 During the round one or more of these perfect 
 strokes occur, even to the veriest tyro, and 
 their successful accomplishment tends to make 
 large amends for the far greater number of 
 badly executed shots, and to keep alive the 
 keen desire to duplicate them if not at this 
 hole, at the next if not to-day, to-morrow. 
 
 13
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 After this digression it is time to revert 
 to the unfinished question of the grip. As a 
 general rule the left hand should grip some- 
 what more firmly than the right. At the same 
 time the club should be held pretty tightly 
 with both hands. Gripping tightly with the 
 right hand is apt to cause pulling, due either 
 to the tendency to slightly turn the face of the 
 club in at the moment of impact with the ball, 
 or to the difficulty of going properly through 
 and bringing the arms around instead of letting 
 them go freely away after the ball. If a man 
 is constantly pulling, a remedy may be found 
 by holding the club more loosely in the right 
 hand. If, however, this does not correct the 
 trouble he will probably find that he is grip- 
 ping wrong either too far around with the 
 right hand or not far enough with the left, 
 usually the former. If, on the other hand, 
 he is slicing, he will almost assuredly effect 
 a cure by gripping tightly with the right hand, 
 or by paying closer attention to the harmo- 
 nious grip of both hands, as already touched 
 upon, and by following through properly. In 
 this connection, however, it is proper to add 
 that other causes may lie at the root of 
 the trouble than those already mentioned. 
 These will be taken up when the matters of 
 
 14
 
 STANCE AND GRIP 
 
 swing and the relative position of the player 
 to the ball are gone into. 
 
 Having thus far disposed of the questions 
 of stance and grip, I will endeavor to ana- 
 lyze the swing. Too much stress can- 
 sw^ng n t be l a id on the importance of utiliz- 
 ing the wrists properly. Reference to 
 Fig. 7 shows the club about half-way up to the 
 shoulder. Comparison with Fig. 8 discloses 
 several points of dissimilarity. In the first the 
 bands and arms have been taken up straight, 
 and the club's face is looking more squareh 7 
 at the ball. The knuckles of both hands are 
 in practically the same position as when the 
 
 Fir,. 7 
 
 ball was addressed, whereas in the succeeding 
 illustration it will be seen that the club face 
 
 15
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 is turned more away from the ball, and the 
 knuckles of both hands have turned corre- 
 
 FIG. 8 
 
 spondingly. In the former case the wrists 
 have been held rigid, while in the latter they 
 have been allowed, in a perfectly natural 
 manner, to turn. This turn of the wrist 
 exercises considerable influence on the speed 
 of the swing, accelerating it in a very marked 
 degree imparting velocity in the downward 
 stroke which cannot so well be secured in 
 any other way. This fact can easily be de- 
 monstrated by swinging a cane or a headless 
 shaft, first with the wrists rigid and then 
 supple, \vith the turn described. The dif- 
 ference will be at once apparent.
 
 II 
 
 THE SWING 
 
 THE wrist movement may be said to be 
 
 mainly contributed by the left hand in its 
 
 The Part initial stages, the right wrist following 
 
 in unison. At the top of the swing the 
 
 Wrists 
 
 perform knuckles of the left hand will be tying 
 almost flat and uppermost, the toe of the club 
 pointing almost straight down to the ground. 
 The trouble with the large majority of players 
 who do not drive well proceeds from the fear 
 that if the face of the club is allowed to be 
 diverted in the upward swing from the angle 
 at which the ball was addressed if, in other 
 words, it is turned in any way a slice will 
 result. Consequently it is carried up straight 
 and the stroke is robbed of a great deal of power. 
 There need be no such fear. Start the wrists 
 right in the upward movement and they will 
 take care of themselves in the downward swing, 
 if left alone. If the turn is hurried, however, 
 
 17
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 the face of the club will be turned slightly 
 in and the ball foundered or pulled, while if 
 the turn is not made soon enough a slice will 
 result, owing to the club face pointing some- 
 what to the right. 
 
 After the ball is struck, everything syn- 
 chronizing harmoniously, the hands and arms 
 should be allowed to go well forward, and about 
 half-way on the follow through the wrists will 
 again perform a turn exactly the reverse of 
 that in the upward swing. Before we arrive 
 at that stage, however, it is proper to say a 
 few words concerning the upward swing. 
 
 With the club gripped pretty firmly with 
 both hands in the manner already described, 
 it is well to see that the whole machinery is in 
 good working order by waggling the club a 
 few times over the ball, allowing the wrists to 
 turn freely, without, however, relaxing the 
 grip. The waggle should be entirely free 
 from any stiffness. Which simply means 
 that the wrists should be brought into active 
 play. Do not on any account in this pre- 
 liminary address lift the club up. Lifting 
 the club presupposes stiffness and rigidity 
 of muscles, and the resultant stroke cannot 
 be thoroughly satisfactory. By means largely 
 of the wrists swing the club back of the ball 
 
 18
 
 THE S IV I N G 
 
 as far as it will go along the ground some 
 three or four inches until the arms assert 
 themselves, and raise it on its upward journey ; 
 continue the swing until the club is about 
 horizontal back of and across the right shoulder, 
 allowing the body to freely turn at the same 
 time in a natural and unassisted manner; 
 keep the head perfectly still, with the eye 
 intently fastened on the ball; and, when the 
 top of the swing is reached, without paus- 
 ing, bring the arms and body around as 
 swiftly as possible and swish the ball away. 
 
 Now there are several things you must not 
 
 do, apart from those mentioned. Do not seek 
 
 to artificially raise the left foot on the 
 
 D^ts' ' oe - Strive rather to keep it rooted 
 
 the natural turn of the shoulders, and 
 
 body rotating to the right will bring it up and 
 
 around. Keep the right leg as stiff and as 
 
 straight as possible. And whatever you do, 
 
 don't move the head. 
 
 The time-honored injunction laid down by 
 
 all writers and teachers to "keep your eye 
 
 on the ball" which eye, by-the-way? 
 
 Keep the J 
 
 Head would be more aptly expressed by 
 
 insisting upon the head being kept 
 
 absolutely still and in the same position as 
 
 in the address until the ball is struck or 
 
 19
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 even a moment after. If the head is kept still 
 no swaying of the body can be indulged in, 
 and hands, arms, and everything must revert 
 to the original position assumed at the com- 
 mencement of the stroke, thus insuring the 
 ball being hit cleanly. If, however, the heac 
 is allowed to move, the chances are that a 
 sclaff or a top will result. If the head is kept 
 in the same position throughout the swing, 
 the player may even go so far as to abso- 
 lutely shut his eyes and be reasonably cer- 
 tain of getting the ball well away, provided no 
 jerk is introduced. Any doubt as to whether 
 the head is moved may easily be satisfied by 
 the player assuming a position with the sun 
 immediately back of him, and watching the 
 shadow of his head during the swing. If the 
 head is shown to move, the swing should be 
 persistently practised until this fault is reme- 
 died. 
 
 It has been suggested that in the upward 
 swing the club should be swept close to the 
 
 Mor( ground. This flattening of the arc of 
 about the the circle will largely prevent any ten- 
 ing dency to strike into the ground back of 
 the ball, for as the club is withdrawn so it will 
 almost assuredly describe the same course in 
 the downward swing. It will furthermore con- 
 
 20
 
 THE SWING 
 
 siderably lessen the chances of driving a high 
 ball. Moreover, the flatter the swing, the 
 greater is the latitude for correction of any 
 error. The accompanying diagrams will il- 
 lustrate this very clearly. 
 
 The swing indicated in Diagram 9 means 
 that the club has been taken more vertically 
 away from the ball in the 
 upward stroke, and has con- 
 sequently been brought down 
 
 -O-- 
 
 FIG 9 straighter. In Diagram 10 
 
 it will be observed that the swing is much 
 flatter, and as the arc of 
 the circle is greater, the 
 club head is moving longer 
 
 in the same plane as the FIG io 
 
 ball, thereby augmenting the chances of hit- 
 ting it more correctly. 
 
 Reference has been made to the introduction 
 of a jerk in the swing. This is generally a sure 
 sign of pressing i. e., suddenly exert- 
 prTss m S more power than usual. The effect 
 usually is to depress the right shoulder, 
 and sclaff badly. If the extra power is har- 
 moniously distributed, no harm is done. As a 
 general thing, however, it is advisable to keep 
 back some reserve force. The man who utilizes 
 his full measure of existent strength at every 
 
 21
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 full stroke is far more liable to drive unsteadily 
 than he who represses such inclination and 
 determines to keep well within his natural 
 limitations, and the few yards occasionally 
 gained by pressing when the shot comes off 
 dp not compensate for the more frequent 
 foozles. 
 
 It is not given to every one to drive a very 
 long ball. The unusually long players possess 
 certain physical advantages which are 
 Diving denied to ordinary mankind in a de- 
 gree. Some naturally are gifted with 
 abnormal wrist power or strength of arms or a 
 very rapid swing, either singly or collectively. 
 All of these qualities may be developed to a 
 certain extent by less favored mortals. Occa- 
 sionally, by a happy conjunction of all the ele- 
 ments that constitute the perfect stroke, an 
 unusually long ball may be driven, but there 
 is a natural average limit to every man's long 
 game, and a full recognition of this fact would 
 save many a wasted stroke. 
 
 Reverting to the question of keeping the 
 eye on the ball, or, in other words, of keeping 
 
 Keep the head still, countless are the strokes 
 y ^ r t ^ e imperfectly made through looking up 
 
 Ban a fraction of a second before the ball 
 is properly struck. This diversion of the eyes 
 
 22
 
 THE SWING 
 
 from the ball causes the head to move, and 
 with it the arms, and the chances of clean 
 hitting are materially lessened. After the ball 
 is struck no power exerted by the eyes can 
 exercise the slightest influence on the ball. 
 To insure the stroke being properly made it 
 is not a bad plan to . keep the eyes fastened 
 on the spot where the ball was before the 
 stroke was completed. 
 
 In the upward swing do not allow the club 
 to go so far back as to lose command of it. 
 It is not really the length alone of the back- 
 ward swing that contributes distance so much 
 as the rapidity with which the club head is 
 moving at and just after the moment of im- 
 pact. Very many players are enabled to 
 secure the desired velocity with a compara- 
 tively short swing and get almost as long a 
 ball and generally a straighter one than the 
 devotee of a full swing. 
 
 Timing the stroke properly is of vast im- 
 portance. Usually the player is in too much 
 of a hurry to get the ball away, and hits too 
 soon. Let him resolve to centralize the power 
 of the stroke immediately the ball is reached, 
 and carry it through the ball, and a gratifying 
 increase of distance will be manifested and a 
 sweeter feeling communicated. 
 
 23
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Do not ease up as soon as the ball is struck ; 
 by all means keep up steam until the arms are 
 
 The well away on their upward journey. 
 
 Follow- A great deal more depends upon the 
 
 maintenance of speed after the ball is 
 
 struck than is commonly supposed. This part 
 
 of the stroke is known as the follow-through, 
 
 and plays a very important part in the length 
 
 of the drive, as well as in straightness. 
 
 All which has been said concerning the 
 driving stroke may be largely practised in- 
 doors, without a ball. The only objection is 
 that the player cannot see himself, and unless 
 he is under the eyes of a competent instructor, 
 is very apt to drift into faulty methods of exe- 
 cution. Such solitary practice, therefore, is 
 not advisable to any great extent. 
 
 So far, the component parts of the swing 
 have been analyzed without detailed reference 
 to the position of the player to the ball. This 
 has a very marked and varying influence on 
 the stroke, and is deserving of a few words. 
 Broadly speaking, the nearer the ball is to 
 the left foot the higher it will be driven, and 
 with a greater tendency to be sliced than if 
 placed nearer to the right foot, the latter posi- 
 tion being more provocative of a lower tra- 
 jectory and a pull. The leading cause of a 
 
 24
 
 THE SWING 
 
 high ball being driven is attributable to the 
 fact that the position assumed is such that the 
 club is just on the eve of its upward journey, 
 and the face consequently is slightly turned 
 back, towards the player. 
 
 The tendency to slice is due partly to the 
 
 restricted area left for the club to go through 
 
 the ball, making it more difficult to fol- 
 
 Slicmg, 
 
 and low on properly, and also in a measure 
 to the ball being hit slightly to the right 
 of its centre. Either of these causes alone will 
 produce a slice. Striking the ball to the right 
 of its centre will impart a rotary movement 
 from left to right. Being struck to the right, 
 the ball will naturally start off to the left of a 
 straight line, and as the energy of the forward 
 stroke diminishes, the power of the spin will as- 
 sert itself and cause the ball to describe a curve 
 to the right. With a pulled ball it is just the 
 opposite the ball is hit to the left of its centre, 
 i. e., nearer the player, producing a spin from 
 right to left. When the ball is placed nearer to 
 the right foot the point of contact with the club 
 in the ordinary swing is brought nearer to 
 the player. With the ball placed about mid- 
 way between the two positions mentioned the 
 club will meet it exactly in the centre, and a 
 rotary movement in a straight line is im- 
 
 27
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 parted, and given that the head is allowed 
 to go straight through the ball, no slice or pull 
 can result. If, however, the ball is hit dead 
 in the centre, and the arms be drawn in at the 
 moment of impact, a slight slice will ensue, 
 as a modified spin from left to right will be 
 given the ball. 
 
 Apart from these causes slicing or pulling 
 may follow from the ball being hit in the centre, 
 but w r ith an inclination towards the heel or toe 
 of the club. If hit on the heel the weight of 
 lead behind the point of impact leans to the 
 right, and a slice is invited, while the reverse 
 is true in favor of a pull if the ball be hit on the 
 toe of the club. At the same time it may read- 
 ily be understood from the foregoing that it 
 is possible to slice with toeing and pull with 
 heeling, although this is not commonly done. 
 A slice pure and simple invariably describes 
 a curve from left to right, the curvature being 
 governed by the amount of spin. A pull is 
 just the reverse. Neither must be confounded 
 with a clean-hit, straight-flying ball which 
 is off the line, to the right or the left, from 
 start to finish. 
 
 Such error in direction is usually due to a 
 faulty stance to the player being turned 
 away from the hole to the right or around 
 
 28
 
 THE SWING 
 
 too much to the left. Yet very many players 
 misapprehensively speak of such strokes as 
 being sliced or pulled. A true conception of 
 the governing cause would go a great way 
 tow r ards correcting the trouble. The illustra- 
 tions (Figs, ii and I?) show the top of the 
 swing and finish of the stroke, respectively.
 
 Ill 
 
 THE LONG GAME 
 
 IN the upward swing it will be noticed that 
 the body has been turned very freely, with the 
 natural transferrence of weight almost en- 
 tirely to the right foot, and that the left foot 
 has been pulled up and around on the toe. 
 Without such aid the downward stroke would 
 be lacking in pith. To get the shoulders 
 into the stroke they must first come around, 
 in conjunction with the lower part of one's 
 anatomy, smoothly and freely revolving on 
 an axis which may be represented by an imag- 
 inary line drawn from the head straight down 
 the back. Otherwise the arms alone, un- 
 assisted to any appreciable extent, are called 
 upon to do the work, with material loss of 
 distance. 
 
 Another point may be observed : The club 
 head has only a very slight dip from the hori- 
 zontal at the top of the swing. This, com- 
 
 30
 
 THE LONG GAME 
 
 bined with the free turn of the body, indicates 
 a pretty firm grip with both hands, with a 
 sense of command over the club. 
 
 In the other illustration the position is al- 
 most exactly reversed, the right foot rising 
 on the toe, due to the weight of the 
 
 The 
 
 Body- body being thrown by the swing on 
 to the left, and the club finishing 
 over the left shoulder. 
 
 As a general thing the majority of players 
 fail to properly utilize the weight of the body 
 and drive mainly with the arms only, and they 
 also take the club too far back in the upward 
 swing. Another very common fault is falling 
 back immediately after striking the ball. 
 
 Every golfing stroke describes a circle, or a 
 segment of a circle. With a long shaft the 
 periphery is of course larger than with a short 
 one, and natter. In other words, with a long 
 shaft the club head is not moving so long in 
 the proposed direction of the flight of the ball 
 as it is with a short shaft. This would not 
 be the case if the centre of the circle could 
 be raised in proportion to its circumference, but 
 the axis of the circle, represented by the 
 Ac^urTcy pl a y er ^ remains the same in all cases. 
 The paramount reason, if not indeed the 
 only one, for Harry Vardon's consistent accu-
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 racy of direction is due, in the present writer's 
 opinion, to his using short shafts, and by stand- 
 ing pretty erect to the ball. The axis of the 
 swing is in a more perpendicular plane to the 
 ball, with the inevitable result that the club 
 head is moving longer in the line of play. 
 This insures the ball being struck more accu- 
 rately in the centre, and, what is of equal im- 
 portance, of the club going through the ball 
 straighter. The movement of the arms is nat- 
 urally out and towards the hole, while with a 
 long club more or less of an effort is required 
 to let the arms go forward instead of obeying 
 their natural inclination to turn around to the 
 left. 
 
 If neither the ball nor the club head possessed 
 resiliency it would matter little what became 
 The im- f the club after the ball were hit true. 
 p Orn t o f contact Is very small, 
 
 Follow- hardly any larger than a pin head, 
 
 Through y^. ever y player must frequently have 
 noticed the imprint of the ball on the head 
 after a vigorous stroke, sometimes as large 
 as, if not larger than, a silver quarter. This 
 flattening of the ball furnishes proof that it 
 is in actual contact with the club for a frac- 
 tion of time after being struck, and during 
 that time is of course travelling in the same
 
 THE LONG GAME 
 
 direction as the head probably for an inch or 
 so. Consequently it becomes a matter of im- 
 portance what becomes of the club head just 
 after the moment of impact, when ball and 
 head are practically one. During this crucial 
 part of the stroke the head should be at right 
 angles to the line of play. This is the essence 
 of the follow-through, and it is probably due 
 to a practical recognition of this principle and 
 by the simple means employed that Vardon's 
 play is so uniformly straight, using, as he 
 does, very short clubs. I am not sure also that 
 
 his peculiar grip does not lend to accu- 
 'donGrip rac Y as by putting the thumbs down 
 
 the shaft and overlapping the forefinger 
 of the left hand with the little finger of the 
 right hand, it is practically impossible for the 
 club to turn in the hands in the upward or 
 downward swing, and therefore it must revert 
 to its original position, as in the address. Var- 
 don himself avers that he can drive a longer 
 ball with what may be termed the orthodox 
 grip, but at the sacrifice of accuracy, and I find 
 no reason to doubt this. I know of a number 
 of good players who have adopted this Vardon 
 grip, and who assert that their direction has 
 been wonderfully improved. Vardon, however, 
 has been endowed by nature with very large 
 
 33
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 hands, and, using comparatively thin grips 
 which, by-the-way, cannot be too strongly 
 recommended he is obliged to get rid of his 
 fingers in some way, hence perhaps the par- 
 ticular style adopted. He also possesses un- 
 usually strong wrists, which, combined with 
 the fact that he "hits so blamed hard/' ac- 
 counts for the distance obtained. 
 
 Unless the ordinary player is gifted with 
 such advantages i. e., big hands and strong 
 wrists he probably will get better general 
 results by gripping in the regulation manner 
 and by using shorter clubs 
 
 It may have been noticed that Vardon's 
 long shots are principally all carry. This 
 is partly attributable to the upright swing. 
 The enormous distance obtained, however, is 
 such that he can well afford to do without 
 the roll which follows from using longer clubs 
 and playing with a flatter swing. The longer 
 the club, however, as already pointed out, the 
 greater is the liability to slice or pull. 
 
 It will be noticed in the foregoing illustration 
 that in the finish of the stroke the hands are 
 pretty well over the left shoulder. The natural 
 tendency of such is to induce more or less of a 
 pull. It may be laid down as an axiom that 
 the farther the arms are carried around to 
 
 34
 
 THE LONG GAME 
 
 the left, between the neck and shoulder, the 
 greater is the pull when the ball is played from 
 a point nearer to the right foot, and the greater 
 is the slice when the ball is nearer to the left 
 foot. The operating causes have already been 
 explained. 
 
 Unless against an adverse cross-wind, the 
 writer generally plays with the deliberate inten- 
 tion of getting a touch of pull. Such a 
 fc!r & J l puii ball has great running powers, and, be- 
 ing usually comparatively low, is ex- 
 ceedingly effective against the wind. Occasion- 
 ally, however, the pull fails to materialize, but 
 no great harm results unless too much allow- 
 ance has been made for the hook. The finish 
 of the stroke, so far as the position of the 
 hands is concerned, is largely governed by 
 the line of retraction. 
 
 THE SECOND SHOT 
 
 On all first-class links a large number of 
 the holes should be so laid out in respect to 
 distance as to call for at least two full shots 
 to reach the green. Where the lie admits and 
 distance is required, the driver is preferably the 
 club to use. It frequently happens, however, 
 that the ball is not lying well, and the brassey 
 
 35
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 is called into requisition, a slightly greater 
 amount of loft on the face enabling the player 
 to get the ball up more quickly. In this con- 
 nection it may be remarked that the 
 Br pi S a S y Y better the player the greater is his abil- 
 ity to negotiate a poor lie. The stroke 
 is practically the same as a tee shot, excepting 
 that the club should be taken up somewhat 
 more vertically and the hands slightly drawn 
 up immediately after the ball is struck, thus 
 making the swing somewhat more elliptical 
 than in the drive proper. The ball should be 
 struck very accurately, and rather with the 
 idea of driving it into the ground. The lofted 
 face, joined to the slight whipping up of the 
 hands at the proper time that is, after the 
 club meets the ball will produce the desired 
 result. Do not, on any account, seek to bring 
 the hands up too quickly, otherwise a top will 
 assuredly result. Play with the ball somewhat 
 nearer the right foot, and don't hurry the 
 swing. Disabuse your mind of any idea that 
 a little more effort than usual is necessary; 
 rather go to the other extreme and take things 
 quietly, and concentrate everything upon hit- 
 ting the ball accurately and smoothly. 
 
 For brassey shots generally, it will be found 
 an aid towards accurate striking to look not 
 
 36
 
 FIG. 13 
 PLAYING A HANGING LIE
 
 THE LONG GAME 
 
 at the ball itself, but immediately back of it. 
 This will largely prevent the common tendency 
 to top. If, on the other hand, the general run 
 of strokes are sclaffed, the player may find a 
 remedy by icversing the process and looking 
 squarely at the ball, or even at that part of it 
 which is nearer to the hole. With a little 
 practice the player may very soon satisfy him- 
 self as to the correct point of aim adaptable to 
 his particular style. As in the tee shot it is 
 very important to keep in mind the necessity 
 of timing the stroke properly. Too much 
 energy is generally wasted by introducing the 
 power too soon. Let the upward swing be 
 such as to get the club back pretty smartly 
 to the horizontal, and to bring it down so as 
 to get the maximum amount of speed within 
 about eighteen inches or so before the ball 
 and about a couple of feet after the ball. Con- 
 centrate all the power in that spread of about 
 three or four feet. Upon the wrists devolves 
 the main burden of this particular part of the 
 swing. They impart that delightful snap 
 which contributes so materially to length 
 without apparent effort. This wrist move- 
 ment in itself is not discernible to the eyes 
 of the onlooker, except in so far as it differen- 
 tiates the stroke from the ordinary one where 
 
 39
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 the hands are taken back straighter and, of 
 course, brought down correspondingly. It 
 cannot be illustrated in the ordinary photo- 
 graph, and, indeed, is very difficult to accu- 
 rately describe. 
 
 Very many players have no difficulty in 
 getting away very good balls from the tee, 
 pia in a ^ut are troubled in negotiating a 
 Hanging brassey shot. This is perhaps largely 
 attributable to using too high a tee. 
 Driving from a lower tee, or none at all, will 
 be found very helpful when it comes to the 
 second shot. 
 
 After the drive, and with the hole still some 
 one hundred and seventy or one hundred and 
 eighty yards away, it will sometimes hap- 
 pen that the ball has to be played from a 
 hanging lie sloping towards the hole, with a 
 bunker intervening. To get the ball up more 
 quickly hit it slightly on the heel of the club, 
 making allowance for the resultant slice by 
 aiming somewhat to the left of the hole. Take 
 particular care to let the club go through 
 the ball according to the dip of the ground, 
 and not to turn the face in. 
 
 Illustration Fig. 13 will serve to furnish an 
 idea as to the stance adopted for this particu- 
 lar stroke. It will be observed that the ball 
 
 40
 
 is much nearer to the left foot than in the tee 
 shot, while the right foot is more advanced, 
 being a couple of inches or so in front. By 
 striking the ball slightly towards the heel of 
 the club and immediately after bringing the 
 arms somewhat in and finishing well out, a 
 slight spin is imparted to the ball which causes 
 it to rise more quickly. To further assist in 
 getting the ball up the hands should be held 
 somewhat lower down than usual, so as to 
 bring the heel of the club closer to the ground 
 and the toe slightly cocked up.
 
 IV 
 
 APPRO A CHING 
 / 
 
 THE "quarter" game, with putting a very 
 close second, may be regarded as the most 
 difficult part of the art of golf. In driving 
 and playing through the green distance is 
 the prime object to be achieved, combined with 
 a fair measure of accuracy. While it is, of 
 course, desirable to be in line with the flag in 
 the long game, yet a dozen yards or so either 
 way make little appreciable difference, as there 
 is sufficient latitude allowed. But when it 
 comes to getting the green on the next, more 
 careful calculations have to be made, both in 
 respect to strength and to accuracy. 
 
 Apart from the tee shot any stroke that is 
 capable of landing the ball on the green, even 
 with a driver, brassey, or full cleek, may be 
 said to be an approach. The ordinary accep- 
 tation of the term, however, embraces dis- 
 tances from, say, forty or fifty to one hundred 
 
 42
 
 APPROACHING 
 
 and fifty or one hundred and sixty yards 
 from the hole. A fairly good player can 
 easily get the latter distance with a cleek. 
 Lesser ranges may be negotiated with a mid- 
 iron or mashie. The driver is, of course, the 
 most powerful club, followed in due order by 
 the brassey, the cleek, the mid-iron, and the 
 mashie. 
 
 According to the distance from the green 
 so does the experienced player regulate the 
 stroke by the particular club employed. It 
 is easier to play a full mashie shot, for instance, 
 than a half-iron. Given that the ball be hit 
 true, each club has a certain maximum range, 
 and the player should familiarize himself with 
 the full capabilities of his clubs, and govern 
 his approaches accordingly. So far as the 
 cleek and iron are concerned, the stance and 
 swing are practically the same as in the drive, 
 excepting that it is advisable to stand a little 
 
 The more over the ball, and not to take the 
 Mashie club so far back in the upward swing. 
 
 Approach -, T71 .., . 
 
 When you come to within, say, one 
 hundred yards or thereabouts of the hole, the 
 mashie may be brought into requisition. 
 
 For a shot of this distance the right foot 
 should be advanced a trifle more than usual, 
 with the ball somewhat nearer the right foot.
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Grasp the club firmly, with the sole at right 
 angles to the line of play, and play straight 
 for the hole. Make the stroke with decision. 
 Aim to hit the ball in its centre with the middle 
 of the face, and let the club go through and 
 slightly into the ground. Follow through as 
 in the drive. Do not attempt to jerk the stroke, 
 unless the ball be lying badly. Be very par- 
 ticular not to take any turf until after the ball 
 is hit. The ball must be hit clean, and the 
 club allowed to go through into the ground 
 immediately after, and not on any account 
 before, reaching the ball. Do not allow the 
 club to trail along behind the ball in the up- 
 ward swing; rather make a point of taking 
 it up straighter more vertically. 
 
 In the same way that the club is withdrawn, 
 so is it likely to come down upon the ball. 
 This is a golfing truism, and such an important 
 one that we often lose sight of it altogether. 
 If the club be swept along the ground, back 
 of the ball, the chances are in favor of a top, 
 unless it should be lying very well. Irre- 
 spective of the lie, it is better to adhere to the 
 same methods throughout, and play each shot 
 the same way except in the case of a very 
 cuppy lie, which will be considered in its prop- 
 er place. 
 
 46
 
 APPROACHING 
 
 Within sixty to eighty yards of the hole 
 some slight modifications are necessary in the 
 stance and the stroke. The right foot should 
 be brought further forward, with the ball a trifle 
 nearer the left foot. The face of the club should 
 be inclined to the right, so that it would appear 
 as though the player intended going several 
 yards to the right of the hole. At the same 
 
 time the aim should be correspondingly 
 wuh 'cut to the left of the hole. In making the 
 
 stroke hit the ball smartly somewhat 
 across, i. e., draw the arms in a trifle, immedi- 
 ately after the ball is struck This combina- 
 tion will produce a perfectly straight ball, with 
 a good deal of cut, which will have a retarding 
 effect on its run. Precisely the same methods 
 are employed for shorter distances. The face 
 of the club may even be turned slightly more 
 away from the hole to the right, with the heel 
 well down to the ground. Hitting with the 
 heel of the club meeting the ground after the 
 ball is struck will cause the ball to rise more, 
 and, joined to the spin imparted by drawing 
 in the arms and turning the wrists upward, 
 will produce a very dead ball with hardly any 
 run. 
 
 The essence of the stroke consists in hitting 
 very sharply, and in turning the wrists up- 
 
 49
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 ward immediately after the ball is struck. The 
 club should be grasped very firmly, but more 
 with the fingers than in the palms, and the 
 
 FIG. 21 a 
 GRIP FOR APPROACHING 
 
 stroke made very decisively with a free use of 
 the wrists. In all of these strokes the elbows 
 should be pretty well bent and fairly well 
 
 50
 
 APPROACHING 
 
 tucked in towards the body. For the shorter 
 strokes, the feet should not be raised at all 
 from the ground, the body being allowed to 
 turn from the knees only, and principally from 
 the left knee. For the longer shots the turn 
 of the knees is more pronounced, and the left 
 foot shifts slightly inward on the side, tow- 
 ards the toe. 
 
 An exceedingly dead ball may also be played 
 by standing well back, laying the club almost 
 flat, and cutting clear under the ball. The 
 stroke is comparatively easy if the ball is ly- 
 ing well, but not otherwise. In this stroke 
 the club head is well in advance of the hands. 
 It may be well to remark here that in all strokes, 
 of every description, a high ball with com- 
 paratively little run follows when the club is in 
 advance of the hands, and, inversely, a ball 
 with a lower trajectory and more compensating 
 run results when the hands are in advance of 
 the ball. A full recognition and practical ap- 
 plication of this principle would go a great 
 way towards simplifying the problem of mak- 
 ing the ball fall dead or of imparting addition- 
 al run, as may be desired. 
 
 Going with the wind, and playing a mashie 
 shot where it is necessary to pitch right on 
 to the green, and make the ball stay there, it 
 
 53
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 is absolutely essential to put a decided cut on 
 the ball. As already explained, this cut stroke 
 is made largely by hitting across the 
 o^wui" ball. In addition to the retarding ef- 
 fect on the run produced by the spin 
 thus given, the stroke may more easily be 
 accomplished by letting the club reach the 
 ball before the hands are in the same vertical 
 plane. In other words, stand with the ball 
 pretty well in front of you. 
 
 Playing dead against the wind the same 
 methods may be employed, but as practically 
 no run at all follows, the ball must be hit much 
 harder, and may safely be played close up to 
 or even beyond the hole. It is perhaps safer, 
 however, to play without any decided cut under 
 such circumstances, but rather in the way 
 suggested for a shot of eighty to one hundred 
 yards, regulating the strength according to 
 the distance. 
 
 So far I have dealt entirely with the mashie 
 in approaching. I do not intend by this to 
 suggest that this particular club only should 
 be used. In point of fact, I rarely play with 
 a mashie unless there is a bunker or rough 
 ground intervening. When the nature of 
 the ground permits, I consider it safer and 
 easier to run up, either with a cleek, iron, or 
 
 54
 
 APPROACHING 
 
 putter, with more or less cut according to the 
 unevenness of the ground. With a straighter- 
 faced club it is much simpler to determine the 
 strength required, and much easier to be sure 
 of hitting the ball cleanly than with a more 
 lofted one. The more the club is lofted or the 
 face laid back the greater is the accuracy re- 
 quired. The more simply the approach shot 
 can be played the better, as there is greater 
 latitude for error than in using any of the 
 heavily lofted clubs. 
 
 In the running-up stroke it makes compara- 
 tively little difference if you should happen to 
 get a little too much down to the ball, 
 or half-top it, whereas with the lofted 
 approach, and with the same measure 
 of strength applied, getting too much under 
 means being away short, while a topped 
 mashie is generally far over the hole. Then, 
 again, with the mashie, the ball may possibly 
 pitch on a hard and bare spot, or on sand, or 
 it may strike some irregularity of surface, 
 and so completely upset the finest calcula- 
 tions. It must also be borne in mind that 
 while in the air the ball is more at the mercy 
 of the wind, while if kept closer to the ground 
 the wind exercises very much less influence. 
 At the same time no one can rank as a first- 
 55 
 
 Running- 
 up
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 class golfer who is not a master of the lofted 
 approach shot in all its moods and tenses. 
 There is no department of the game which 
 calls for such a high degree of skill and the 
 exercise of such sound judgment as approach- 
 ing. Here strength and direction must be 
 supplemented with a measure of delicacy and 
 fine discrimination such as are not called 
 for in any other department of the game, 
 unless, indeed, we include the approach putt, 
 which is really an offshoot of the approach 
 proper, and is usually made under more ad- 
 vantageous circumstances. 
 
 The man who can be reasonably sure of lay- 
 ing his ball, not only on the green, but within 
 comparatively easy putting distance of the 
 hole time and again, manifestly has a great 
 advantage over a less skilful player, every- 
 thing else being about even. A single putt 
 saved here and there is a material gain. The ob- 
 ject of the game is to get the ball into a very 
 small hole in the fewest possible number of 
 A wen. strokes. To do this, on a first-class 
 rounded course, it is of course essential that the 
 successful golfer should play a well- 
 rounded game. He must drive well, approach 
 well, and putt well. He can never hope to 
 occupy the premier position if he is weak in 
 
 56
 
 A P P R O A C H I N G 
 
 any one of the three departments. Extraor- 
 dinarily long driving, for instance, does not 
 compensate for poor approaching or poor put- 
 ting. It is much better to be an adept at put- 
 ting than at driving. If a man drives fairly 
 well, say from one hundred and seventy to 
 one hundred and ninety yards, and approaches 
 and putts with consistent accuracy, he is much 
 better off than the player who gets one hun- 
 dred and eighty to two hundred yards from 
 the tee, and then shows weakness in approach- 
 ing or putting. The good approacher, pro- 
 vided he putts fairly well, saves many a stroke 
 by laying his ball so close to the hole that he 
 goes down in one on the next, when the other 
 player takes two and sometimes more. 
 
 The method of approaching so far treated 
 is what is commonly known as the bent-arm 
 stroke that is to say, the arms are not kept 
 taut or stiff, but are allowed to bend at the 
 elbows, and to turn more or less from the wrists. 
 At the same time the club is grasped firmly 
 with both hands. If anything, the right hand 
 and arm contribute a shade more power than 
 the left. The stroke partakes more of the 
 character of a hit than a swing, as exemplified 
 in the drive a sharp, snappy hit, entirely free, 
 however, from jerk. 
 
 59
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 There is another way of making approach 
 shots which is very effective. In this the 
 arms are kept stiff, and the wrists are 
 S g u Q I ts er scarcely turned at all. There is more 
 of a swing than a hit in the stroke, 
 and the shoulders are brought more or less 
 into play. The ball may be kept on a very 
 true line by this method, but it will have a 
 lower trajectory and greater run. It is useful 
 on a windy day, or when the nature of the 
 ground admits more of a running - up ap- 
 proach. For all-round purposes, however, it 
 does not possess the full share of merits of the 
 other style already dealt with. 
 
 It is comparatively easy to play an ap- 
 proach shot from a good lie, as then one may 
 give the larger share of his attention to 
 the necessary strength, being reason- 
 ably sure of hitting the ball clean. It 
 frequently happens, however, that the ball may 
 be lying badty, and greater nicety is then re- 
 quired to get it away. Let us take a ball 
 lying in a cup with a tuft of grass behind 
 the ordinary type of poor lie, or even in a 
 wagon rut and with a bunker, say forty or 
 fifty yards away, guarding the green. The 
 stiff - arm stroke here is useless. Even the 
 other style mentioned has to be slightly modi- 
 
 60 
 
 On Poor 
 Lies
 
 A P P R O A C H I N G 
 
 fied. Grasp the club very firmly in both 
 hands, stand with the feet farther apart than 
 usual, with the ball nearer to the right loot; 
 take the club up straighter, more perpendic- 
 ularly, and bring it down sharply into the 
 ground straight behind the ball. The sole of 
 the club will have to cleave the ground a trifle 
 before the face reaches the ball in order to get 
 it up properly, and it will then go through into 
 the ground immediately underneath the spot 
 where the ball was lying. Don't try to get 
 the ball up; the lofted face of the club will 
 do that; rather go to the other extreme, and 
 make up your mind you are going to drive it 
 into the bowels of the earth. It is astonishing 
 how far a ball can be shot out of what looks 
 like an impossible lie by these means. The 
 great thing to remember is that the club will 
 do the work if you give it a fair chance. Don't 
 turn the face in, and don't take your eye off 
 the point of aim just behind the ball, until the 
 club has sunk well into the ground ; and don't 
 be afraid to hit on account of the slight jar 
 to the wrists which follows the impact. 
 
 When the club has gone well into the ground, 
 giving it plenty of time, then you may flex 
 the wrists slightly, to lessen the shock and 
 direct the passage of the club towards the hole 
 
 61
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 and further assist in getting the ball up. Of 
 course the execution of a stroke of this kind 
 will dig up a blanket of turf, and will carry 
 with it the unpleasant suggestion that you 
 must inevitably smash the shaft of the club 
 into flinders. But if you have faith in the 
 resiliency of hickory it will be of material aid 
 in executing the stroke properly, and your 
 shaft, if a good one, will be none the worse. 
 One more piece of counsel take as little turf 
 as possible before striking the ball itself.
 
 V 
 
 PUT TING 
 
 ASSUMING that the approach stroke has 
 been properly executed, the ball should now be 
 on the green, not so far from the hole as to 
 render it at all uncertain about going down in 
 two more and very frequently in one. But 
 alas for human frailty ! It is quite possible even 
 with the best players that the ball is occasion- 
 ally either short of or possibly over the green 
 proper, with some indifferently rough ground 
 to be negotiated before the putter may or- 
 dinarily be used with safety or precision. 
 Where the intervening space is covered with 
 fairly long grass a mashie or an iron is really 
 necessary, but if there should be no long grass 
 
 The other than the ordinary fair green, free 
 Approach from any bunkers, a running-up ap- 
 proach may safely be played with the 
 putter. It is imperative, however, to bear in 
 mind that the stroke should be different in 
 
 63
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 kind from the ordinary putt. You should aim 
 to hit the ball as if it were your intention to 
 drive it into the ground ; stand rather more 
 than usual in front, and strike the ball with 
 the face of the club slightly turned in. This 
 will cause the ball to jump, due to its contact 
 with the ground immediately after being struck, 
 but it will keep a wonderfully straight line, de- 
 spite irregularities of surface, and will usually 
 be found nearer the hole than if a more lofted 
 club were used. A stroke of this kind may 
 be played even fifty or sixty yards from the 
 hole, and with far more certainty of result 
 than if a mashie had been used. With the 
 ordinary putter, more or less straight-faced, 
 it is much easier to hit the ball truly and to 
 regulate the desired strength than with any 
 of its more lofted brethren. Nor does it make 
 so much difference if the ball be lying badly, 
 since you do not desire to get it up. With a 
 comparatively straight-faced club it matters 
 very little, in a stroke of this kind, whether 
 the ball is struck above or below the centre 
 of the club, but it makes a world of difference 
 if such liberties are taken with a mashie, the 
 greater angle of the face of the latter not al- 
 lowing such a wide margin for error. 
 
 Another way of playing the stroke, in simi- 
 64
 
 PUTTING 
 
 lar circumstances, is to stand with the ball 
 well in front of you still using the putter 
 the club head rather in advance of the hands 
 and the face slightly turned outward, to the 
 right, and put cut on the ball by drawing 
 the arms in a Hfle just at the moment of strik- 
 ing. This will cause the ball to rise slightly 
 immediately after being struck. Such a stroke 
 is useful where some roughish ground has to 
 be traversed just in front of the ball, or when 
 it happens to be either teed up or lying in short, 
 soft grass. 
 
 The simpler the means employed to get the 
 ball into the hole the better. It is much easier, 
 and less fraught with danger or risk of failure, 
 to run a ball up than to pitch it. If pitching 
 were easier, why not putt with a mashie? 
 Never use a mashie or any heavily lofted iron 
 when the necessity for pitching does not really 
 exist. It requires a certain fine discrimina- 
 tion, however, to know, the moment you get 
 up to your ball, just what kind of a stroke 
 should be played, and the proper club to play it 
 
 with. Don't allow yourself to get into 
 Rotate the way of hesitating or questioning 
 
 whether you should take a mashie 01 
 an iron or a putter. Make up your mind at 
 once, and stick to it. Another thing is worth 
 
 65
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 remembering in connection with the short 
 game, and that is not to allow yourself to 
 dwell upon the strength of the next stroke 
 while walking up to your ball. Wait until 
 you get to it before making any calculations 
 of this kind. And let me again and again 
 urge you not to be in any hurry to look up 
 after you have made the stroke. To my mind 
 there are two rocks upon which the large ma- 
 jority of players split, two things we all do, 
 more or less, and which are provocative of 
 poorly executed strokes : one is looking up 
 too soon, especially in the short game, and 
 the other hitting too soon, particularly in the 
 long game. 
 
 Now that we have managed, more or less 
 successfully, to get on the green, the serious 
 business of getting the ball into the 
 t^r^ifii hl e * n one or t wo strokes presents it- 
 self. And mighty serious business it 
 is too. Putting, that is consistently good put- 
 ting, is perhaps the most difficult part of the 
 game, with the possible exception of really 
 first-class approach work. Driving is largely 
 mechanical, the one essential being to keep 
 fairly straight. In that department of the 
 game you are never troubled about going too 
 far, or if any possible doubt exists on this 
 
 66
 
 PUTTING 
 
 score you may easily remove it by using a 
 weaker club. The approach is somewhat more 
 complex, for here accuracy and strength are 
 the elements. Even this part may be largely 
 simplified by using a cleek, iron, mashie, or 
 putter, each having a certain fairly well- 
 defined capacity in respect to distance. 
 
 But putting calls for the highest degree of 
 skill and the nicest kind of judgment both as 
 regards accuracy and strength. By accuracy 
 is meant the passage of the ball over an im- 
 aginary line between it and the hole. You 
 may possibly be able to keep your ball along 
 this line, but if it is hit too hard it will probably 
 jump the cup, while if the necessary strength 
 is lacking it certainly cannot go in. It all 
 seems easy enough, especially to the man who 
 has never tried it, and who is not saddled with 
 recollections of innumerable misses in the past, 
 sins of commission and of omission. Which 
 leads me to remark that one of the prime req- 
 uisites to good putting is an abounding con- 
 fidence in one's ability to lay the ball dead 
 when several yards away, or positively run it 
 down when within reasonable holing-out dis- 
 tance. 
 
 Let us examine into the character of the 
 stroke in reference to accuracy more particular- 
 
 67
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 ly, dismissing, for the time being, the question 
 of strength. If one can succeed in getting the 
 Accurac kail to run true, more than half of the 
 
 'n terrors of putting are gotten rid of 
 at the outset, and the mind may then 
 be concentrated on the important matter of 
 strength. 
 
 In respect to accuracy, it is imperative that 
 you should act upon some well-defined prin- 
 ciples. Proceed first by taking a glance 
 back of the ball towards the hole, and trace 
 the line over which it must pass, noting for 
 subsequent guidance a particular blade of 
 grass on this imaginary line. Take your 
 stance and square the face of the putter at 
 perfect right angles to the blade of grass you 
 have picked out by resting it immediately in 
 front of the ball. By resting the club in this 
 way in front of the ball it is easier to get the 
 correct base-line, and, furthermore, it assists 
 in going through the ball properly when the 
 stroke is made. 
 
 Now withdraw the club and let it rest gently 
 on the turf close up behind the ball, taking 
 care to preserve the correct angle. Let the 
 eye run quickly over the imaginary line to 
 the hole, so as *o determine the requisite force 
 to be applied, and then make the stroke. 
 
 68
 
 PUTTING 
 
 If the club presents a perfect right angle 
 in reference to the line of play during the 
 period of contact with the ball, and no irreg- 
 ularities of surface or obstructions interfere, 
 the ball will almost certainly run straight, 
 and assuming that the right amount of strength 
 has been employed it will stand a much better 
 chance of finding the hole than if the player 
 simply trusted to luck, and with each new putt 
 changed his method according to the whim of 
 the moment. 
 
 The matter of stance is of some importance. 
 It may be said that there are three ways of 
 standing in relation to the ball and the 
 sunce nne f pl & y : ff the left leg that is, 
 with the weight resting mainly on the 
 left and with the ball nearer to that foot ; off 
 the right leg the reverse of the previous po- 
 sition; and standing square i.e., with the 
 ball about midway between the feet. The 
 player must discover by practice which style 
 is productive of the best general results, and 
 having done so, it is advisable to adhere to it. 
 At the same time, when the ball persistently 
 refuses to be holed it is rather a good plan to 
 switch off and adopt one of the alternative 
 positions mentioned. A change of this kind 
 is often beneficial.
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 The accompanying picture illustrates the 
 
 grip affected by the writer. It is not contended 
 
 that this is in any way better than the 
 
 Regard- / / 
 
 ing the orthodox grip for the general run of 
 
 players, but exhaustive tests and 
 
 under fire have demonstrated conclusively 
 
 that it serves its purpose somewhat better 
 
 FIG. 28 
 PUTTING GRIP 
 
 than does the prevailing style. It will be ob- 
 served that both thumbs are laid down the 
 shaft, and that the index-finger of the right 
 
 72
 
 PUTTING 
 
 hand touches it also at the tip, towards the 
 back of the shaft. Grasping the club in this 
 way, and with the fingers, one seems to feel it 
 better and to be able more accurately to de- 
 termine the proper degree of strength to be 
 applied to the stroke. Then, too, it lessens 
 one's innate tendency to pull the ball, a ten- 
 dency which the orthodox grip rather encour- 
 ages. Close observation of all missed putts 
 discloses the interesting fact that by far the 
 large majority go to the left of the hole, 
 thereby indicating the presence of a pull, due 
 to the arms being slightly drawn in just afte 
 striking, instead of following through on the 
 line to the hole. Throwing the burden of the 
 work on the right forefinger seems to counter- 
 act any such fault, and not only is the club 
 guided better, but greater delicacy of touch 
 is apparent, and, consequently, the matter of 
 strength is better controlled and regulated. 
 
 It will be found, generally speaking, that 
 better results follow by gripping the club 
 pretty firmly, with the fingers firmly but not 
 tightly. A very tight grip is usually at the 
 sacrifice of delicacy. A firm grip insures 
 the ball keeping its line more accurately and 
 not being deflected by irregularities of any 
 kind. The rougher the green the more is 
 
 73
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 this essential. The hands should be kept as 
 close together as possible, the grip of the right 
 rather predominating. 
 
 The club should be taken away from and 
 brought back to and follow through the ball 
 with a smooth, even movement, free 
 Baii ; e from any jerk. A choppy kind of 
 Don ' t hit stroke, a tap, or a hit is not recom- 
 mended. Putts may, of course, be holed 
 by each and all of these methods, but not, I 
 think, with the same degree of consistency. 
 Endeavor to take the club back and let it fol- 
 low after the ball on the correct line of the 
 putt. Aim to strike the ball exactly in the 
 centre, and don't be in any hurry to look up 
 after the stroke. As a general thing, the 
 centre of the club is the best part to strike 
 with, but a great deal of course depends 
 upon the balance. With certain clubs better 
 results are obtained by striking somewhat off 
 the toe. 
 
 In addressing the ball do not allow the 
 club to weigh heavily on the turf; rather let 
 the touch be very delicate. Whatever the 
 distance may be, always go for the hole; in 
 other words, be up. In this way a certain pro- 
 portion of long putts will be brought off. Aim 
 to be just a shade over the hole, but not so far 
 
 74
 
 PUTTING 
 
 beyond as to make at all uncertain the holing 
 out of the next, in case of missing. 
 
 Endeavor to make every stroke with con- 
 fidence and decision. Lack of confidence 
 
 Necessity g oes a 8 Teai wav toward s inviting a 
 ofconfi- miss. Don't unduly hang over the 
 ball, and don't be too keen to note 
 any fancied irregularities of surface between 
 it and the hole. In respect to both the cor- 
 rect line and the necessary strength, be gov- 
 erned by your first impressions, and let the 
 muscles act upon the information so conveyed 
 without further ado. You may occasionally 
 go wrong, but the general results will approve 
 the wisdom of such procedure.
 
 VI 
 
 PUT TING- Co n tinned 
 
 IN putting, it is of prime importance that 
 the body should be kept immovable, the hands, 
 wrists, arms, and, to a certain extent, the 
 shoulders only entering into the stroke. If 
 the body be allowed to participate in the work 
 an element is introduced that only complicates 
 the situation, and makes this part of the game 
 altogether uncertain. It is difficult enough, 
 in all conscience, to control the strength of 
 the stroke by simply using the other members ; 
 add the weight of the body, however little, 
 and you will get such additional run on the 
 ball as will carry it away over the hole and 
 prove utterly demoralizing to the player. 
 Neither should the wrists alone play any undue 
 part. The less they are employed the better, 
 for uniformity. They should act in perfect 
 harmony with the other factors, the whole so 
 blending and merging into each other as to 
 
 76
 
 PUTTING 
 
 produce a rhythmical unison, and leave the 
 player wholly unconscious of any particular 
 element being present. There should be more 
 or less of an air of stiffness about the stroke, 
 free, however, from any rigidity born of taut- 
 ened muscles. 
 
 The head, of course, must be kept absolutely 
 
 still. At the moment of striking, the eyes 
 
 particularly the left should be in- 
 
 Eye P filed tently fastened, not only on the ball, 
 
 on the k u t on the dead centre of the ball tow- 
 
 Ball 
 
 ards the back, where you intend hitting 
 it. It has been suggested that the left eye 
 more especially should be directed at the ball. 
 This will involve a slight turn of the head 
 away from the hole. In this attitude less 
 encouragement is given to pull the ball 
 and, as I have previously remarked, this 
 matter of pulling is one of the greatest of 
 all putting sins. As a further aid, it is ad- 
 visable to get both elbows in line, parallel with 
 the line of the putt. This will necessitate 
 the turning of the left elbow away from the 
 body, the right being somewhat tucked in 
 towards the thigh, but not being allowed to 
 rest on it. By letting the club swing in the 
 manner described it will be noticed that it 
 meets and goes through the ball with the face 
 
 77
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 at a perfect right angle with reference to the 
 line to the hole, and that is the whole essence 
 of good putting. There is no mystery at all 
 about it. The laws of motion are unchange- 
 able, and given that the ball be hit truly on 
 scientific principles, such as I have endeav- 
 ored to outline, it will assuredly run straight 
 on a smooth and true green, and be far more 
 liable to keep a straight line on an indifferent 
 one than if hit "in any old way." 
 
 In respect to the proper degree of strength 
 to be applied, this is largely governed not only 
 
 by the weight but also by the lie of 
 Touching the club with a he club less 
 
 strength > 
 
 force is necessary to make the ball 
 travel a given distance than with a lighter 
 one. So it is with a straight - faced putter 
 as against one a trifle lofted or laid back. 
 The more it is laid back the greater is the 
 undercut or backward spin, and the harder 
 must the ball be struck. Such a club is 
 very useful on a keen green, as there is less 
 liability of over -running the hole. Then, 
 too, the shaft plays a very important part. 
 With one possessing an undue amount of spring 
 it is very difficult to gauge the correct amount 
 of strength necessary. It is better to err on 
 the right side and play with a very stiff shaft. 
 
 78
 
 PUTTING 
 
 Probably the best all-round weapon is a 
 putting-cleek of medium weight, and not too 
 much lofted. 
 
 I am not an advocate of wooden putters. 
 Off wood the ball is endued with much greater 
 wooden runn i n g power than off iron, and there- 
 and other fore the stroke calls for greater exer- 
 cise of delicacy. Moreover, the ball 
 does not appear to hug the ground so closely, 
 and is consequently more apt to jump the 
 hole. These very qualities, however, make the 
 wooden putter rather desirable for running-up 
 approaches. Nevertheless, I believe the ordi- 
 nary putter to be, on the whole, the more trust- 
 worthy for such strokes. 
 
 A little experimenting and practice with 
 different kinds of putters will shortly satisfy 
 the player which particular one is best suited 
 to him, day in and day out, and when this 
 discovery is made, stick to it. You may, 
 however, have a fancy for another with which 
 you are perfectly deadly at times, but hardly 
 feel like pinning absolute faith to it on all 
 occasions. In an important match it is not a 
 bad plan to stick it in your bag, and if you 
 happen to have a poor putting streak on don't 
 hesitate to try a change. Putting is largely 
 mental, anyway, and humoring one's self in 
 
 79
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 this department of the game often produces 
 the desired results. On certain greens the 
 ordinary putter works admirably. More es- 
 pecially on those which are very true. If 
 at all rough the putting-cleek will probably 
 prove the more serviceable. In the hands 
 of a finished player, however, it makes com- 
 paratively little difference which he uses. 
 A good player must be highly adaptable; 
 quick to recognize exactly the kind of stroke 
 required, according to the nature of the sur- 
 roundings, and so "make the punishment 
 fit the crime." Such a player will not hesitate 
 to take his putter when the ball is a yard or 
 so off the edge of the green, but he will modify 
 the stroke slightly by altering his stance, 
 playing with the ball well forward, almost 
 opposite the left toe, and with the club head 
 in advance of the hands. This will cause 
 the ball to be slightly lofted, barely sufficient 
 to skim over the intervening rough part, and 
 to have a free run up to the hole. The same 
 results may more easily be attained with 
 a putting-cleek, owing to the face being more 
 laid back, by standing with the ball just a 
 little more forward than usual. Or, if pre- 
 ferred, an iron may safely be used. It largely 
 depends upon the nature of the ground, and 
 
 80
 
 PUTTING 
 
 no hard and fast rule can be laid down to govern 
 such cases. 
 
 Before concluding this chapter it is proper 
 to say a few words concerning stymies, which, 
 justly so or not, form a recognized 
 stymies part of the game. Nearly every de- 
 gree of stymie is capable of being 
 negotiated, by (A) curling your ball around 
 the opposing one, (B) lofting over it, or (C) 
 putting a follow - through on your ball and 
 striking your opponent's, causing the latter 
 to jump clean over the hole and yours to go 
 in. Everything depends upon the position of 
 the balls in reference to the hole as to the 
 means employed to make the stroke success- 
 fully, joined also to the undulating or other 
 characteristics of the green. Occasionally the 
 undulations of the ground offer assistance. 
 Putting such aside, however, and taking a 
 flat green, with the opponent's ball a trifle 
 to the right of the line to the hole, it is possible, 
 by turning the face of the putter a good deal 
 to the right and hitting towards the heel, at the 
 same time drawing it sharply across, to so 
 slice the ball as to make it describe the neces- 
 sary curve. Care must be taken, however, to 
 aim to the left of the other ball. Sometimes the 
 balls are so situated as to make it desirable to 
 
 83
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 curl around the opposite way, from right to left. 
 The method of procedure in such case is ex- 
 actly the reverse of the foregoing one. Let 
 the ball be nearer the right foot, turn the face 
 of the club in so as to face well to the left of 
 the hole, and hit the ball more off the toe, 
 commencing the stroke inward and finishing 
 outward, across the ball, aiming at the same 
 time to the right of the other ball. The spin 
 given to the ball will cause it to curl in from 
 right to left. It is imperative in both cases 
 that the ball should be struck with decision 
 and not in a half-hearted, timorous fashion. 
 For that matter, by-the-way, this applies to 
 all strokes. It frequently happens that the 
 balls are so lying as to make it practically 
 impossible to effect either of the strokes men- 
 tioned. In such case .there is no alternative 
 but to loft your ball over the other with a 
 mashie. To do this you must hit the ball very 
 clean, without a suggestion of sclaff or top. 
 It is done almost entirely with the wrists, rather 
 snappily, and with a slight upward turn just 
 at the moment of impact. The eye must be 
 kept fastened on the ball. Looking up a 
 fraction of a second too soon is fatal. The 
 stroke may the more easily be accomplished 
 by playing the ball well off the left leg, rathe 
 
 84
 
 PUTTING 
 
 more in advance than usual. The head of 
 the club will thus lie flatter and will assist in 
 getting the ball up more quickly, with little 
 run after alighting. Whether you play to 
 pitch the ball right into the hole or short of it 
 depends of course upon their relative positions. 
 Confidence may be said to be a prerequisite 
 in bringing the shot off successfully. Much, 
 too, depends upon whether you are playing 
 for the hole or a half. Sometimes the shot is 
 of such a hazardous nature that it is better 
 to play safe and accept a half rather than run 
 any undue risk of losing the hole by knocking 
 your opponent's ball in. But if you are pla\ 7 - 
 ing for a half you have got to take the bull 
 by the horns and risk it. 
 
 Occasionally you will be confronted with an 
 absolutely dead stymie by having your oppo- 
 nent's ball just on the edge of the cup, your own 
 being so close, say seven inches to a foot away, 
 that it is impossible to negotiate the stroke by 
 either curling around or lofting. In such 
 extremity there is only one way of getting 
 your ball in the hole unaccompanied by your 
 opponent's, and that is by what is technically 
 known in billiards as the follow shot. Hit 
 your ball tow r ards the top, just above the centre, 
 and aim directly at the other ball. Strike
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 with sufficient force to go at least twice as far 
 as you would ordinarily wish to. This addi- 
 tional strength is necessary to cause your 
 opponent's ball to jump the hole upon being 
 struck, your own meanwhile dropping into 
 the hole. It is surprising how frequently this 
 will happen when the stroke is executed prop- 
 erly. At all events it is worth trying in an 
 emergency, especially when you have only 
 one for a half.
 
 VII 
 
 PLAYING OUT OF HAZARDS 
 
 ON all first -class courses the bunkers or 
 hazards are so arranged as to impose a penal- 
 ty on a poorly played stroke. Outside of long 
 grass these are ordinarily of artificial produc- 
 tion and take the form of cop-bunkers or shallow 
 pots of varying sizes filled with sand. It is 
 much easier to get into them than it is to get 
 out of them usually. Yet it should not cost 
 more than one stroke to get the ball out, if 
 properly played. Let us take the case of a ball 
 lying in sand with the cop or face of the bunker 
 a yard or so away and several times as high. 
 It is obvious that the essential part of the 
 stroke is to get the ball to rise quickly in order 
 to clear the obstacle. This cannot pos- 
 sibly be accomplished with the ordinary 
 Difficui- s t r oke. In the first place the club itself 
 must not come in contact with the ball 
 at all when it is desired to make the latter rise 
 
 87
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 almost perpendicularly. The character of the 
 stroke must also be radically altered. The club 
 should be taken up as straight as possible 
 up, not away from the ball and it should be 
 brought straight down again on the same line. 
 The aim should be back of the ball an inch or 
 so, depending entirely upon the height and 
 proximity of the bunker to be surmounted. 
 The stroke is no longer a swing, but a genuine 
 hit, delivered with all the force at command. 
 For this purpose the club should be gripped 
 very firmly. It is the kind of a blow that you 
 would give a snake, for instance no love tap, 
 but full of concentrated energy, even to the 
 point of vindictiveness straight down, with- 
 out any thought of any jar to the wrists result- 
 ing. This is substantially the sort of stroke 
 necessary. In practice no jar or shock to the 
 wrists will follow the yielding nature of the 
 sand will avert all possibility of anything of 
 the kind. Firmness and determination are 
 absolutely essential in playing bunker shots. 
 
 We are dealing now with the ball not teed 
 up or lying merely on the surface of the sand, 
 but with the ordinary, every-day lie met with 
 and bad enough it usually is. " Desperate 
 diseases require desperate remedies/' and lies 
 of this sort call for strokes of a special nature.
 
 PLAYING OUT OF HAZARDS 
 
 To assist in getting the club up more ver- 
 tically a rather wider stance than usual should 
 be taken. The greater the initial loft desired 
 the more should the aim be farther back of 
 the ball, allowing the head of the club to sink 
 down into the sand. Do not attempt to aid the 
 club in getting the ball up. The impact be- 
 hind the ball, joined to the lofted face of the 
 club, will do the work without any extraneous 
 effort on your part. Undoubtedly the best 
 club to use is the niblick, by reason of its small 
 head, lofted face, and greater weight. Very 
 many good players, however, use a mashie, 
 which, in their hands, answers the purpose 
 almost as well. 
 
 On several courses bunkers will be found 
 with high, steep faces or cops. When the 
 ball is lying directly at the foot or very close 
 up to one of these (unless practically teed up) 
 it will be almost impossible to play it out 
 straight. In such circumstances it is advisable 
 to face around to the left and play at an angle, 
 so as to allow a greater margin of clearance 
 in the upward flight. Sometimes, however, 
 this is inexpedient, when the ball is towards the 
 left of the bunker, and getting it out would 
 land it in rough grass or bad ground. 
 
 If it is impossible to play to the right owing
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 to close proximity to the face, it is then better 
 to play back. Each and every shot in goJ 
 should be played with especial reference to the 
 following one. If you are bunkered close up 
 to the green, then endeavor to pitch over. If, 
 however, the green is some distance away and 
 
 can be reached after playing back, then 
 P Back ? pl av back, especially if you have any 
 
 doubt about getting out towards the 
 hole. And in playing back always remember, 
 if the next shot is a long one, that you want to 
 be sufficiently far away from the bunker to clear 
 it on the following stroke and at the same time 
 gain the necessary distance. Unless, however, 
 the chances are much against you it is better 
 to play out towards the hole. If you get out 
 in this way you can't get in the same bunker 
 on your next stroke, while there is always 
 a possibility of doing so when the ball has 
 been played back. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no part of the game that 
 calls for such exercise of judgment as when 
 you are in a hazard. How many a fine sco^e 
 has been ruined by lack of discretion and self- 
 control! The ball is lying badly, and you 
 attempt to play it out and succeed only in put- 
 ting it in a worse position. After expending 
 several strokes in a vain effort to get it over 
 
 92
 
 PLAYING OUT OF HAZARDS 
 
 you determine to play it back. You do so, 
 but your previous experience -has proved so 
 demoralizing and has so undermined your 
 confidence that it is no small wonder if you 
 manage to put your next shot slap into the 
 trouble you have just emerged from. 
 
 In medal play it is better to play cautiously 
 and avoid taking any undue risks. In match 
 play you must be governed largely by your 
 opponent's score. 
 
 Unless the ball is lying fairly well and there 
 is no opposing face the stroke necessary to 
 get it out of sand is different in character from 
 the ordinary one. Always remember this. 
 At the risk of being tiresome let me briefly 
 run over what you should do. First make up 
 your mind where you intend playing the ball, 
 then take your stance, w r ith feet wide apart and 
 worked firmly into the sand, and with the ball 
 HU Back about midway between. Grip tightly 
 of the with both hands and bring the club down 
 as straight as possible until the sole is 
 within an inch or so of the top of the sand, where 
 you propose striking, behind the ball. Keep 
 your eye rigidly fastened on that spot not on 
 the ball and withdraw 7 the club on a straight 
 line up to the right shoulder; a straight line, 
 mind, not a rounded one. Then bring it down 
 
 93
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 again on the same straight line with all the 
 force you can controllably command, consistent 
 with accuracy. As it sinks into the sand its 
 course may then, but not until then, be slightly 
 directed towards the ball. It will be found a 
 hard matter to bring the club down too straight 
 the natural tendency being to make a curve. 
 As one is not of course permitted to sole the club 
 in a hazard, a certain allowance must be made 
 on this account in the aim, otherwise there is a 
 great liability of hitting too close to the ball 
 or even the ball itself. This point should 
 also be carefully remembered in playing for 
 distance out of a sand pit or fairly level stretch 
 where there is no obstruction in front, and 
 where it is not necessary to get the ball up 
 quickly. In a case of this kind both the up- 
 ward and downward hit the term is used 
 advisedly, as all bunker shots should partake 
 more of the nature of a hit than a swing 
 should be less vertical, and the point of aim 
 may be directed a trifle closer to the ball. 
 
 The preceding remarks may also be applied 
 to a ball in long grass, more especially with 
 respect to the necessity of using a more or less 
 perpendicular stroke. If the swing is more 
 rounded the ordinary stroke, in short the 
 head of the club will encounter a larger share 
 
 94
 
 PLAYING OUT OF HAZARDS 
 
 of grass, and in cutting through it a great deal 
 of the power of the stroke is lost, to say nothing 
 of the possibility of the head being turned 
 or twisted. 
 
 When a ball is to be played out of a hazard 
 of any kind the prime consideration should be 
 to make sure of getting it out. The great 
 mistake which many players make is to strive 
 both to get it out and get length as well, and 
 in their effort to get distance (and very fre- 
 quently distance would not be of any material 
 help) they do not give proper attention to the 
 fundamental question of hitting the ball clean 
 and simply extricating it from the hazard. 
 Having failed to get it out on the first essay 
 they consider the wasted shot has got to be 
 made up and this is usually the beginning 
 of a long procession of abortive strokes. 
 
 When it is desired to play the ball on a certain 
 line the player squares the face of the club 
 at right angles thereto, which causes 
 thtfctab it to go straight if properly struck. 
 Occasionally, however, this is not ad- 
 visable. For instance, the ball may be lying 
 at the edge of a fence where it is not possible 
 to make the swing in the direction that you 
 desire the ball to go. Let us take, for ex- 
 ample, a ball lying within a foot or so of a 
 
 95
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 fence parallel to the line of play, and where, 
 owing to its lie, it can only be fairly hit at 
 the imminent risk of sending it into the fence 
 or out of bounds. 
 
 All that is necessary is to face the club 
 around in the direction that you wish to send 
 the ball and play the stroke in the regular way. 
 Do not change the stroke itself in any way; 
 the angle of the face of the club will do the 
 work. As a further aid it is well to hit some- 
 what off the toe of the club. Instead of the 
 ball following the apparent line of play, as 
 indicated by the swing, it will shoot off at a 
 tangent, under the influence of the abnormal 
 facing of the club.
 
 VIII 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS 
 
 PRACTISING. With the majority of players 
 very little, if any, time is given to earnest, 
 painstaking practice; they want to play the 
 round of the course and nothing but the 
 round, pleading that they haven't the time 
 to waste over solitary practice. Now it takes 
 a very long time, under such circumstances, 
 for any man to acquire any degree of pro- 
 ficiency in the game. It would be infinitely 
 better and more enduringly satisfactory if he 
 were to steel his heart against the pleasure of 
 playing around with one of his own calibre, 
 and once in a while betake himself to some 
 unfrequented part of the links, and with half a 
 dozen old balls put in an hour or so of good, 
 hard work. The duplication, again and again, 
 of full strokes with each club would give him 
 an opportunity, unobtainable quite so well 
 in any other way, of ascertaining exactly his 
 7 97
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 limitations, and furnish a chance of correcting 
 existent errors. In actual playing there are 
 only eighteen tee shots in the round, mostly 
 full drives, with relatively less strokes with 
 each other club used excepting the putter. 
 After a poor stroke of any kind, he has 
 no opportunity of trying another for some 
 time, and even that may possibly be just as 
 badly executed, in another way. One may 
 be topped, another skyed, a third sliced, and 
 so on. 
 
 The very best players will occasionally go 
 off with some particular club. The remedy 
 
 correct- * s ^ ou ^- a l ne > OT > better still, with 
 >g an instructor, and master the stroke. 
 Unfortunately the player cannot see 
 himself, and can only determine from actual 
 results what the contributory causes are. Prog- 
 ress, therefore, must necessarily be slow unless 
 he is under the eyes of some one competent 
 to point out the actual root of the fault. If he 
 is really anxious for improvement, however, 
 he will not mind all the trouble which such 
 practice entails, and will acquire a fund of 
 knowledge that cannot but be ultimately useful. 
 He will find out from such experience, by 
 varying his methods of playing, how mistakes 
 are made and how to correct them. Until 
 
 98
 
 GENERAL REMARKS 
 
 he has worked out his own salvation in 
 some such way he will hardly make any 
 growing or permanent improvement in his 
 game. 
 
 Take the drive, for instance. Your pet 
 weakness is slicing. First look at yourself, 
 as it were, and see just what you are doing 
 which does not correspond with what you should 
 do. Try this, that, and the other thing, until 
 you see signs of improvement, and when you 
 find you are on the right track keep working 
 on those lines. The experimenting you have 
 gone through will at least have been of some 
 value in teaching you what to avoid. 
 
 So many things are responsible for slicing, 
 
 either singly or collectively, that it may take 
 
 even a first-class coach some little time 
 
 principal to put his finger on the actual seat of 
 
 causes of th e trouble, and the chances are that it 
 will take you much longer, unassisted. 
 Don't be discouraged, however. "Genius," 
 Carlyle, I think, says, "is simply the capacity 
 of taking infinite pains." 
 
 It may not be amiss to here recapitulate a 
 few of the principal causes of slicing : 
 
 Hitting off the heel. 
 
 Pulling the arms in. 
 
 Improper position of the hands in gripping. 
 99
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Gripping loosely with left hand, and tightly 
 with the right. 
 
 Standing too far back of the ball. 
 
 Each of these faults has already been treated 
 fully in a previous chapter. Now it is not a 
 bad idea in seeking a cure for any faulty 
 methods into which the player may unee**- 
 sciously have drifted to deliberately try the 
 effect of the foregoing and carefully observe 
 the results, making such changes as may be 
 necessary in order to arrive at accuracy. It 
 ma} 7 possibly happen that only one screw is 
 loose, in which case a beneficial change will 
 soon manifest itself. When you succeed in 
 getting away several satisfactory balls con- 
 secutively, take particular note of everything 
 entering into the stroke. In this way, and 
 this way only, can steadiness or consistency 
 be the more quickly attained the doing of 
 the same thing in the same way every time. 
 Never mind if your grip or stance or swing 
 may be outside the pale of orthodoxy, so con- 
 sidered if you can secure distance and rea- 
 sonable accuracy by any particular style 
 affected, that is the style you should cultivate, 
 provided it is easy and natural. 
 
 Pulling or hooking is so comparatively 
 rare, and the reasons therefor having already 
 
 100
 
 GENERAL REMARKS 
 
 been given, it is unnecessary to here dwell 
 at any length on this fault. 
 
 Topping is far more common, and usually 
 proceeds from over-eagerness to see where the 
 
 ball is going, the eye being diverted from 
 Looking the ball before it is actually hit. The 
 up too same i s largely true also of sclaffing. 
 
 The remedy is to steel your mind against 
 any thought of looking up until three or four sec- 
 onds after the ball has been struck. This is one 
 of the very hardest things to do in the whole 
 game. This looking up too soon does not make 
 nearly so much difference in the long game as 
 in approaching or putting there it is absolutely 
 fatal. Another cause of topping or sclaffing 
 is by standing too close to or too far away from 
 the ball. Until you fall into the way of in- 
 tuitively gauging the proper distance at once, 
 it is well to make sure you are right by meas- 
 uring the distance with the right arm only 
 gripping the club, extended in an easy, natural 
 manner, shuffling the feet until you feel per- 
 fectly comfortable ; then grip with the left hand 
 and don't change your position. 
 
 After a man has acquired the art of hitting 
 
 clean and straight, then he may proceed to 
 
 satisfy himself as to how far and how sure 
 
 he can go with each club. A thorough knowl- 
 
 jox
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 edge of the maximum value of the individual 
 
 clubs is essential and can only be obtained 
 
 by practice. If you are burdened with 
 
 First ; a fear of being short, by all means take 
 
 Distance a more powerf ul club ; it is much easier 
 
 Next 
 
 to bring the shot off successfully with 
 an easy swing with the stronger club than to 
 force matters with a weaker one. Make up 
 your mind to be always up to or even slightly 
 beyond the hole. Never under-club a shot. 
 
 It is advisable not to devote too much time 
 to practising with any single club, With the 
 Don , t driver endeavor to play straight into the 
 over- wind, and take your time between each 
 stroke until you have sent off half a 
 dozen balls. Playing against the wind is the 
 best kind of practice, as any errors of slicing, 
 pulling, or skying, are more clearly made mani- 
 fest. Don't drive more than five or six balls 
 consecutively, otherwise the muscles will soon 
 become tired. 
 
 After the drive take your cleek and play 
 the balls back, taking them just as they lie. 
 Make a point of never improving the lie; 
 rather go to the other extreme and place them 
 in an indifferent one. Do this with all clubs, 
 excepting the tee shots. If you can succeed 
 in negotiating them fairly well out of a poor 
 
 102
 
 lie you may rest assured you can do better 
 with a good lie. 
 
 Then take a turn at short approaches before 
 trying your brassey, regulating the use of 
 the clubs in such a way as not to run any 
 risk of fatiguing yourself. 
 
 Practice of this kind now and then will effect 
 a very marked improvement in the game of the 
 comparative beginner, and w r ill also tend to 
 strengthen the game of the more advanced 
 player, far more than any amount of match play. 
 
 If you are working up for any important match 
 or tournament it is w r ell to commence practis- 
 ing a few weeks beforehand, devoting a 
 ing for couple of hours a day twice a week to a 
 Touma- thorough acquaintance w r ith your clubs. 
 Do not, however, continue such practice 
 up to the day; stop two or three days before 
 the competition. In the mean time play a few 
 rounds, if possible, against a slightly stronger 
 opponent. If a man could always play against 
 a somewhat better player a very sensible im- 
 provement would assert itself in his game, 
 while the contrary is very apt to be the case 
 if he should keep on playing with a weaker 
 man. If you feel that you have any advan- 
 tage at all always concede such odds as will 
 compel you to play your best game to win. 
 
 103
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Outside of the above, I do not recommend 
 any special training for any important event. 
 Let your habits of life, if temperate, remain 
 unchanged throughout. 
 
 All of the important tournaments in this 
 country have as their basis a preliminary 
 stroke competition of eighteen or thirty -six 
 holes, as the case may be, those making 
 either the sixteen or thirty-two lowest scores 
 being eligible to continue at match play. 
 
 The This has proved to be an admirable 
 American system. No one can be considered a 
 finished golfer who does not combine 
 in himself the qualities needed for both suc- 
 cessful stroke play and match play. The 
 good medal player is not necessarily a good 
 match player, nor is the good match player 
 always strong at stroke competition. It is 
 somewhat rare to find the player who is really 
 first-class in both departments. 
 
 In the preliminary round it is the more 
 common practice to first classify the com- 
 petitors on their know r n form before making 
 the drawings. There is a good deal to be said 
 in favor of such procedure, as it obviates the 
 possibility of a good player having a poor 
 player as his running mate, when justice is 
 done to neither as a general thing. The better 
 104
 
 GENERAL REMARKS 
 
 player is unconsciously affected usually by 
 the comparatively poor showing made by his 
 competitor, and he is apt to play sympathet- 
 ically, while the weaker player is striving so 
 hard to play his very best to keep up that in 
 the majority of cases he fails to come within 
 several strokes of his normal game. 
 
 The best course to pursue in stroke com- 
 petition is to make up your mind to play each 
 Hints on no ^ e on schedule, arranging a mental 
 Medai bogey according to the length of the 
 hole and your known ability to reach 
 the green in a certain number of strokes, ap- 
 proximated as closely as possible to par play, 
 disregarding entirely the work of your com- 
 petitor. Never mind what he does, play your 
 own game. Let each shot be made with espe- 
 cial reference to the next one, not with reference 
 to the immediate one of your present competitor. 
 And don't try to beat yourself. Put aside en- 
 tirely any thought of what your ultimate score 
 may be; play each hole for all it is worth. 
 Don't allow yourself to be discouraged by a poor 
 shot or a series of poor plays. Blot out all re- 
 membrance of such, and concentrate your mind 
 upon each individual stroke. Nor must you 
 permit yourself to be unduly "set up" over 
 having possibly a very good score back of you. 
 105
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Now all this applies very largely to match 
 play, but not wholly, for you have now to 
 A few regulate your game very frequently 
 words by wna t your opponent does, especial- 
 Match ly when he plays any particular hole 
 >lay unusually well. When he gets into 
 trouble, pursue the even> tenor of your way, 
 taking no chances. But if, for instance, he 
 is on the green and absolutely certain to go 
 down in two more, and you are off the green 
 and playing the odd, you must make up your 
 mind that either the approach must be dead 
 or you must somehow hole out on the next, 
 particularly if you are playing two more on 
 the green. If, in such or like circumstances, 
 the loss of the hole seems assured, you must 
 play boldly in an effort to steal a half. It 
 is in such cases that the general character 
 of your play must differ from stroke compe- 
 tition methods. If you fail to halve the hole 
 you might just as well be still playing in 
 yonder bunker whether you are one or six 
 strokes more matters little if the hole be 
 lost. So also must your general play be 
 governed if you are, say, four down with six 
 to play. Then, if ever, must you endeavor to 
 get inside your opponent, and keep him play- 
 ing the odd. You are playing a very up-hill 
 106
 
 game and are bound to take chances somewhat 
 out of the ordinary if you desire to win. 
 
 Over-confidence in your ability to beat an 
 opponent has lost many a match. "Thrice 
 armed is he who hath his quarrel just, but 
 four times he who gets his blow in fust." You 
 are pitted against a man whom you can beat 
 with comparative ease, and you embark on 
 the round with a feeling that it does not matter 
 much if you lose the first few holes you can 
 easily make them up later on. Now this is all 
 wrong. Almost before you know it the game 
 has advanced sufficiently far to make the result 
 anything but the sure thing you anticipated, 
 and a slight feeling of irritation is engendered 
 that you should be " down " to a weaker player. 
 This in itself is not conducive, as a general 
 thing, to bringing out your best game, and 
 when is allied to this feeling one of some 
 anxiety as to your being able to pull up, the 
 chances grow more remote of your being able to 
 do so. Your opponent meanwhile, encouraged 
 by his unexpected success, is brimful of con- 
 fidence and is in just the right vein to play the 
 best game of which he is capable. The best 
 way, therefore, is to endeavor to win the first 
 few holes, and not hold your opponent too 
 cheaply until the match is virtually assured. 
 107
 
 IX 
 
 CL UBS 
 
 To play the game properly the following 
 clubs are necessary : driver, brassey, cleek, 
 mid-iron, mashie, and putter. Although not 
 absolutely essential a niblick may also be 
 added. Many good golfers rarely carry one, 
 using the mashie instead, except perhaps in 
 an important match. Let us first take the 
 driver. 
 
 With all the varieties on the market and 
 their name is legion he would be fastidious 
 indeed who could not find one to suit him, 
 provided he knew what he wanted. Tastes 
 vary in a marked degree, and sentiment goes 
 for so much as to largely account for the many 
 different styles, for what may be eminently 
 adapted for A would be useless in the hands 
 of B. Yet we see B vainly endeavoring to 
 play with a club entirely unsuited to him, 
 simply because A does so excellently with 
 
 108
 
 CLUBS 
 
 one of the same kind, B being totally unmind- 
 ful of the fact that their styles are wholly 
 dissimilar. So many things enter into the 
 make-up of the club, apart altogether from the 
 model or pattern of the head (such as the lie, the 
 weight, the length, and qualities of the shaft), 
 that it is a rare thing to find any two exactly 
 alike. It is, therefore, only by a good deal of 
 experimenting that the player can arrive at any 
 fair idea of what best suits him. Some- 
 the cTubs body has said that it is about as difficult 
 that suit ^ Q se ] ec t a driver for another man as it 
 
 You 
 
 would be a wife. A divorce from the one, 
 however, is a simple matter. In the hands of a 
 first-class player there is comparatively little 
 difference in results between any two entirely 
 different clubs that you may hand him, since 
 he has the faculty of quickly adapting him- 
 self to their peculiarities. And clubs have 
 peculiarities, as we shall shortly find. 
 
 It is much easier to get a club which will 
 humor your peculiarities than it is to play with 
 one which has peculiarities at variance with 
 your natural style. Make the club suit you 
 instead of making yourself suit the club. 
 The great thing is to know just what you need. 
 Few men have the time or the disposition 
 to run through the whole tribe of clubs and 
 109
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 ascertain for themselves, in a practical way, 
 whether they can accomplish better work with 
 a heavy head united to a stiff and long shaft, 
 or a heavy one with a stiff and short shaft, or 
 a heavy hea'd with a long and whippy shaft, or 
 one with a short and whippy shaft, or, finally, 
 a light head with these various equipments. 
 As a general thing the beginner makes the 
 mistake of selecting too heavy a club, from a 
 lack of appreciation of the fact that it 
 
 Avoid 
 
 Heavy is not so much the weight of the club 
 which drives a long ball as it is the speed 
 at which it is moving when it meets the ball. 
 It is obvious that in the hands of the ordinarj^ 
 player a heavy club cannot be swung so fast 
 as a lighter one. When the beginner grasps 
 this fact in its true significance he will have 
 made a long step towards improvement in dis- 
 tance. Of course there is a limit as to the 
 weight of the head. With too light a one 
 the additional speed gained in the swing 
 does not compensate equivalently for the lack 
 of weight any more than the very heavy head 
 makes up for the necessarily slower swing. 
 There is a happy medium. This happy me- 
 dium, however, is not a fixed quantity, since all 
 men are not cast in the same mould. Some 
 'have very strong wrists, some strong arms, 
 
 no
 
 CLUBS 
 
 some are gifted with both, and when is joined 
 to this combination a lissomeness of body, 
 the naturally long driver is the result. Such 
 a man is likely to have a very rapid swing, 
 and will probably prefer a stiff shaft. The 
 man with a less rapid swing will get equally 
 as long a ball by using a more supple shaft. 
 The more " music " there is in the shaft, how- 
 ever, the greater is the liability to slice or pull, 
 especially if the least pressing be indulged in. 
 
 Let us take the head by itself and examine it 
 in detail. It is usually made of beech, persim- 
 mon, or dogwood. A beech head is gen- 
 Hea n ds erally credited with driving a slightly 
 longer ball, and usually one with more 
 carry. This is probably due to its more resil- 
 ient qualities. Being somewhat softer than the 
 other woods mentioned the ball sinks into the 
 face a trifle more appreciably, and therefore is 
 practically an integral part of the head for a 
 fraction of a second longer. In other words, 
 the head is in contact with the ball for a longer 
 period of time, infinitesimally so when actually 
 measured, but enough to store up a shade more 
 energy in the ball. 
 
 Beech seems to possess this quality of re- 
 siliency in about the right degree, being neither 
 too soft nor yet too hard. The climate here, 
 in
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 however, does not lend itself to the preservation 
 of the wood, and it very soon cracks in the 
 face, necessitating a leather inset. With a good 
 leather face, the head is almost as good as 
 ever, about the only objection being that in 
 wet weather the leather becomes more or less 
 pulpy, and consequently does not drive quite 
 so far. When the face shows signs of crack- 
 ing it should not be allowed to go too far before 
 being faced with leather. It will not do any 
 harm to a leather face to give it a coat of good 
 spar varnish. This will assist in filling up 
 the pores and help to keep moisture out. The 
 varnish should, however, be allowed to thor- 
 oughly dry before the club is used. 
 
 Next to beech, persimmon is a splendid 
 wood, and on account of its greater durabil- 
 ity is preferred by many players. It is not 
 quite so resilient as beech, but drives almost 
 as long a ball, and lasts much longer. Dog- 
 wood is also an excellent wood, somewhat 
 harder than persimmon, and more durable 
 than either it or beech. Except in wet weather 
 it is apparently improved in driving power 
 by being leather-faced. There is so little to 
 choose among the three woods mentioned that 
 it resolves itself into a question largely of sen- 
 timent, pretty much the same as the shape of 
 112
 
 CLUBS 
 
 the head appeals to different players in various 
 ways. 
 
 Concerning models, it undoubtedly appears to 
 be the tendency to materially shorten the length 
 of the face, especially with class players. 
 shpes The only advantage of a wealth of face 
 is that it offers more margin for error, the 
 inaccurate player being more likely to hit the 
 ball with some part of it, even though a slice or 
 a pull may result through the ball being struck 
 off the heel or the toe of the club. The more 
 accurate hitter, however, finds that the weight 
 of the wood unnecessarily taken up by a long 
 face can be used to greater mechanical advan- 
 tage, and he accordingly proceeds to cut off 
 the toe and add its equivalent weight where 
 it will do the most good behind the point of 
 impact. Or he gets a new club built on these 
 lines, and it does not take him long to discover 
 the greater merits of the change from the 
 longer balls he is enabled to drive. Another 
 feature in connection with the small -faced 
 head is perhaps worthy of consideration, in 
 respect of the lesser atmospheric resistance 
 encountered in the swing. Like the weight, 
 however, the size and shape of the head are 
 matters of individual preference. 
 
 Heads may be divided into two classes, those 
 8 113
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 with a scare to which the shaft is glued and 
 then bound with wnipping, and those into the 
 neck of which a hole is bored to re- 
 liefs*,, ceive the shaft. The latter are com- 
 socket m only known as socket heads. Be- 
 
 Heads J 
 
 longing to the latter family may be 
 included also the spliced fork, formed by saw- 
 ing a narrow slit about one-quarter inch wide, 
 
 SPLICED FORK, REGULAR, AND FLUSH-JOINT SOCKETS 
 
 and two and one-half inches to three inches 
 deep in the neck. Both of the latter class ap- 
 pear to possess an advantage over the orig- 
 inal type in that the spring is brought closer 
 to the face, enabling a somewhat longer ball 
 to be driven. Moreover, there is not the same 
 liability of the head becoming unglued and 
 flying off the shaft. 
 
 Recognizing the undoubted merits of the 
 114
 
 CLUBS 
 
 ordinary socket head, a firm of well-known 
 manufacturers have developed the principle 
 still further by shortening the neck until there 
 is practically no neck left, a hole being drilled 
 
 SHOWING SECTION OF AND A SCREW SOCKET 
 
 through what little is left of it with a left-hand 
 screw, to within about one - sixteenth of the 
 sole, and the shaft being firmly secured there- 
 in with glue. Actual tests have demonstrated 
 the longer driving power of this head. 
 
 The question as to how the head should 
 lie when affixed to the shaft is purely a mat- 
 ter of individual taste. It may, how- 
 TheLie ever, be remarked in this connection 
 that the player who is habitually prone 
 to slicing may remedy this weakness to some 
 extent by using a head with the toe slightly
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 cocked up when held naturally, while he whose 
 besetting sin is an undue inclination towards 
 pulling may find a partial corrective by using 
 a flat-lying club. 
 
 In the matter of weight, no absolutely fixed 
 rule can be laid down, as so much depends 
 
 upon the physical conformation of the 
 oTnead pl aver J an d the character of his swing. 
 
 It may, however, be affirmed that the 
 weight of the ordinary head should not be less 
 than six and one -half ounces, or more than 
 eight and one -half ounces. The happy me- 
 dium will probably be found best suited to the 
 general run of men. It will have been observed 
 that these limitations apply to the ordinary 
 head, by which is meant the ordinary head as 
 spliced to the shaft. The socket head, and 
 especially the last one of this class just re- 
 ferred to, can carry a shade more weight, ow- 
 ing to the saving effected by the abolition of 
 the neck. 
 
 The disposition of the lead in a head exercises 
 a very marked influence on the accurate flight 
 
 of a ball. If it be massed equally on 
 of Lead both sides behind the centre of the face, 
 
 on Direc- ^^ a ^jj s t ru ck properly in the mid- 
 
 tion 
 
 die of the face will assuredly go straight, 
 while the same ball if hit off the heel or toe 
 
 116
 
 CLUBS 
 
 will almost surely be sliced or pulled, as the 
 case may be. Consequently, if the lead be 
 inserted with the bulk running towards the 
 heel, a ball hit in the centre of the face will 
 likely be pulled, while a ball hit in the same 
 place off a club the lead in which inclines 
 towards the toe will in all probability be some- 
 what sliced. 
 
 In order to avoid the possibility of any 
 spin being imparted to the ball, either to the 
 right or the left, it is advisable to have the 
 lead put in equidistant laterally behind the 
 proposed point of impact, which is the centre 
 of the face. 
 
 According, also, as to whether the lead be well 
 up towards the top or down towards the sole, 
 so is the trajectory of the ball affected. In the 
 former case the ball will have a low flight with 
 but little carry, and considerable run, while 
 in the latter a high ball with but little run 
 will result. 
 
 The angle which the face of the club presents 
 to the ball is a very important factor. It 
 should properly be at right angles to the pro- 
 posed flight of the ball. If it be hooked and 
 the ball be truly hit a pull will certainly follow, 
 while if the natural lie is so laid away as to face 
 to the right the ball will go in that direction. 
 117
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Some players with a faulty swing or de- 
 ficient follow - through purposely use a club 
 
 slightly hooked to counteract such 
 ^Faces'* weakness, particularly players who 
 
 seem to find it impossible to avoid 
 slicing. There is no doubt that a hooked 
 face acts as a corrective of slicing. The 
 true remedy, however, should be applied to 
 the swing itself. That is where the trouble 
 originates and resides. The bulger head owes 
 its origin to the innate tendency of a ball 
 being hit off the heel describing a curve to 
 the right, and one off the toe to the left. To 
 offset this the face is made with a suggestion 
 of convexity, hooked, as it were, towards the 
 heel and laid away towards the toe, the centre 
 being practically at right angles to the true 
 direction. The true type of the bulger head 
 has fallen into disuse, and now the vast major- 
 ity are made with practically straight faces. 
 
 Some men have difficulty in getting the 
 ball up, while others seem unable to avoid 
 
 skying their tee shots, irrespective of 
 
 Driving J 
 
 High the face being slightly laid back or be- 
 ing putter-faced, and also without ref- 
 erence to the height of the tee used. This indi- 
 cates that there is unquestionably some defect 
 again in the swing. With a correct swing it 
 118
 
 CLUBS 
 
 follows that when the face of the club is laid 
 back a higher ball is driven than with a club 
 having a straight or putter face. The higher 
 ball is perhaps more effective with the wind, or 
 where a hazard involving a long carry has to 
 be negotiated, but against the wind it is a bit 
 of a handicap. 
 
 By means of a comparatively straight-faced 
 club, however, a high or a low ball may be 
 driven, according to the height of the tee used. 
 In this connection it may be remarked, en 
 passant, that most players tee their balls too 
 high. 
 
 In selecting a head it is well to see that the 
 grain of the wood runs at right angles to the 
 
 The face, or approximately so, and straight 
 Grain of up the neck. This not only contrib- 
 utes in a degree towards greater dis- 
 tance, but tends also to greater longevity, as 
 it were, of the head itself by reason of the 
 lesser liability of flaking or cracking. 
 
 Before leaving the maker's hands the head 
 
 is given a rubbing of linseed oil on all parts 
 
 excepting the face and the sole, and 
 
 onlng then varnished, in order to keep out 
 
 moisture. A few makers even put a 
 
 coat of varnish on the sole, and I am not sure 
 
 that this isn't a good idea. It is advisable to 
 
 119
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 occasionally put a touch of linseed oil on all 
 parts excepting the face. Never keep clubs 
 in a hot place or a damp one. In a hot at- 
 mosphere the glue will be affected and loose 
 heads result, and, moreover, the natural supply 
 of oil in the cells of the wood will soon dry 
 out, and cracks will inevitably result. In a 
 damp situation moisture will be absorbed, and 
 the heads will lose driving power. A cool, dry 
 place is the best.
 
 X 
 
 CLUB SHAFTS 
 
 HAVING dealt with the head sufficiently in 
 detail for all practical purposes let us now turn 
 our attention to the shaft, which is, perhaps, the 
 most important part of the whole club. A poor 
 head on a good shaft makes a much better club 
 than a good head on a poor shaft. It is safe 
 to say that the majority of shafts as ordinarily 
 turned out are not by any means first class, and 
 it is harder to get a good one than a good head. 
 
 For one really good one you will find ten 
 indifferent ones, some of which indeed are 
 absolutely impossible. The only remedy is 
 to get your clubs from a reputable maker, or 
 select the shafts yourself. 
 
 On the whole, hickory is the best wood, 
 and since this seems to be an accepted fact we 
 will not trouble ourselves to discuss the relative 
 merits of others which are sometimes used, 
 with more or less success. 
 
 121
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Of the different grades of hickory the clear 
 white is probably the best. In selecting a shaft 
 
 The see that the grain runs as straight as 
 selection possible throughout the entire length, 
 and that the shaft recovers its straight- 
 ness quickly when subjected to pressure. It is 
 better, perhaps, to be very stiff, as it can then be 
 worked down, and unnecessary weight be thus 
 disposed of without affecting the desired spring 
 or suppleness, or running any risk of its be- 
 coming warped. A shaft which stays bent 
 when pressure is exerted lacks driving power. 
 If it springs back to its original shape and at 
 the same time is straight grained, it is pretty 
 sure to be a good one. Get one that fits both 
 requirements. The trouble with the major- 
 ity of shafts which are turned out is that the 
 wood has not been properly seasoned and 
 they soon lose their shape. The lighter it is 
 in weight, combined with stiffness, the better. 
 We are dealing now, remember, with shafts 
 in the rough, although all that has been said 
 applies largely to the finished article. Of 
 course it is patent, in referring to the weight, 
 that this has reference to the shaft before it 
 is fixed to the head. Therefore, we say that 
 a really good shaft should be light, while 
 possessing at the same time the other qualities 
 
 122
 
 CLUB SHAFTS 
 
 mentioned. It is a somewhat singular, and, 
 at first sight, rather anomalous, fact that a 
 heavy shaft on, say, a seven-and-a-half-ounce 
 head will make the club feel lighter than a 
 lighter shaft on the same head. It is all a 
 matter of balance. 
 
 A wobbly shaft is not recommended for any 
 player. The really good one has a steely 
 sort of spring, which is somewhat rare to find. 
 The spring should be felt throughout the en- 
 tire length, but in a greater degree towards 
 the head. Very frequently one will be ap- 
 parently dead, without any responsiveness, 
 when fitted to the head. Such a one may often 
 be made just right by thinning it off slightly 
 under the grip. 
 
 The man with a very fast swing will find 
 it more conducive to accuracy to use a some- 
 what stiffer shaft than the player with less 
 freedom. With a limber shaft in the hands 
 of the rapid swinger the hands will arrive at 
 the ball before the head, and slicing and pull- 
 ing will probably result. In a matter of this 
 kind it can only be left to the individual to 
 work out his own salvation, and ascertain 
 for himself the degree of suppleness needed, 
 keeping in mind the general principles referred 
 to. The balance of the club is largely governed 
 123
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 by the length and character of the shaft. It 
 may safely be said that a seven-and-a-half- 
 ounce head will feel lighter on a shaft 
 of'shlft forty-three and a half to forty-four and 
 a half inches long as measured from the 
 sole of the club if gripped at forty-two or forty- 
 three inches than the same head will feel on a 
 shaft forty-two or forty-three inches long when 
 the latter is gripped at the end. Just what the 
 length should be must be left to the player's 
 own judgment. Some short men play with 
 long clubs, while others affect very short ones, 
 and the same is true of tall men, yet the actual 
 results are approximately the same. From 
 forty-one to forty-four inches, as measured 
 from the extreme end to the sole of the club, 
 appears to be the general range. 
 
 What has already been stated regarding 
 the care of heads applies with equal force to 
 shafts. They should occasionally be oiled, and 
 should be kept in a dry, cool place. 
 
 THE BRASSEY AND OTHER CLUBS 
 
 We now come to the brassey. This is sub- 
 stantially the same as the driver, excepting 
 that it is a trifle heavier and more laid back, 
 and has a brass plate affixed to the sole. 
 
 124
 
 CLUB SHAFTS 
 
 Usually, also, the shaft is a shade stiffer 
 There are good reasons for these slight dif- 
 ferences. On a hole where distance is neces- 
 sary this is the club usually employed after 
 the tee shot with the driver, and you are called 
 upon to play the ball as it lies. If it is practi- 
 cally teed up the driver is the best club to use. 
 More frequently, however, it is not teed up, 
 and often is lying very indifferently. To get 
 it up the face of the brassey is usually laid 
 back a little more than the driver, and it is 
 preferably a trifle heavier than the latter, and 
 with a somewhat stiffer shaft, so as to cut 
 through any obstructions after the ball is 
 hit. To aid in playing the ball out of a cuppy 
 lie the face is all the better for being smaller 
 than the driver, and the sole should also be 
 more or less convex, to suit the taste of the 
 user. A small head with a convex sole will 
 fit into a poor lie much better than one with a 
 longer face and a flat sole. 
 
 For all round play a narrower face is better, 
 assisting, as it does, in getting the ball up bet- 
 ter. With the ball as it is ordinarily 
 
 Narrow J 
 
 Face found after the tee shot there is little 
 
 danger of getting too much under it, 
 
 without sclaffing, and the narrow face comes 
 
 in very useful. The deeper the face is the 
 
 125
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 greater is the tendency to drive a low ball. A 
 certain reasonable depth is all trie better in a 
 driver where the ball is usually played off a 
 tee, but the conditions are not exactly the same 
 where a brassey is called into requisition. 
 
 The deeper the face of the brassey the more 
 it requires to be laid back or lofted. Most 
 brassies are made with the face both too deep 
 and too long the unnecessary wealth of wood 
 being an absolute detriment instead of an as- 
 sistance. 
 
 The brass plate should not be too thick. 
 The fact that the club is so protected at the 
 sole is of some sentimental value, and the 
 player is imbued with the feeling that he can 
 bang it into the ball freely without any fear 
 of harming the club, whereas with the driver 
 he would be somewhat inclined to ease up 
 on the stroke lest he should perchance strike 
 some unseen pebble or other underlying ob- 
 struction. 
 
 The screws which hold the plate sometimes 
 work loose. This trouble may easily be rem- 
 edied by putting glue in the holes before in- 
 serting the screws. 
 
 The cleek is used where the distance from 
 the hole is between a full brassey shot and a 
 full iron, or when the ball is lying badly and 
 126
 
 CLUB SHAFTS 
 
 as great a distance as can be secured is neces- 
 sary, and when the nature of the lie hardly 
 concern- admits of the brassey being used. The 
 in g the shaft should be fairly stiff, and the head 
 only moderately laid back for general 
 purposes. The blade should not be too long, 
 and it should err on the side of being narrow 
 in depth rather than otherwise. It is all the 
 better, as well, to be short in the socket. The 
 greater amount of weight in the blade should 
 incline towards the sole. 
 
 The mid-iron is usually employed when the 
 
 stroke to be played is neither a cleek shot nor 
 
 a full mashie. It is also frequently used 
 
 Mid-i!on f r running-up approaches instead of 
 
 pitching with the mashie. It is more 
 
 laid back than the cleek and more heavily 
 
 weighted towards the sole, with the result that 
 
 the ball is more lofted and has less run. The 
 
 face is all the better for being a trifle longer 
 
 and deeper than the cleek. 
 
 Next in order comes the mashie. This, 
 I consider, should be fairly heavy much 
 heavier, proportionately, than the other 
 Mashie clubs. The really best way of approach- 
 ing with this club demands, ordinarily, 
 that a certain amount of turf should be taken 
 after the ball is hit. Very frequently, indeed, 
 127
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 it happens that a good deal of turf has to be 
 taken, by reason of a poor lie, M r ith a trifle 
 sometimes, before the ball is reached. On 
 this account a fairly heavy head is a desid- 
 eratum, as a light one would be the more in- 
 clined to be diverted in its course from con- 
 tact with the ground. The blade is better 
 for being deep and short in the face. By 
 the greater depth more latitude for error is 
 permitted in playing out of a deep, grassy 
 lie, where inaccurate hitting would result 
 in getting too much under the ball, while 
 the short face enables the head to better deal 
 with a poor lie. The pattern known as the 
 Taylor model possesses, probably, the best 
 all-round merits. 
 
 The mashie is usually laid back a trifle 
 more than the iron, and, as a sequence, the 
 ball is pitched much higher, with relatively 
 less run. It is not advisable to have too much 
 loft on the face, as this calls for a more delicate 
 nicety of hitting. The shaft is not so long as 
 the iron, which, in turn, is generally a trifle 
 shorter than the cleek. And it is all the bet- 
 ter for being stiff. Avoid, above all things, a 
 whippy shaft on a mashie, or, for that matter, 
 on any iron club. The only object of a whippy 
 shaft is to secure a somewhat longer ball. 
 128
 
 CLUB SHAFTS 
 
 There is no excuse for such on a mashie. 
 If distance is desired use an iron, when the 
 shot is one that demands a longer ball than 
 can be comfortably played with the weaker 
 club. 
 
 Touching putters, their name is legion. We 
 have the wooden putter with a long, straight 
 
 face, and putters made of various metals, 
 putters of all conceivable shapes and sizes and 
 
 degrees of loft, some even with an in- 
 verse loft, that is, with the face hanging in 
 towards the ball. They all have merit, in 
 some degree, as is evidenced by the good work 
 accomplished in the hands of different players. 
 Sentiment counts for a great deal. Let a man 
 take a fancy to any one of the various kinds 
 on the market that's the putter for him. It's 
 a very good thing to have decided views re- 
 garding the style of putter you feel will suit 
 you. Sad and unfortunate, however, will be 
 the lot of the beginner who does not know 
 what he wants, and who first leans to a goose- 
 neck because A uses one, only to be captivated, 
 although distrustfully, with a straight-faced 
 club because B has one, to be hesitatingly 
 rejected in favor of a putting cleek for a similar 
 reason, and who winds up, generally in sheer 
 desperation, with some new idea that is sup- 
 9 129
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 posed to embody all the good qualities of all 
 three, but which is found after a little while 
 to perform all sorts of vagaries, due, almost 
 entirely, to the player's lack of confidence 
 in the club and himself. The better plan, 
 really, is to take out three or four different 
 kinds of weapons and ascertain in a practical 
 way, by experimenting, which accomplishes 
 the best work. It will simmer down to one or 
 two. If one only, so much the better; stick 
 to that club and don't change it. If the choice 
 resolves itself into two, get both, and con- 
 tinue to use them alternately until you are 
 satisfied which is the better under all sorts of 
 conditions. You may possibly find that one 
 is better adapted for keener greens, while 
 the other is more suitable for rougher and 
 slower greens. In such case it is not a bad 
 plan to make a practice of carrying both, so 
 that if you should happen to go off with the 
 one you have the other to fall back upon. 
 On the whole, however, it is much better to pin 
 your faith to a single putter and to change 
 the character of the stroke to suit the varying 
 conditions of the greens. 
 
 As a general principle it may be stated that 
 a putting-cleek is the more useful on a very 
 keen green, while the straight-faced putter is 
 
 130
 
 CLUB SHAFTS 
 
 perhaps better on a slower one. The more 
 loft there is on the face the harder may the 
 ball be hit, in comparison with one which 
 is straight-faced. 
 
 The shaft should be stiff, otherwise the 
 slightest degree of extra strength applied to 
 the stroke will cause the ball to go careering 
 away past the hole. And it is the better for 
 being comparatively short. The lie of the head, 
 to adapt itself to a short shaft, should be more 
 upright. 
 
 I have treated severally of the driver, 
 brassey, cleek, mid-iron, mashie, and putter, 
 
 which have been referred to as necessa- 
 aub* rv f r the proper playing of the game. 
 
 Quite frequently, however, good players 
 carry one or two additional clubs as a regular 
 part of their equipment, so as to bridge over the 
 shades of difference existing between a brassey 
 and a cleek, a cleek and an iron, and an iron and 
 a mashie; thus making the playing of such 
 hybrid strokes more easy of accomplishment. 
 Very often shots of this kind are met with. 
 You may be just that distance away from the 
 hole that a full stroke with a brassey would 
 carry you beyond, while a full cleek would 
 be a bit short. Now in order to get the exact 
 distance desired you have either to let up a
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 trifle with the one club or let into it a little more 
 press, in short with the other. The thing 
 can be done, of course, but there is always 
 an attendant risk of failure. To meet such 
 exigencies a spoon is used. This is simply 
 a brassey with the face laid back more than 
 usual, and with the shaft a little shorter. 
 
 Likewise there is a niche between the iron 
 and the mashie, especially where you are called 
 upon to carry a hazard close up to the green 
 and with some possible trouble beyond. To 
 negotiate such a shot successfully it is neces- 
 sary either to put cut on the ball if an iron is 
 used, or to play a full mashie shot without 
 sparing it. This is just where the jigger fits 
 in nicely. The head is a cross between the 
 iron and the mashie. The blade is not quite so 
 long as the iron, is narrower, and more laid 
 back in the face, and is weighted more tow- 
 ards the sole. The shot off it is principally all 
 carry. 
 
 Excepting the driver, the mashie, and the 
 
 putter, I consider that every other club should 
 
 be played at about its maximum value, 
 
 Three- by means of an easy, full shot, without 
 
 quarter an attempt at forcing the stroke on 
 
 Sn ots 
 
 the one hand or sparing it on the other. 
 The necessary gradations of distance with each 
 132
 
 particular club, however, may very easily be 
 controlled by the extent to which it is taken 
 back not by seeking to accelerate or diminish 
 the speed of the stroke. In other words, I be- 
 lieve in dispensing, so far as possible, with 
 three-quarter shots or half shots, excepting 
 with the mashie. 
 
 In addition to the several clubs mentioned, 
 a driving-iron, or driving-mashie, or mashie- 
 cleek, will be found very useful, especially for 
 tee shots, or playing through the green against 
 a strong head wind. 
 
 It would hardly be proper to conclude this 
 chapter without reference to the niblick, al- 
 though most good players rarely car- 
 Nibiick ry one, except in an important match, 
 using a mashie instead. There is no 
 doubt, however, that for getting out of bunkers 
 or trouble of any serious kind the niblick is 
 unquestionably the better club. It should be 
 heavy and the shaft stiff. 
 
 Apropos of iron clubs generally, it is not 
 a bad plan, if the shaft shrinks and gets 
 loose in the hose or socket, or when putting 
 in a new shaft, to glue it in. You will 
 rarely, then, be troubled with loose heads, 
 and the risk of breakage will also be 
 minimized.
 
 XI 
 
 BALLS 
 
 THE history of the rubber-core type of 
 ball is very interesting. In 1898 Mr. 
 Coburn Haskell, of Cleveland, Ohio, con- 
 ceived the idea of winding a thin rubber 
 
 thread, under ten- 
 sion, on a small cen- 
 tre of gutta-percha, 
 encasing it in a thin 
 shell, or cover, of 
 gutta - percha. The 
 result was a ball 
 which easily outdis- 
 tanced the "guttie," 
 then in universal use. 
 But it had the great 
 disadvantage that its 
 
 flight was not only erratic, but if'dooked" 
 
 badly. On this account it did not at once jump 
 
 into popular favor. Indeed, it was only the 
 
 134 
 
 FEATHER BALL
 
 BALLS 
 
 result of an accident that led to its general 
 adoption. In the summer of 1901 a Has- 
 kell was turned in 
 with a lot of old gut- 
 ties to be remould- 
 ed by James Foulis, 
 then professional at 
 the Chicago Golf 
 Club. It escaped no- 
 tice during the proc- 
 ess of remaking, but 
 it instantly attracted 
 attention by its re- RUBBER-CORED BALL 
 markably superior 
 
 driving qualities. It was cut open, and, 
 lo! it was a Haskell. 
 
 Its different behavior to the ordinary 
 Haskell was at once attributed to the 
 "Agrippa" or bramble marking. No one 
 at that time appeared to recognize that 
 it was simply due to the depth of the mark- 
 ing, not the style. The original Haskell 
 was practically a smooth ball. It was 
 made in the "Silvertown" pattern, and the 
 original grooves were so shallow that they 
 virtually disappeared after painting. It 
 was simply a case of history repeating it- 
 self, as when the guttie ball was first intro- 
 135
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 OLD GUTTA-PERCHA BALL 
 
 duced half a century previously a per- 
 fectly smooth ball. It ducked badly, of 
 course. The reason the old feather ball 
 
 did not duck to such 
 a great extent was on 
 account of the seams 
 in the leather cover. 
 That it did duck, how- 
 ever, in some degree, 
 history amply attests. 
 After the guttie was 
 played with for some 
 time and had received 
 a number of tops and 
 
 resultant gashes, it was found to fly much 
 better, which led to the practice of "hand- 
 hammering" i. e., 
 nicking the smooth 
 surface into a series 
 of small indentations, 
 a process which later 
 was abandoned in 
 favor of moulding 
 from dies, as at pres- 
 ent obtains. 
 
 It took some little 
 time to discover that the depth of the mark- 
 ing on a ball exercised a very potent influ- 
 
 136 
 
 HAND-HAMMERED BALL
 
 BALLS 
 
 ence on its flight. The Haskell people rea- 
 soned that if the vagaries of the original ball 
 were due to shallow marking, all trouble 
 would disappear if the markings were made 
 deeper. And Haskell No. 2, as here illus- 
 trated, was the antithesis of No. I. So deep, 
 in fact, were the indentations as to materi- 
 
 HASKELL NO. 2 
 
 ally impair the flight of the ball, owing to 
 increased atmospheric resistance. It was 
 not a success, and only served to strengthen 
 the delusion that the "bramble" was the 
 only proper moulding. 
 
 So the next year out came another 
 Haskell, this time in the regular bramble 
 mould, but a size larger than the ordinary 
 137
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 ball. It lasted only a season, the majority 
 of players not liking the additional weight. 
 It was, however, in my opinion, the best 
 Haskell ever made. 
 
 Digressing for a moment, I am firmly 
 convinced that if the present balls were 
 made a size larger they would be better 
 in every respect. 
 
 There should be no loss of distance by 
 reason of the extra size and weight, such 
 being practically counterbalanced by the 
 additional resiliency supplied by the extra 
 rubber. And how much better they would 
 be for the short game! 
 
 In this country there are only three or 
 four ball manufacturers. In Great Britain 
 there are scores, since the validity of the 
 Haskell patent was upset a couple of years 
 ago. 
 
 All, however, are practical^ made on 
 
 the same principle. Some have no centres 
 
 that is to say, the rubber is wound upon 
 
 itself; others have centres of various sizes 
 
 and of various materials, such as 
 
 M Ba d i" n steel balls > hard rubber, gutta, wood, 
 pieces of rubber rolled together, com- 
 pressed hair, rubber bags filled with water 
 or gelatine, etc. Around these centres are 
 
 138
 
 BALLS 
 
 wound, under tension, rubber tape or rubber 
 thread of various degrees of width and thick- 
 ness. Occasionally the winding is continu- 
 ous, but the best results seem to be obtained 
 by alternating layers of tape and thread 
 combined. The core is then enclosed in a 
 thin shell of gutta under compression. 
 
 It is rather interesting to note that prac- 
 tically all of the present-day balls are made 
 in the bramble mould largely due, doubt- 
 less, to the remade Haskell, to which refer- 
 ence has already been made, having been 
 turned out with this particular type of 
 marking, thus supporting the axiom that 
 men even ball-makers are like sheep: 
 slaves to custom and conventionality. 
 
 It is a scientific fact that a perfectly 
 smooth ball will bounce higher than one 
 with a pebbled surface. The former, how- 
 ever, is not practical, as it has a pro- 
 nounced tendency to duck, as has been 
 abundantly exemplified in the case of the 
 first guttie, and, later, of the original 
 Haskell, as we have already seen. It is 
 clear, therefore, that for sustained and 
 uniform flight, some kind of marking is 
 essential, whether the form of marking be 
 protuberant, as in the pebble or bramble, 
 139
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 or recessed, as in the old Silvertown guttie. 
 That the recessed pattern is better I am 
 iu\\y persuaded, and one has only to look 
 at the success of the only type of the latter 
 on the market the antithesis of the pimple 
 to see this fully borne out. This ball 
 has a flat surface with slight circular de- 
 pressions. There is ho doubt it goes 
 farther than others of the bramble pattern. 
 Theoretically it should, and theory here 
 squares with practice. It is simply an 
 embodiment of the principle that a virtually 
 smooth or flat-surfaced ball comes into 
 more extensive contact with the club-head, 
 and consequently receives a greater meas- 
 ure of propulsion. The use of certain de- 
 pressions in the form of dimples . . . re- 
 cessed lines would answer as well ... is 
 simply to offset the ducking, which would 
 otherwise be attendant upon the use of a 
 ball with a perfectly smooth or flat surface. 
 Up to the present time nearly all makers 
 have occupied themselves with experi- 
 mentations on balls of the bramble 
 Marking type, the form or pattern only vary- 
 ing. There would appear to be a fer- 
 tile field for some enterprising maker to ex- 
 periment along the lines indicated. Are so 
 140
 
 BALLS 
 
 many depressions, or recessions, necessary 
 as are at present employed? It seems to me 
 that the first requisite in any investiga- 
 tion is a smooth ball; second, the scien- 
 tific determination whether circular de- 
 pressions or recessed lines yield the best 
 results; and, finally, the minimum of such 
 depression necessary to insure true flight. 
 If too deep, a retarding influence is exerted 
 on the flight, at the expense of distance; 
 if too shallow, ducking will result. More- 
 over, it must be kept in view that while 
 shallower markings may, and doubtless 
 will, give the best results, a certain depth 
 is necessary to prolong the life of the ball, 
 otherwise comparatively little play will so 
 flatten the surface as to cause it to duck. 
 
 The one great weakness of the rubber- 
 core ball has always been its tendency to 
 crack, but improved methods of manu- 
 facture have reduced this defect very 
 sensibly. Indeed, the marvel is that the 
 balls stand up so well as they do, every- 
 thing considered. The experience acquired 
 in the last six or seven years has been 
 responsible for only a very trifling increase 
 in distance, and unless some substance 
 having greater resiliency than rubber is 
 141
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 introduced it would appear as if finality 
 had been practically reached. And it is 
 just as well that it should be so. 
 
 Some players still sigh for a general re- 
 turn to the old guttie certain people al- 
 ways will be found with a longing for the 
 so-called "good old days" of this, that, 
 and the other thing but the vast majority 
 agree that the pleasure of the game, has 
 been considerably enhanced by the intro- 
 duction of the rubber-core. It is true that 
 it has had the result of bringing all classes 
 of players somewhat closer together, but, 
 after all, skill is the predominant factor 
 in the game in determining the ranking 
 of players, and so long as this is so we 
 need not unduly concern ourselves as to 
 the instruments of play. 
 
 I should say that the player who aver- 
 ages 150 yards with a guttie can get 165 
 yards with a rubber-core, and so 
 Game** on i n a descending scale. There 
 practically ceases to be any ap- 
 preciable advantage when we come to the 
 190 or 200 yard mark with the player using 
 a guttie excepting with the wind. These, 
 be it understood, are general approxima- 
 tions. There are, singularly enough, iso- 
 142
 
 BALLS 
 
 lated exceptions, working both ways. For 
 instance, I find that against a strong wind 
 I can get several yards farther with a gut- 
 tie; with no wind, gain from 5 to 10 yards 
 with a rubber-core; and, with a following 
 wind, from 10 to 20 yards on the average. 
 Yet, curiously, other players, of equal 
 driving strength with a guttie, can get 
 farther against the wind with the rubber- 
 filled ball than with a guttie, while the other 
 distances remain approximately the same. 
 The harder a guttie is hit the greater is the 
 gain in distance. This is not so, to the 
 same extent, with the rubber-core. To all 
 but extraordinarily long drivers it can, 
 however, be driven somewhat farther, the 
 increase in distance depending largely on 
 the character of the swing. 
 
 Coming now to iron play, it is here that 
 the gain is greater, proportionately, than 
 off wood, the ball itself being en- 
 dued with a greater measure of 
 resiliency than the guttie, and 
 therefore being capable of easier and longer 
 propulsion. Owing, also, to this quality, it 
 can be played more easily out of a poor lie; 
 and there is not, moreover, any jar or shock 
 if it be half-topped or hit off the heel or toe. 
 143 
 
 Off the 
 
 Irons
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 In approaching, if the ordinary stroke 
 be employed, it will run somewhat farther 
 than the guttie after alighting, noticeably 
 
 so on hard ground, and allowance 
 
 requires to be made accordingly. 
 
 But under ordinary conditions, and 
 especially when the ground is soft, it will 
 pull up very quickly with the application 
 of decided cut. I am not sure, indeed, but 
 that the tendency to run after pitching 
 cannot be more effectually checked, under 
 favorable conditions, than with the guttie. 
 As a putting ball I consider it pre- 
 eminent; and I supported this opinion at 
 
 a period, not so many years ago, 
 Q n reen e when the general judgment was 
 
 against me. It is true that it is 
 livelier, and responds more readily to the 
 slightest tap, than the guttie, and there- 
 fore calls for greater delicacy of touch; but 
 this very fact, generally regarded as a 
 defect, is precisely what so strongly com- 
 mends it to me. I think one can "feel" 
 the ball better, and its very liveliness in- 
 duces a tendency to putt it to go through 
 with the stroke rather than to hit a less 
 responsive ball. And in this smooth and 
 delicate performance of putting, and let- 
 144
 
 BALLS 
 
 ting the club gently and harmoniously 
 follow through, the mind is never disturbed 
 with the thought that one may strike the 
 ball twice it leaves the club too quickly 
 for that. 
 
 One thing may, however, be urged against 
 it: it has a trick of jumping the hole if 
 going a trifle fast, or of swerving around 
 the cup and remaining on the outside unless 
 it strikes plumb against the centre of the 
 back. The guttie will do these things, too, 
 but not quite so badly. 
 
 On the other hand, these defects in one 
 respect become virtues in another, as I do 
 not think it is so easily diverted from the 
 line by irregularities of surface or coarse 
 grass; it seems to skim over them, and does 
 not hug the ground so closely as the guttie. 
 
 Quite a number of balls will be collected 
 
 which are perfectly good, except that the 
 
 paint has been knocked off or 
 
 otherwise affected. Thev need only 
 
 ing Balls ~ 
 
 repainting to be practically as good 
 as new. First, it is necessary to let them 
 stand in a bath made of a solution of 
 caustic potash, or lye, to remove the old 
 paint. About one-third of the ordinary 
 can' mixed with half a bucketful of water 
 145
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 will suffice for about a couple of dozen balls. 
 If the paint is obdurate apply a little more 
 potash or put on a pair of rubber gloves 
 and take an old brush and thoroughly re- 
 move all traces of the paint from the mark- 
 ings. Before applying the first coat of 
 new paint see that the ball is thoroughly 
 dry. Be careful also to let each coat of 
 paint thoroughly dry before putting on the 
 next. From three to four coats are re- 
 quired, each as thin as possible. The 
 first coat should fill in all the interstices. 
 The paint may easily be applied by rolling 
 the ball well in the palms of the hands.
 
 XII 
 
 CADDIES 
 
 A GOOD caddie is of material aid to the 
 player. We have not been playing sufficient!} 7 
 long in this country to have developed the real 
 article indigenous to the famous Scottish links, 
 where the caddie grows up with the player, 
 very often plays a really good game himself, 
 and has, by virtue of years of experience, not 
 only a full knowledge of the game, but also 
 knows pretty thoroughly the exact limitations 
 of his employer's game. And it is doubtful 
 whether we shall ever be able to raise a crop 
 of this kind. As golf continues to be played, so 
 will the standard of our present corps of cad- 
 dies be raised somewhat. But it is well to re- 
 member that, as a general rule, the player has 
 a great deal to do in the making of a good cad- 
 die, and until players, as a body, apply them- 
 selves to the proper education of the boys, there 
 is little hope for any general improvement. 
 147
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 As between a good caddie and a poor one, 
 it is better to have none at all. The poor one 
 is never up with the player, but lags behind 
 chronically, not realizing that he has the same 
 number of steps to take anyway; has either 
 
 A TYPICAL CADDIE 
 
 a much-imposed-upon expression, or else one 
 of profound indifference to the game or any- 
 thing relating to it; will insist upon getting 
 
 148
 
 CADDIES 
 
 back of your ball when you are making a 
 stroke, even going out of his way to do it; 
 delights apparently in rattling clubs or some- 
 thing or other, or in moving or talking when 
 you are putting; always requires to be told 
 to remove the flag; never can tell the distance 
 of any hole, in whole or in part; invariably 
 hands } T OU the wrong club; never, or very 
 rarely, pretends to look where your ball goes; 
 has a peculiar faculty of never being able to 
 find a lost ball ; never knows how many strokes 
 you, or your opponent, have played at any 
 hole; neither knows nor cares whether you 
 are two up or three down ; will insist on stand- 
 ing close up to the hole when the ground is 
 very moist sometimes, be it said in favor 
 of the boy, in obedience to the player and 
 thereby making the hole akin to one of those 
 impossible, in - door, practice - putting holes 
 inverted saucers with a hole in and adding 
 largely to the profane vocabulary of the most 
 piously inclined ; keeps the pin in the hole and 
 allows the ball to strike it and lay dead alwa\ T s 
 when your opponent is putting; runs, actually 
 runs of course, the only time he shouldn't 
 on a very soft putting green; loses, or new 
 balls from the ball-pocket of your bag; sticks 
 the point of the hole-marker in the ground 
 149
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 on the green; fails to properly set it in the 
 hole, thereby breaking the sides; talks about 
 his achievements at baseball or how he is 
 saving up his money to buy a bicycle or some- 
 thing; runs off after butterflies or apples; 
 tells you all about the wonderful shots A 
 brought off the day before; hasn't the faint 
 est idea of how to make a tee; never takes your 
 ball out of the hole; never thinks of cleaning 
 it in short, he does every conceivable thing 
 which he should not do, and leaves undone 
 everything which he should do. 
 
 The majority of boys employed as carriers 
 of clubs are guilty, more or less unconsciously, 
 of many of the faults referred to. And, after 
 all, the boys themselves are not wholly at 
 fault, as they have never been properly and 
 systematically educated as to their legitimate 
 duties. Certainly the individual player cannot 
 be expected to undertake the job. The best 
 plan, perhaps, would be for each club to draw 
 up a summary of the qualifications of a good 
 caddie and post it up where the boys may read 
 it and have the caddie-master or the profes- 
 sional expound it in detail and read the Riot 
 Act to known offenders.
 
 XIII 
 
 THE CONSTRUCTION AND 
 UPKEEP OF COURSES 
 
 THERE are comparatively few golf-links 
 in this country, in the true sense of the term, 
 while there are hundreds of courses. Most 
 links are situated close to the sea, and the 
 nearer they are to the level of the sea the bet- 
 ter they are. The genuine article has a sub- 
 stratum of sand, or sand and gravel, with an 
 alluvial deposit of loam on the surface of 
 varying depths. There are a few inland which 
 possess these characteristics, but the majority 
 lack the essential elements of sandy bottoms, 
 and are more properly described as courses. 
 
 On the true and relatively rare links, where 
 sand enters largely into the composition of the 
 soil, the grass is naturally of a finer and less lux- 
 uriant nature than on the richer and more fertile 
 inland soils, and much better greens are found. 
 
 It is, of course, not always practicable to es-
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 tablish a golf-course on the best ground adapt- 
 able for the proper playing of the game, 
 irrespective of the desired quality of the soil, 
 and many regrettable mistakes have been 
 made in this direction and a great deal of 
 expense incurred in the formation of courses 
 which are but sorry imitations of what they 
 should be. Many of them combine a max- 
 imum of mountain-climbing with a minimum 
 of golf, while more are spoiled through being 
 improperly laid out in respect to the distances 
 of the holes or the disposition of the hazards. 
 Of course this has been largely inevitable 
 owing to the remarkably rapid spread of the 
 game, and the lack of knowledge or inex- 
 perience of players, or those having the matter 
 in charge. With the growing improvement 
 in play, however, it is gratifying to observe a 
 more general desire to bring the courses up to 
 a better standard in every way. Probably the 
 best courses in this country are Garden 
 
 Some J 
 
 Good City, Wheaton, Atlantic City, Morris 
 County, Newport, Nassau, Apawamis, 
 Midlothian, and Myopia, while for a nine-hole 
 course Meadowbrook is easily first, with West- 
 brook and Oakland good seconds. The eigh- 
 teen-hole course of the Ekwanok Country Club 
 of Manchester, Vermont, laid out last season, 
 
 152
 
 COURSES 
 
 also has promise of being a really good one in 
 time. Apart from soil characteristics, all of the 
 courses mentioned lend themselves favorably to 
 beregarded as being pre-eminent by reason of the 
 contour of the ground, the distances of the holes, 
 and the matter of hazards, natural and artificial. 
 
 A perfectly flat expanse of ground, quite 
 apart from the varying distances of the holes, is 
 not nearly so good as one with gentle undula- 
 tions, affording diversity of play, and present- 
 ing new and interesting problems at each hole. 
 On the other hand, a very hilly course is open 
 to objection on account of the physical fatigue 
 involved, there being more exercise required 
 than is commensurate with the mere playing 
 of the game itself. Mountain-climbing is one 
 thing and golf is distinctly another. It is 
 never enduringly satisfactory to attempt to 
 combine both. 
 
 In laying out or making changes in a course 
 
 it is highly desirable that the distances should 
 
 Laying be sucn as to reward good play and not 
 
 ut put a premium on poor play. Consid- 
 eration of distance should go hand-in- 
 hand with the consideration of hazards. * It is 
 quite possible to have a very good course so 
 laid out in respect to distances as to be entirely 
 
 * See additional chapter on Hazards, page l87- 
 153
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 free from hazards of any kind, where each shot, 
 perfectly played, would carry its own reward. 
 On a single-shot hole the good player would 
 be on the green in one, while on holes calling 
 for two or three strokes, properly executed, 
 to reach the green the distances should be on 
 the basis of from one hundred and seventy- 
 five yards to one hundred and ninety yards, 
 or the multiple thereof, so that no opportunity 
 would be afforded a player flubbing a stroke 
 to make it up on the next. 
 
 A course, however, laid out on these lines 
 would be lacking in interest, as all first-class 
 players occasionally make mistakes, and those 
 mistakes should carry a penalty of some kind. 
 Distance alone is not the essence of the game. 
 Then, too, the moral effect of a hazard ought 
 to be considered. It is a very potent element. 
 
 As furnishing a really good test of golf, my 
 idea of distances, based on fairly level 
 A c"ours(f stretches and eliminating wind influ- 
 ences, and with the hazards scientifi- 
 cally arranged, t is somewhat as follows : 
 
 Out 340 310 490 150 320 360 190 510 300 2970 
 
 Par Play 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 5 436 
 
 In 115 400 350 500 270 330 370 470 3153120 
 
 Par 3 4 4 5 4 4 4 5 4 37 
 
 Total distance, 6090 yards. Par play, 73 strokes. 
 
 154
 
 CO U R S E S 
 
 Now these distances have not been arrived 
 at in a haphazard way, but have been defi- 
 nitely determined upon so as to call into req- 
 uisition during the round every club in the 
 bag, provided each shot has been well exe- 
 cuted, and so bring out all the well-rounded 
 qualities of the first-class player. Let us an- 
 alyze each hole play such imaginary round, 
 as it should be played, when every shot comes 
 off ideally right and see if it comes up to the 
 proper standard. We will assume that we 
 can drive from one hundred and seventy-five 
 to two hundred and ten yards ; brassey, one- 
 hundred and seventy to one hundred and ninety 
 yards; get from one hundred and fifty to one 
 hundred and eighty yards with cleek or driving- 
 mashie; one hundred and twenty to one hun- 
 dred and fifty yards with a mid-iron, and 
 lesser distances with a mashie. There is 
 nothing extravagant in these distances, with 
 class players. 
 
 At the first hole (three hundred and forty 
 yards) we find confronting us a bunker one 
 hundred and twenty-five yards from the tee, 
 with hazards beyond on either side to catch 
 a sliced or pulled ball. We get over the bunker 
 safely with some fifty or sixty yards to spare. 
 Some eighty yards from the green is a sand 
 
 155
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 ditch. A cleek shot will carry this and land 
 us comfortably on the green, without over- 
 running into the long grass on the other side. 
 The regulation two putts and we are down in 
 a par four. 
 
 On the second hole (three hundred and ten 
 yards) all is plain sailing on the drive, except 
 for the omnipresent long grass on either side 
 of the fair green, and which is a feature of 
 nearly every hole on the course. Some sixty 
 yards from the green is another wide sand 
 ditch, with the same rough going the far side 
 of the green that will be found on nearly every 
 hole. An ordinary iron shot should easily 
 enable us to get the green. 
 
 Third hole (four hundred and ninety yards). 
 Some two hundred and fifty yards from the 
 tee a road has to be carried on the second shot, 
 otherwise there is no trouble. A drive, brassey 
 and iron will land us on the green in three 
 strokes. 
 
 Fourth hole (one hundred and fifty yards). 
 A full iron ought to land us on the green and 
 escape the bunker one hundred and fifteen 
 yards from the tee. 
 
 Fifth hole (three hundred and twenty yards). 
 Another drive and iron. The only features 
 of this hole are long grass one hundred yards 
 
 156
 
 CO U R S E S 
 
 from the tee, and a sand ditch thirty-five yards 
 or so beyond the hole. 
 
 Sixth hole (three hundred and sixty yards). 
 Another road crosses the line of play two 
 hundred and eighty yards from the tee. Two 
 good shots should reach the green. 
 
 Seventh hole (one hundred and ninety 
 yards). There is nothing at all to interfere 
 with a good drive here, and the long player 
 will get home without any special effort. 
 
 Eighth hole (five hundred and ten yards). 
 Fifty yards from the green is a wide sand ditch,, 
 which may easily be carried with an iron, or 
 cleek, if the drive and brassey have not been 
 particularly long. 
 
 Ninth hole (three hundred yards). A road 
 one hundred and forty-five yards off, with 
 broken ground intervening, abounding in 
 poor lies, makes a good drive necessary. No 
 other hazards. 
 
 Tenth hole (one hundred and fifteen yards). 
 A pond stretches from the foot of the tee some 
 eighty yards across to the green, which is 
 fully guarded by wide sand ditches at the back 
 and sides. A full mashie should land close 
 up to the hole. 
 
 Eleventh hole (four hundred yards). Here 
 is where the very long player should meet 
 
 157
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 with due reward if he gets off two screamers. 
 The bunker, three hundred and twenty yards 
 from the tee, ought not to have any terrors for 
 him or for the ordinary good player. 
 
 Twelfth hole (three hundred and fifty yards). 
 This will be played the same as the first hole, 
 excepting that the going is free from hazards 
 save the long grass beyond the green to 
 catch an over-play. 
 
 Thirteenth hole (five hundred yards). One 
 hundred and forty yards from the tee a bunker 
 has to be carried. 
 
 Fourteenth hole (two hundred and seventy 
 yards). From the tee to the fair green, one 
 hundred and thirty yards away, the grass 
 has been left uncut. The green is surrounded 
 with bunkers some thirty yards equidistant 
 from the hole, necessitating a high lofted ap- 
 proach with cut to hold the green. 
 
 Fifteenth hole (three hundred and thirty 
 yards). Very sandy soil, with indifferent lies, 
 marks the going for some one hundred yards 
 until a slight depression is reached where the 
 lies are excellent for another one hundred 
 and twenty yards. Thenceforward, until about 
 eighty yards from the green (which is in an- 
 other slight depression) poor lies are the rule. 
 
 Sixteenth hole (three hundred and seventy 
 158
 
 COURSES 
 
 yards). A brook has to be crossed on the 
 second shot, some two hundred and ninety 
 yards from the tee. 
 
 Seventeenth hole (four hundred and seventy 
 yards). Two hundred and forty yards from 
 the tee is a wide sand ditch. The green is on 
 a plateau of about forty yards square, dipping 
 down slightly on all sides. 
 
 Eighteenth hole (three hundred and fifteen 
 yards). One hundred and ten yards away 
 is a ravine about thirty yards across, with an- 
 other eighty yards beyond the hole. 
 
 Such is a brief sketch of a course that ought 
 to bring out all the good golf there is in a man 
 to do it in a decent score. An endeavor has been 
 made to arrange the distances and likewise the 
 hazards so that it is practically impossible to 
 get off a poor shot and make a recovery on the 
 next, save by some phenomenal stroke. 
 
 The large majority of courses have too many 
 
 levelling holes, of from two hundred and twenty 
 
 to two hundred and sixty yards, and 
 
 Dole's" 6 w ith the hazards so arranged that a 
 
 player may top a drive and yet get the 
 
 green on the next shot by simply taking a full 
 
 stroke with some club, in the same number of 
 
 strokes as the man who has played the hole 
 
 perfectly. Or the hole may be from four hun- 
 
 159
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 dred and fifteen to four hundred and thirty 
 yards, calling for three strokes to get home, the 
 first or second of which may be topped or sliced 
 or pulled without any loss, it being compara- 
 tively easy to reach the green in three, while 
 the better player, making each stroke per- 
 fectly, cannot do better than expend the same 
 number of strokes. The true remedy is to so 
 
 apportion the distances as to demand 
 Distances the playing of one, two, or three perfect 
 
 strokes, as the case may be or when 
 this is not practicable to so arrange the hazards 
 as to catch a poorly played stroke. In respect 
 to distances, a single-stroke hole may be any- 
 where from one hundred yards up to two hun- 
 dred two hundred being the maximum, as 
 anything beyond that is scarcely within the 
 compass of any but the extraordinarily long 
 driver. Coming now to holes of greater length, 
 it is advisable to proceed upon some proper 
 basis. Anything between one hundred and 
 fifty yards and one hundred and ninety yards 
 may be taken as a fair mean, the lesser dis- 
 tance being accepted as a fixed minimum. 
 Thus we have one hundred and fifty yards 
 or the multiple of three hundred yards for a 
 two-stroke hole, or four hundred and fifty 
 yards for a three - stroke hole, on the one 
 
 160
 
 COURSES 
 
 hand, with one hundred and ninety, three 
 hundred and eighty, or five hundred and sev- 
 enty yards on the other. Anything within 
 these limits of from one hundred and fifty to 
 one hundred and ninety yards, forming the 
 basis, may be accepted as furnishing little 
 room for recovery without penalty in case of a 
 poor stroke, while anything outside of the lim- 
 its mentioned tends rather to pull the better 
 player down to the level of the poorer one. 
 Somewhere between one hundred and fifty 
 and one hundred and ninety cannot be far 
 wrong. Take the mean of one hundred and 
 seventy yards, or the multiple of three hundred 
 and forty yards, for instance; it is obvious 
 that the player cannot hope to reach the green 
 on his second shot when he has failed to get 
 off a fairly respectable drive. To do so he 
 must make an exceedingly long second. And 
 unless he can rise to the occasion by perform- 
 ing such an exceptionally brilliant stroke it is 
 only fair and proper that the poor drive should 
 be meted with some penalty. 
 
 It may be contended that a course such as 
 we have outlined may be suited for first-class 
 players, but that the large majority of the 
 players in nearly every club fall short of such 
 excellence, and that therefore the course should 
 " 161
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 be laid out with reference to the majority, who 
 otherwise would be spending the greater part 
 of their time in bunkers. Not at all; there is 
 no such need to prostitute the game. Lay out 
 the course in every way solely with regard to 
 its being fully up to the highest standard at 
 Aitema- ^- ne outset, and until improvement in 
 tive play manifests itself construct alterna- 
 tive tees two or three, if necessary, for 
 each hole so as to make it possible for the 
 weaker players to better negotiate the hazards. 
 It doesn't involve much trouble or expense to 
 build up tees and provide sand-boxes, etc., for 
 each, while it means both time and money to 
 build up a new green. The alternative tees 
 spoken of may be so arranged as to shorten 
 the holes from twenty to fifty yards, or what- 
 ever distances may be desired. All competitions, 
 however, should be played over the full length 
 of the course. Endeavor, so far as possible, to 
 avoid constructing artificial tees. Where it is 
 necessary to do so try and get them as large 
 as possible, so as to keep them in good repair 
 by constantly changing the plates or teeing- 
 marks. Aim to have all built-up tees sodded. 
 Anything but turf tees is an abomination. 
 A tee should have almost as much care as a 
 green, and should be freely watered in summer. 
 
 162
 
 COURSES 
 
 I have already stated that the distances 
 of the holes referred to have been laid out on 
 the assumption that the ground is fairly level, 
 and also without any regard to the wind. 
 The majority of courses are not level, and on 
 some the wind is a very potent factor. Con- 
 sequently, it is essential that these elements 
 should be carefully considered, according to the 
 natural contour of the surface and the pre- 
 vailing winds during the pla} T ing season. I 
 say during the playing season, as very few 
 courses in this country can be played over 
 during the whole year. 
 
 No bunker on a first-class course should 
 be so arranged as to trap a good drive, or, 
 following a good tee shot, to catch a 
 Bunkers good second with the green yet some 
 distance away. Bunkers should be 
 arranged with the primary idea of penalizing 
 poor play only. Nor should they be made 
 with perpendicular and precipitous faces so 
 as to make it almost impossible to get out 
 in one stroke. Instead of the array of steep 
 cops with narrow ditches which disfigure so 
 many courses, aim rather to make the cops 
 more semicircular in shape, and to have wider 
 ditches leading up to them. It is better, also, 
 if possible, to cover the embankments with 
 163
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 sand rather than to have them turfed, and 
 to likewise fill the ditch with several inches 
 of sand, so that the ball should be played 
 where it lies, and thus avoid the necessity 
 of any local rule providing for the dropping 
 in the bunker or ditch of a ball lodging in or 
 on the face of the turfed creations. All arti- 
 ficial hazards should be made of or liberally 
 covered with sand. 
 
 The width of the fair green should be about 
 seventy-five yards. Particular attention should 
 
 be paid to the places where good shots 
 course should go, say from one hundred and 
 
 twenty to two hundred and twenty 
 yards from the tee, and so on correspondingly 
 with long holes, so that each good shot should 
 be rewarded with a good lie. Rather let the 
 intervening ground go somewhat neglected, as 
 a player has no business there anyway. On 
 the sides hazards should be arranged to catch 
 sliced or pulled balls, where long grass is not 
 present. Endeavor to so construct the haz- 
 ards as to furnish some diversity, rather than 
 have them all of the same family type. 
 
 In laying out a new course or making 
 changes in an old one, it is highly advisable 
 to secure expert advice before commencing 
 work.
 
 XIV 
 
 PUTTING GREENS 
 
 THE climate in this country can hardly be 
 said to lend itself to the growth or develop- 
 ment of natural greens of the first rank. The 
 extreme heat and cold are not favorable allies. 
 Therefore, all really good greens call for arti- 
 ficial treatment from their inception to protect 
 them from adverse climatic conditions and to 
 insure their being kept well. In the first 
 place, it is absolutely essential that 
 Tfw"ter eacn green should be freely watered 
 during the summer months, and this 
 can only be properly done by laying a system 
 of pipes. Unless this is done the grass be- 
 comes blistered by the heat and drought, and 
 the ground gets hard and lumpy. 
 
 Nearly all good courses have water laid on 
 to every green. It is not too much, in fact, 
 to say, that no first-class green can be main- 
 tained without such aid, intelligently applied. 
 
 165
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 The best time to do the watering is after 
 the sun is down, otherwise possible injury 
 may result to the grass, to say nothing of the 
 loss from evaporation on a hot, sunny day. 
 The water should be applied in a fine spray, 
 not on any account in a solid stream or un- 
 broken jet, which is liable to make the sur- 
 face rough by washing out the soil. It should 
 be kept going sufficiently long to thoroughly 
 percolate through to the roots of the grass. 
 It is much better to thus soak a green twice 
 a week than to simply moisten the surface 
 nightly. More especially does a new green 
 demand a liberal supply of water in order to 
 give the young grass a chance to get well 
 rooted. 
 
 Where the natural conditions are favorable 
 
 it is advisable to build up a green from the 
 
 old turf. But if coarse grass exists to 
 
 mation of any extent, then it is better in the long 
 
 New run to resort to sodding. In the event 
 
 Greens 
 
 of good sod not being available, there 
 is but one thing left to do, and that is to 
 plough up the surface to a depth of a foot or 
 so and remove all loose material. Then pro- 
 ceed to fill in a layer of sand a few inches 
 in depth, and cover it with good loam about 
 an inch or so thick; on top of this put a thin 
 
 166
 
 PUTTING GREENS 
 
 crust of well-rotted manure, and then another 
 layer of loam of two or three inches. At this 
 stage apply a dressing of bone-dust, with a 
 touch of slacked lime. Cover this with a 
 suggestion of sand, superficially only, and 
 top off with loam, the surface being raked 
 and finely pulverized. Sow liberally with a 
 mixture of recleaned Red Top, Rhode Island 
 Bent, Creeping Bent, Crested Dog's Tail, and 
 Kentucky Blue grass, and level off and roll 
 with a very light roller. It is of prime impor- 
 tance that the ground should be abundantly 
 supplied with moisture to make sure of the 
 roots becoming firmly established, as it is not 
 always safe to rely upon Dame Nature to look 
 after this end of the business. Err on the 
 side of an apparent excess of moisture rather 
 than an insufficiency, especially during the 
 early stages and the first season. 
 
 Aim to give diversity to the greens in respect 
 to the character of the surface, avoiding as 
 far as possible dead levels. Rather let the 
 contour be of a gently undulating nature here 
 and there. This may very easily be done 
 also in the case of sodded greens, 
 
 Where there is a fairly good foundation to 
 work upon in the shape of average turf that 
 offers promise with a little nursing, it is better 
 
 167
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 to accept what the gods give us and make the 
 best of it. Proceed first by carefully removing 
 by the roots any weeds or coarse grass; then 
 gently loosen the surface, particularly on bare 
 spots, with a rake, and cover with a thin dress- 
 ing over the entire green of rich loam previous- 
 ly mixed with bone-dust and, if possible, sheep 
 manure, with a liberal admixture of the grass 
 seeds already mentioned. Rake over thor- 
 oughly with a w r ooden rake, and lightl} 7 
 roll and keep freely watered. Well - rotted 
 manure is a good plant food, in conjunction 
 with bone-dust, but the paramount objection 
 to it is that it is apt to contain weed germs, 
 consequently it cannot be safely recommend- 
 ed at any time for top-dressing. Pulverized 
 sheep manure is also excellent, but not so 
 readily procurable. A slight sprinkling of 
 wood-ashes will do no harm. Avoid, how- 
 ever, any over-indulgence in potash fertilizers, 
 as they provoke a growth of clover, and clover 
 ciover is ^ anv kind has no place on a course, 
 unde- Unless it is kept very closely cut on 
 
 sirable , 1 ., , tl 1 ,, 
 
 the greens, it has a very draggy 
 and retarding effect on the run of a ball, and 
 is therefore undesirable. It is also objection- 
 able through the fair green, as it has no sus- 
 taining power to hold a ball up. The ball 
 
 168
 
 PUTTING GREENS 
 
 sinks through the yielding cluster of leaves 
 and stems and so embeds itself that it has to 
 be dug out by the roots as it were. Before 
 the face of the club can reach the ball in a 
 patch of clover it has first to come in contact 
 with the intervening leaves, and the stroke is 
 thus robbed of a good deal of power. 
 
 The ideal putting-green is covered with a 
 close sward of very fine grass, with a thick 
 matting of roots. The blades should be fine 
 and slender, silky and yet tenacious en- 
 tirely different from the ordinary first-class 
 lawn. A coarse, large-bladed grass, the prod- 
 uct of undue fertility, is not what is wanted 
 quite the contrary. Putting, in the true 
 sense of the word, is impossible on such. 
 Really good greens are to be found natural- 
 ly on sandy soils, or rather where the sub- 
 stratum is of sand with a surface deposit of 
 loam. 
 
 Comparatively few courses are blessed with 
 such, but much may be done to bring almost 
 Need of an y S reen U P to a better level by ap- 
 impover- proximating the conditions and con- 
 stituents of these seaside greens by a 
 liberal use of sand, the free application of 
 which, during the fall and early spring months, 
 will work a most beneficial change. Most in- 
 
 169
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 land greens need impoverishing instead of en- 
 riching. Sand will do this to a marked ex- 
 tent, and a finer growth of grass will result. 
 
 A close and prolonged study of this question 
 convinces me that the best treatment for the 
 Dressing g enera l run f greens is a liberal ap- 
 for plication of sand, seed, bone-dust, lime, 
 and water. Neither the sand, the bone- 
 dust, nor the lime, however, should be put on 
 during the summer months. Commencing in 
 October, a sprinkling of sand, bone-dust, lime, 
 and clear, white sea-sand should be applied, 
 while the greens are still in use. The sand 
 will quickly wOrk itself into the soil, and as 
 fast as it does more should be sprinkled on 
 until it is decided to close them for the winter. 
 Then a more liberal supply of bone-dust may 
 be added, and the entire surface of the green 
 be covered w r ith about half an inch of sand. 
 The snows and rains of the winter will leave 
 very little trace by spring. In April or May 
 according to the latitude put on a very thin 
 coat of fine loam mixed with bone-dust and 
 plenty of seed. On top of this sprinkle a sug- 
 gestion of sand, and see that the greens have 
 plenty of water, if the natural supply is defi- 
 cient. Run a very light roller over so as to 
 make an even surface. If any weeds make 
 
 170
 
 PUTTING GREENS 
 
 their appearance, carefully remove them by the 
 roots, and fill in with the compost mentioned. 
 After the warm weather sets in abstain from 
 sand, and water freely. 
 
 The application of sand will not only refine 
 the quality of the grass itself, but will make 
 it more impervious to wear. Not only that, 
 but it will tend to minimize the worm nuisance. 
 Concerning worms, it may safely be said that 
 the richer the soil the greater is the wealth 
 of worms, and, inversely, the poorer the soil 
 the greater freedom from this curse. As I 
 have already remarked, the soil on the majority 
 of greens needs impoverishing. This alone 
 would beget a better, because poorer, qualitj^ 
 of grass. We are not seeking to raise hay 
 crops. 
 
 There are some worm mixtures on the 
 market which are excellent but somewhat ex- 
 pensive. A very good and inexpensive 
 woms substitute may be found by boiling 
 a couple of bars of ordinary yellow 
 laundry soap, and mixing it with a barrelful 
 of from thirty to forty gallons of water, apply- 
 ing the mixture freely through an ordinary 
 watering-pot. This will bring the worms to 
 the surface in myriads, when they may easily 
 be gathered. A few applications during the 
 171
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 spring and autumn months, when the worms 
 are most active, will materially abate this 
 nuisance. Care must be taken not to have 
 the solution any stronger than recommended, 
 otherwise the alkali present will injure the 
 grass. With the proportion suggested, how- 
 ever, no possible harm will result. 
 
 Before cutting or rolling a green where 
 worm casts are in evidence, they should first 
 be thoroughly scattered by brushing with 
 an old house or stable broom. This is very 
 important. Unless this is done the roller will 
 plaster them down and kill the grass so cov- 
 ered, and bare, moth-eaten appearing patches 
 will assuredly be produced. Apart altogether 
 from worm casts any green may be improved 
 by "combing" or lightly brushing before 
 cutting or rolling. 
 
 The holes should be changed frequently. 
 Do not wait until signs of wear are apparent, 
 change ^ n cutting new holes, especially during 
 Holes the summer months, when the ground 
 is dry and crumbling, the top sides may 
 the better be kept intact by filling the hole 
 with water immediately it is cut. And the 
 same practice applied to the old hole before re- 
 filling will give the transplanted inset a better 
 chance to quickly mould itself into and become 
 172
 
 PUTTING GREENS 
 
 an integral, even part of its new home. Many 
 green-keepers do not cut the holes sufficiently 
 deep. The upper edge of the tin or cup should 
 be about half an inch below the surface of 
 the ground. It frequently happens, especially 
 during a tournament with a large number 
 of players, that a circular depression about a 
 foot from the hole is caused by the heels of 
 the caddies, particularly when the ground is 
 soft. This does not by any means assist the 
 ball in finding the bottom of the hole. This 
 state of affairs will continue to exist so long 
 as caddies are allowed to stand close up to 
 the hole. But it may be remedied by having 
 a man go around with a tamper, formed by 
 joining together a couple of pieces of solid 
 pine each a full inch or so thick and about 
 eighteen inches square, with a handle in the 
 centre running through the top plank. A 
 few gentle taps with this around the neigh- 
 borhood of the hole will flatten down any 
 irregularities. 
 
 Nothing improves a green so much as be- 
 ing constantly played upon, provided that the 
 holes are frequently changed, before they show 
 any evidence of wear in close proximity to 
 the hole. The human foot is a great agen- 
 cy, and wonderfully assists the work of the 
 
 173
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 roller. Every green should be rolled daily 
 
 with a light roller whether it apparently 
 
 needs it or not. It sometimes happens 
 
 Rolling . ... 
 
 and that in anticipation of an important 
 cutting tournament the powers that be elect 
 
 Greens 
 
 to give the greens a rest in order that 
 they may be in apple - pie condition during 
 the meeting. The grass is allowed to grow 
 and the greens are left fallow for a week or 
 so beforehand, general play in the mean time 
 being confined to some rough part outside of 
 the sacred precincts of the regular green. 
 This is a grave mistake. When the grass is 
 cut a day or two before the event, the truncat- 
 ed portion left is necessarily more or less stub- 
 bly and rough, and putting, actual putting, is 
 w r ellnigh impossible. The ground itself, by 
 reason of the cessation from rolling, naturally 
 works up and forms itself into all sorts of 
 roughnesses, so that, in order to work it down 
 into comparative smoothness of surface, a very 
 heavy roller must be employed to the possible 
 injury of the grass later on. 
 
 I am firmly of the opinion that the present 
 method of closing and covering up the greens 
 upon the approach of and during the winter 
 season is unwise. Leaving out of the ques- 
 tion for the moment the actual playing on 
 
 174
 
 PUTTING GREENS 
 
 them, it seems to me that the artificial pro- 
 tection afforded by covering them with manure, 
 winter straw, or anything else (save a little 
 on sand), unfits the grass to withstand 
 
 the severities of play, especially during 
 the summer months. This hot -house kind 
 of pampering care may be adapted for lawns, 
 but not for putting - greens. When uncov- 
 ered in the early spring a beautiful green 
 oasis is disclosed, which quickly vanishes after 
 a brief spell of cold or hot weather, and the 
 blades soon wear a shrivelled-up appearance. 
 Moreover, greens so treated are more suscep- 
 tible to wear from ordinary play. Except 
 in the case of a newly seeded green, I ques- 
 tion the advisability of any winter covering. 
 On a new green it is of course necessary to 
 aid the roots as much as possible in getting 
 well started, more especially if sown in the 
 fall. But we are now more immediately con- 
 cerned with greens that have been down for 
 several seasons, and which have become fairly 
 well rooted. 
 
 It is the common opinion that a green will 
 be irretrievably ruined by playing on it dur- 
 ing the winter months. This is a delusion. 
 Observe carefully, at the beginning of spring, 
 the actual condition of temporary greens set 
 175
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 apart on many courses for the winter. There 
 is nothing then or subsequently to give the 
 slightest indication that the roots have been 
 impaired in the least degree nor have they. 
 Yet play has gone on alike when the ground 
 has been as hard as adamant from severe 
 frost and as soft and spongy as a quagmire 
 from resultant thaws, and when putting can 
 only be done with a mashie, owing to the 
 pock-marked state of the surface from heel- 
 marks and muddy unevennesses. Yet such 
 greens come out all right and seem rather to 
 be improved than otherwise. On some courses, 
 indeed, general play is maintained through- 
 out the entire year on the regular greens, 
 without detriment or injury of any kind. 
 
 This is doubtless due to the fact that 
 Ro?un g the roots are, during this period, in 
 
 a quiescent state and cannot sustain 
 any harm so long as the greens are kept 
 rolled when the ground is soft. With a light 
 roller too much rolling in winter can hardly 
 be done with any possible injury, thanks 
 to the upheaving influences of frost, which 
 prevent any possibility of the ground being 
 packed so hard as to cause the grass to be- 
 come root-bound. 
 
 From May until October each green should 
 176
 
 be rolled daily with a light roller, rather than 
 once or twice a week with a heavy one. A 
 roller, moreover, should always be pulled, 
 not pushed. And, except in July and August, 
 the grass should be kept closely mown and 
 freely watered when necessary. During the 
 extremely hot months the cutting-bars of the 
 mowers should be slightly raised, so as to 
 allow a somewhat denser growth as a pro- 
 tection for the roots. The proper care of 
 greens demands unceasing care and unre- 
 mittent, intelligent attention. Eternal vigil- 
 ance is the price of first-class greens.
 
 XV 
 
 HANDICAPPING 
 
 THE essence of handicapping is to put all 
 the players on a common level to give the 
 poorest player an equal chance to win with 
 the rest of the field. In order to adjust the 
 handicap fairly it is necessary to work upon 
 some definite principle. As a general thing 
 this is comparatively easy, especially if a 
 record is kept of the scores of the players. 
 To assist the handicap committee in establish- 
 ing the status of each member, at least three 
 consecutive scores, duly attested, should be 
 handed in by every player, and a detailed 
 record should be kept for future reference. 
 Scores made in competition should also be 
 
 recorded. Any failure to hand in a 
 capping competitive score should be visited by 
 
 a penalty of a stroke in the delinquent's 
 handicap. With some such system it would 
 not take long to arrive at a fairly definite idea 
 
 178
 
 HA N D I C A P P I N G 
 
 of the capabilities of each and every player. 
 As a further aid it is not a bad plan to get 
 each player to fix the handicaps of all the 
 other players, particularly in newly formed 
 clubs, until something is known by the han- 
 dicappers of the members' respective abilities. 
 
 The handicap committee should consist of 
 not more than three, who should be in frequent 
 touch with the active players. After every 
 competition, revisions, if necessary, should be 
 made in the official ratings, which should be kept 
 posted, in alphabetical order, in the club-house. 
 
 In establishing the handicaps it is cus- 
 tomary to work up from the best player in 
 the club, who is rated at scratch. By far the 
 better plan, however, is to take as a basis the 
 par not the bogey of the course, which is a 
 fixed quantity. Par golf, it may be remarked, 
 is perfect golf, determined according to the dis- 
 tances of the holes and with two strokes allowed 
 on each green, while bogey simply represents 
 the score of a good player who occasionally 
 makes a mistake, not very glaring, but suffi- 
 cient to make a difference in the round of four 
 or five strokes. Bogey is an elastic quantity, 
 however, so much so, indeed, on some courses, 
 as to furnish no true criterion of the game of 
 the player who now and then beats the Colonel. 
 179
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 If all clubs adopted the practice of handi- 
 capping from par it would be an easy matter 
 to fix the standing of every player through- 
 out the country. As it is, however, a scratch 
 player at Stumpville may conceivably be en- 
 titled to a handicap of nine strokes from a 
 scratch man at Bunkerville. This, of course, 
 has to be taken into account by the handicap 
 committee in an open handicap tournament, 
 and adds materially to the difficulty of placing 
 all the competitors on an equitable footing. 
 So far as New York and its immediate vicinity 
 is concerned the Metropolitan Golf Association 
 has accomplished a very good work by classify- 
 ing all the players of the various clubs in the 
 association up to a limit of seventeen strokes. 
 The handicaps are fixed at the beginning of 
 the season, and, necessarily, are based upon 
 the performances of the preceding season. So 
 far as it goes this official ranking of the players 
 has proved of much assistance, but it would 
 perhaps be of greater value if the list were re- 
 vised at least once during the season after 
 the local championship meeting, for instance.* 
 
 * EDITOR'S NOTE. Since the foregoing was written it 
 has been decided by the Metropolitan Golf Association to re- 
 adjust the handicaps twice each season at the beginning 
 of the season, and again in August. 
 1 80
 
 HA N D I C A P P I N G 
 
 The Metropolitan Golf Association ratings, 
 in common with the large majority of individual 
 clubs' handicap lists throughout the country, 
 rest upon score play only. Each club, how- 
 ever, should compile a separate table of 
 
 Piay strokes for match play instead of, as is 
 
 Handi- 
 
 usual, allowing three-fourths of the dif- 
 
 capping _ 
 
 ference in handicap allowances, count- 
 ing a half-stroke, or over, as one. As a gen- 
 eral thing such difference is applicable to most 
 players, but, obviously, not all. For example, 
 A, the scratch player of a club, may average 
 eighty, while B's average score is ninety, gen- 
 erally due to a few poorly played holes. To 
 average eighty on a good course presupposes 
 fairly consistent play. Now in match play A 
 would have to concede B eight strokes on the 
 latter's handicap of ten strokes in score com- 
 petition. Let us take the hypothetical average 
 cards of each and see what the result would be : 
 
 A's score, out 143454455 539 
 B's score, out 143654375 744 
 
 A's score, in 155454555 341 
 B's score, in 165474565 4 46 
 
 Playing level, A would beat B four up and 
 three to play. Conceding eight strokes, how- 
 ever, one each at the second and each alternate 
 
 181
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 hole up to the sixteenth, it will be seen that 
 B would beat A three up and two to play. 
 
 This is an example of simply an ordinary 
 case. There are, of course, a few more pro- 
 nounced, where the difference would be much 
 greater, both in favor of and against the 
 scratch man. It is quite possible for a player 
 to be good at medal play and poor at match 
 play, and vice versa. A poor score-card may 
 show remarkable strength at hole play, strong- 
 er, indeed, than one aggregating half a dozen 
 strokes less for the round. 
 
 In order to gauge the game of a player 
 as a match player which, after all, is the 
 supreme test of golfing ability it should be 
 incumbent on the handicappers to carefully 
 analyze the score for each hole, such analysis 
 embracing at least three or four typical or 
 representative cards, before any fair allowance 
 can be made applicable to hole play, consid- 
 ered alone. Nor is this the only essential. 
 Regard must also be had for the known 
 strength or weakness of the player at both 
 score play and match play, as the case may 
 be. Few men are relatively good at both. No 
 hard and fast rule can be laid down, as tem- 
 peraments vary, and sometimes in opposite 
 directions. 
 
 182
 
 HA N D I C A P P I N G 
 
 Sufficient has been said to indicate the 
 necessity of fixing separate handicaps for 
 score play and match play, certainly in some 
 cases, instead of simply accepting the aggre- 
 gate medal score as the basis and universally 
 allowing the regulation three - fourths of the 
 difference. 
 
 The match play allowance in foursomes is 
 three-eighths of difference between the aggre- 
 gate handicap allowance on either side, a 
 half-stroke, or over, counting as one, smaller 
 fractions not being considered. 
 
 In match play strokes received are usually 
 taken as shown in table on page 184. 
 
 Most clubs, however, may find it advisable 
 to arrange a schedule of their own, accord- 
 ing to the special nature and difficulty of the 
 various holes. Such list should be posted in 
 the club-house. 
 
 Another form of handicapping which is 
 productive of very interesting matches is to 
 allow your opponent so many "holes up" at 
 the start. The usual mathematical propor- 
 tion is two-thirds of the medal handicap. For 
 instance, if the handicap allowance is nine 
 strokes, six holes are conceded by a scratch 
 player. This principle must, however, be 
 modified somewhat as the higher handicaps 
 
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 HANDICAPPING 
 
 are reached. Such system is not applicable 
 to a club where members receive such handicaps 
 as twenty to thirty strokes, as on the latter 
 basis the scratch player would start twenty 
 holes down in eighteen, which, of course, is 
 ridiculous. 
 
 Another method, less commonly observed, 
 is the giving of so many bisques, each repre- 
 senting a stroke to be taken at the pleasure 
 of the player receiving them, after the hole 
 has been played. The use of a bisque at a 
 halved hole converts a half into a win in favor 
 of the receiver, or into a half if only one more 
 stroke has been taken. 
 
 Still another plan is to concede all holes as 
 lost when halved, only those won outright 
 counting in favor of the giver of such odds. 
 
 Generally speaking, the three last men- 
 tioned methods of adjustment are better adapt- 
 ed for private matches than for regular com- 
 petitions, as it is much easier for two players 
 to arrange their own terms between themselves 
 so as to place them on a very close level, than 
 it would be for the handicap committee to ar- 
 rive at anything like satisfactory results with 
 a large field. Everything considered, the sys- 
 tem first referred to is capable of broader ap- 
 plication, and fairer, generally, when the com- 
 
 185
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 petition embraces a number of players. The 
 mutability of the game of the average player 
 makes it impossible to reduce any system of 
 handicapping to an exact science and it is 
 perhaps just as well that it is so.
 
 XVI 
 
 HAZARD S Additional 
 
 IT is not impossible to conceive of a course 
 being laid out wholly and entirely free from 
 bunkers or hazards of any sort or description, 
 and yet furnishing good golf, provided always 
 that the distance of each hole be properly ar- 
 ranged so as to call for one, two, or three good 
 shots, as the case may be, to reach the green. 
 Such a course, however, would lack that de- 
 gree of interest which can only be supplied 
 by the negotiation of difficulties, natural or 
 artificial, which really form an integral part 
 of the game as well to reward good play 
 as to penalize poor play. Thus we find that 
 all the leading courses in the world are dis- 
 tinguished by possessing more or less hazards, 
 according to the nature of the ground, and 
 determined largely by the character of the 
 play. Where, generally speaking, the stand- 
 ard of play is of a high order, it will be found 
 187
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 that the growing development of the players 
 is coincident with the development of the 
 course; as the players improve the course 
 is made more difficult. Especially is this 
 true of the older links. Experience has shown 
 where additional hazards are needed to keep 
 pace with the advancement in the game, and 
 there is usually a reason, and a good one 
 too, for their appearance, although their pro- 
 jectors have had to fight hard for their adoption. 
 
 Speaking by and large, our courses here 
 are not nearly so difficult, in respect of haz- 
 ards, as those in Great Britain; nor, it may 
 be added, has the game reached the same 
 standard; and until we reach the approximate 
 level of the one we can hardly hope to do so 
 of the other. 
 
 A really good course, before it can be un- 
 prejudicially pronounced as such, must abound 
 in hazards and good courses develop good 
 players. Take St. Andrew's, for instance: 
 in the absence of many of its hazards it could 
 hardly be ranked as first class. I am speak- 
 ing now of the old course. I know it savors 
 of heresy to express such an opinion, but 
 the cold fact remains that many of the holes 
 are wofully weak in respect of distance and 
 are only redeemed from absolute mediocrity 
 
 188
 
 HAZARDS 
 
 by their attendant bunkers. I can only at- 
 tribute the defect mentioned to the links having 
 been originally laid out with reference to the 
 old feather ball ; likewise the presence of many 
 bunkers which are now decidedly unfair. 
 They may have been defensible in bygone 
 days, before the introduction of the gutta 
 ball, when certain of the holes which now call 
 for a drive and a short approach formerly de- 
 manded two good shots. 
 
 So also with the bunkers, particularly on the 
 fifth and twelfth holes, where a long tee shot 
 straight for the hole will almost assuredly be 
 trapped ; and the same is true of a fine second 
 after a good tee shot on the fourteenth. And 
 there is absolutely nothing to indicate the 
 existence even of these bunkers. You simply 
 have to rely upon your knowledge of the course 
 or act upon the advice of your caddie and 
 play to either side. Yet, despite the manifest 
 unfairness of these particular hazards and 
 others of lesser importance there is a won- 
 derful fascination in playing to avoid them, 
 when you become more familiar with the 
 course. Although not by any means an ideal 
 links, scores of years of play have so hallowed 
 the associations of every bunker that the 
 mere suggestion of removing or changing 
 189
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 any one of them would be regarded as rank 
 sacrilege by its worshippers a sentiment that 
 I can appreciate without wholly concurring 
 in. It is only proper to add that the new 
 course is so laid out as to render it practi- 
 cally free from any criticism. 
 
 On none of the foreign courses that is, on 
 none of the sea-side links has Nature made 
 it necessary to arrange the hazards of an ar- 
 tificial character on the same general lines 
 as those in this country, and which, from 
 Maine to Oregon, may be said to all bear 
 the same family resemblance as to suggest 
 a common origin. This is due partly to the 
 physical configuration of the ground being 
 somewhat different, partaking more of flat, 
 unbroken stretches and a general freedom 
 from dunes, and partly to an imperfect ap- 
 preciation of the real needs of hazards and 
 their refinements and artistic application in 
 other than the regular stereotyped patterns, 
 which tend largely to disfigure so many of 
 our courses. They are coexistent with the 
 era of terraced putting-greens and built-up 
 trees. Usually they are represented by huge 
 embankments thrown up transversely the full 
 width of the course, resembling rifle-pits, of 
 uniform height throughout hideous excres- 
 190
 
 HAZARDS 
 
 cences on the fair face of Nature. There is 
 a line of these fortifications confronting you 
 from nearly every tee, ranging in distance 
 from 80 to 130 yards, and another line for 
 the second shot, and so on, with little or no 
 diversification throughout the round. 
 
 How much better and how infinitely more 
 interesting it would make the game to vary 
 these artificial creations at each hole, and 
 how easy it would be to make them more pict- 
 uresque and in keeping with the surround- 
 ings, and to have them so arranged as to 
 make each hole present a new problem in- 
 stead of possessing the same dreary uniformity 
 now so characteristic. Let one hole be dis- 
 tinguished by a certain hazard for a sliced 
 tee shot, another hazard for a pulled ball, 
 and still another for a long second shot. 
 Make the feature of another hole be a long 
 carry from the tee, with a hazard guarding 
 the green, so as to make imperative a well- 
 executed approach with cut. Have another 
 demand a fine second shot, and so on. In 
 brief, so dispose the difficulties as to compel a 
 player to extract the full value from each and 
 every club in his bag during the round, and 
 on one or two of the holes to play certain test- 
 ing shots with such nicety and keen judg- 
 191
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 ment as to make even the best player pause 
 before attempting their execution. 
 
 Every hole should not be on parallel lines. 
 It is a pleasing change to have a few laid out 
 at obtuse angles, boomerang fashion, some- 
 thing like this: 
 
 Ttz 
 
 One of the prime requisites of a hole of 
 this nature is that it should be of such a length 
 as to call for one or two good shots to reach 
 the green. In the particular case under notice, 
 the long, straight driver will perhaps essay 
 to cut the corner on the left slightly, so as 
 to make the second shot easier, particularly 
 as a pot bunker or trap lies somewhat to the 
 right of the direction to the hole, some forty 
 yards from the green. The man who can 
 control a pull will also reap an advantage. 
 Both these shots, however, are fraught with 
 more or less danger, which does not attach 
 to the play of the straight driver, irrespective 
 of length. 
 
 Other holes may be laid out with the elbow 
 192
 
 HAZARDS 
 
 reversed. Single -shot holes, slightly around 
 the corner to the left, or right, also call for 
 excellent golf, and put a slight premium on 
 scientific pulling or slicing, as the case may 
 be. Very frequently the nature of the ground 
 lends itself favorably to holes of this kind. 
 But even if such is not the case, some of the 
 regular holes on nearly every course can 
 easily be so transposed by simply letting the 
 grass grow on one side and correspondingly 
 cutting it on the other. 
 
 Too much importance is attached to the 
 putting in of bunkers across the entire width 
 of the course, too often at just that distance 
 that will catch a moderately played shot. This 
 is not exactly right, in that it puts too great 
 a premium on the game of the long but of- 
 ten erratic player and unduly punishes the 
 shorter but more accurate player. Most haz- 
 ards should be arranged so as to compel a 
 man to drive both far and sure, and yet to give 
 the weaker player a chance to avoid being 
 bunkered provided he can place his ball wisely. 
 There is no great penalty if any, at times 
 inflicted on the swiper in the mere carrying 
 of the regulation bunker, although he may 
 have pulled or sliced the shot. Once over, 
 the fair green is so wide and so free from side 
 13 193
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 traps that he has little to fear, while the shorter 
 player is compelled to play short, and thereby 
 further handicap himself, or else run the al- 
 most certain chance of being bunkered. The 
 better way would be to first have the distance 
 of the hole right that is, laid out with reference 
 to its being reached in one, two, or three first- 
 class shots, and then to so arrange the hazards 
 as to catch the pulls and slices of the long 
 player, with a long carry for the second shot. 
 Don't trouble to put in so many traps for the 
 short player; he has sufficient troubles of 
 his own, and, with no mistake on either side, 
 cannot possibly reach the green in the same 
 number of strokes as the class man. The 
 bunker previously noticed for the second shot 
 will be so far away that he cannot get into 
 it on his second, but will nevertheless have 
 to negotiate it in some way on his third shot. 
 Generally speaking, while we have not 
 nearly enough bunkers, there is too much 
 of what we do have. The material is there, 
 but it is not scientifically applied. Let me 
 endeavor to exemplify my meaning. Take, 
 for instance, the regulation bunker for the 
 tee shot. This almost invariably stretches 
 across the entire width of the green. Instead 
 of this I should put in one, irregularly outlined, 
 194
 
 HAZARDS 
 
 of about one-third the width across, leaving 
 clear spaces on either side for the shorter play- 
 er who cannot comfortably carry it, and from 
 twenty to forty yards farther on according 
 to the distance of the first bunker from the 
 tee hazards of nearly equal size on either 
 side of the course to catch a pulled or sliced 
 ball, as the case may be, something after the 
 following fashion: 
 
 o 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 Fig. I represents the bunker to be carried; 
 Fig. 2 a trap for a sliced shot, or one off the 
 proper line, and Fig. 3 a hazard for a pulled 
 ball. A denotes the fair green between the 
 side lines, and B the latter, representing long 
 grass or other difficulties. 
 T95
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Again, in the case of a hole say from 300 
 to 360 yards, let there be two small bunkers, 
 arranged thus: 
 
 Fig 
 
 Fig 
 
 The player carrying the first bunker (Fig. 4) 
 would have the advantage of practically a 
 clear and unobstructed approach to the green 
 (Fig. 6) ; while the more timorously inclined, 
 or shorter player, could play safely to the side, 
 only, however, to be forced to negotiate the sec- 
 ond bunker (Fig. $) on his next shot. 
 
 Hazards arranged somewhat upon the lines 
 196
 
 HAZARDS 
 
 indicated, rather than slavishly following the 
 system adopted on the great majority of our 
 courses, would, I think, make the game vastly 
 more interesting, and more provocative of bet- 
 ter golf all around.
 
 XVII 
 
 ALUMINUM CLUBS 
 
 ALUMINUM clubs seem to be growing in 
 favor. Their increasing popularity is not 
 merely a fad; it rests upon something more 
 substantial than passing fancy or caprice 
 a recognition of the fact that they possess 
 certain inherent qualities of superiority over 
 the iron clubs now in use. 
 
 The first of these clubs that attracted at- 
 tention was the Mills putter a reproduction 
 of an old Philp wooden putter. Its success 
 was instantaneous. It may be said to com- 
 bine all the merits of the wooden putter with- 
 out any of its demerits. Being made of metal, 
 it is not affected by weather conditions; it is 
 impervious to rain or heat, and therefore the 
 face never becomes spongy or cracks; there 
 is no horn, and no lead to get out of place 
 and affect the balance and it is practically 
 indestructible. 
 
 198
 
 The chief objections which lie against the 
 wooden putter may be summarized as follows: 
 it imparts too much run to the ball commensu- 
 rate with the force employed, and is therefore 
 objectionable on a keen green, except to the 
 naturally good putter; it is a very difficult 
 matter to get the lead put in exactly right; 
 the face is not homogeneous, by reason of the 
 inset of horn on the sole, and it gets more or 
 less spongy in wet weather, and wet also pro- 
 vokes cracks; and it does not last so long as 
 its metal brethren. 
 
 The more salient countervailing advan- 
 tages of its aluminum prototype have already 
 been mentioned. To these may be added 
 the fact that, being homogeneous throughout, 
 it is much easier to get the centre of gravity 
 positively fixed and determinate with absolute 
 uniformity in each and every model ; and 
 this centre of gravity being right in the middle 
 of the club, no long apprenticeship has to be 
 served, as in the case of the wooden putter 
 and also to some extent with all iron clubs 
 to ascertain the particular point with which 
 the ball should be struck to cause it to run 
 straight. Then, again, the ball does not 
 jump off the face, or run quite so far, as with 
 the wooden weapon. Its shape, moreover, 
 
 199
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 encourages a disposition to go through the 
 ball with the stroke rather than hit it; and, 
 having a wider sole than any iron putter, it 
 finds, automatically, the natural and correct 
 angle. In this respect it possesses a marked 
 advantage over irons. 
 
 Copying the wooden putter having proved 
 such a practical success, it was a natural 
 and easy step to take up the manufacture 
 of the old-time spoons, in aluminum. This 
 reversion to first principles is somewhat in- 
 teresting. 
 
 The limited longevity of the wooden spoons 
 and the greater range of work of which irons 
 virtually indestructible were capable in the 
 hands of first-class players, notably young 
 Tommy Morris, gradually led to the almost 
 universal employment of the latter. There 
 was not the care bestowed on courses then 
 as at present, and poor lies were more fre- 
 quently encountered. With the narrow sole of 
 an iron it was easier to nip the ball out of a 
 bad lie as it is now, even with any kind of 
 aluminum club, plentiful though the various 
 models are. Nowadays, however, the lies on 
 most courses are so generally good through 
 the green, and spoons are so much easier to 
 play with than irons even out of long grass, 
 200
 
 if one should get off the course, as who does 
 not? that they are bound to come into favor 
 again, slowly, perhaps, but surely. But they 
 will not be made wholly of wood, as of yore. 
 
 Aluminum clubs may now be obtained to 
 cover the entire set. Personally, I do not find 
 any advantage in the driver or brassey, but 
 for the rest I think there are certain points 
 of merit. In the first place, as already re- 
 marked, the centre of gravity unlike most 
 irons resides in the centre of the head, ir- 
 respective of the model; consequently there 
 is less liability of slicing or pulling. Then, 
 again, the broader sole admits of more margin 
 for error and does not demand the same degree 
 of accuracy, for if the ground be struck be- 
 hind the ball the stroke is not robbed of any 
 material power; the broader sole prevents the 
 club sinking into the ground to far less extent 
 than with an iron; it skids more along the 
 surface, and does not dig up anything like the 
 same amount of turf to come between the 
 club head and the ball that an iron does in 
 like circumstances. 
 
 Out of long grass an aluminum club is 
 much better than an iron, both for distance 
 and accuracy. With most irons depending 
 largely on the length of the socket or hose 
 
 201
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 the actual centre of gravity lies more towards 
 the heel; consequently the resistance offered 
 by the grass before the ball is reached does 
 not act uniformly on either side of the centre 
 of the face. The toe is slightly pulled in 
 and the ball does not rise so quickly, and is 
 also more or less hooked. With aluminums 
 it is different; the centre of gravity is right 
 in the centre of the head; pressure is thereby 
 exerted evenly, and there is not the same chance 
 of a twist creeping in. 
 
 Another good feature of these clubs is that 
 the degree of angle of the face, or the lie, may 
 very easily be changed to suit individual 
 tastes by the simple use of a file; or lead may 
 be added to increase the weight, if desired 
 
 Still another point that may perhaps be 
 worthy of notice is that aluminums never rust, 
 and, consequently, never require cleaning.
 
 THE RULES OF GOLF 
 
 AS APPROVED BY 
 
 THE ROYAL AND ANCIENT GOLF CLUB 
 
 OF ST. ANDREWS 
 
 IN 1909 
 
 And as Amended by 
 THE UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION
 
 R ULES OF GO LP 
 
 DEFINITIONS 
 Side 
 
 1. A "side" consists either of one player or 
 of two pla3 T ers. If one player play against 
 another, the match is called "a single." If 
 two play against two, each side playing one 
 ball, the match is called " a foursome." If one 
 play against two playing one ball between 
 them, the match is called "a threesome." 
 
 Advice 
 
 2. "Advice" is any counsel or suggestion 
 which could influence a player in deter- 
 mining the line of play, in the choice of a 
 club, or in the method of making a stroke. 
 
 Course 
 
 3. The "course" is the whole area within 
 which play is permitted; more particularly, 
 it is the ground between the holes which is 
 specially prepared for play. 
 
 Teeing-Ground 
 
 4. The " teeing-ground" is the starting- 
 place for a hole. The front of each teeing- 
 
 205
 
 PRACTICAL G O L F 
 
 ground shall be indicated by two marks 
 placed in a line as nearly as possible at right 
 angles to the line of play, and the teeing- 
 ground .shall include a rectangular space of 
 the depth of two club lengths directly behind 
 the line indicated by the two marks. 
 
 Through the Green 
 
 5. "Through the green" is all ground on 
 which play is permitted, except hazards and 
 the putting-green of the hole that is being 
 played. 
 
 Hazard 
 
 6. A "hazard" is any bunker, water (ex- 
 cept casual water), sand, path, road, ditch, 
 bush, or rushes. Sand blown on to the grass, 
 or sprinkled on the course for its preservation, 
 bare patches, sheep-tracks, snow r , and ice are 
 not hazards. 
 
 Casual Water 
 
 7. "Casual \vater" is any temporary ac- 
 cumulation of w r ater (whether caused by 
 rainfall, flooding, or otherwise) which is not 
 one of the ordinary and recognized hazards 
 of the course. 
 
 Out of Bounds 
 
 8. "Out of bounds" is all ground on which 
 play is prohibited. 
 
 206
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 Ball, When Out of Bounds 
 
 9. A ball is "out of bounds" when the 
 greater part of it lies within a prohibited 
 area. 
 
 Ptrtting-Green 
 
 10. The "putting-green" is all ground, ex- 
 cept hazards, within twenty yards of the 
 hole. 
 
 Hole 
 
 11. The hole shall be 4^ inches in diameter, 
 and at least 4 inches deep. If a metal lining 
 be used, it shall be sunk below the lip of the 
 hole and its outer diameter shall not exceed 
 4i inches. 
 
 Loose Impediments 
 
 12. The term "loose impediments" denotes 
 any obstructions not fixed or growing, and 
 includes dung, worm-casts, mole-hills, snow, 
 and ice. 
 
 Stroke 
 
 13. A "stroke" is the forward movement 
 of the club made with the intention of strik- 
 ing the ball, or any contact between the 
 head of the club and the ball resulting in 
 movement of the ball, except in the ca.se of 
 a ball accidentally knocked off a tee [Rule 2 
 
 (I)]. 
 
 207
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Penalty Stroke 
 
 14. A "penalty stroke" is a stroke added 
 to the score of a side under certain rules, and 
 does not affect the rotation of play. 
 
 Honor 
 
 15. The side which plays off first from 
 a teeing-ground is said to have the "honor." 
 
 Peeing 
 
 16. In "teeing," the ball may be placed on 
 the ground, or on sand or other substance, in 
 order to raise it off the ground. 
 
 Addressing the Ball 
 
 17. A player has "addressed the ball" 
 when he has taken his stance and grounded 
 his club, or, if in a hazard, when he has 
 taken his stance preparatory to striking at 
 the ball. 
 
 In Play 
 
 18. A ball is "in play" as soon as the 
 player has made a stroke at a teeing-ground, 
 and it remains in play until holed out, except 
 when lifted in accordance with the rules. 
 
 Ball Deemed to Move 
 
 19. A ball is deemed to "move" if it leave 
 its original position in the least degree; but 
 it is not considered to "move" if it merely 
 
 208
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 oscillate and come to rest in its original 
 position. 
 
 Ball, Lost 
 
 20. A ball is "lost" if it be not found 
 within five minutes after the search for it 
 has begun. 
 
 Terms Used in Reckoning Game 
 
 21. The reckoning of strokes is kept by 
 the terms, "the odd/' "two more/' "three 
 more," etc., and "one off three," "one off 
 two," "the like." The reckoning of holes is 
 kept by the terms, so many "holes up," or 
 "all even," and so many "to play." 
 
 A side is said to be "dormie" when it is 
 as many holes up as there are holes remain- 
 ing to be played. 
 
 GENERAL AND THROUGH THE GREEN 
 
 Rule \. 
 Mode of Play 
 
 I . The Game of Golf is played by two sides, 
 each playing its own ball. 
 
 The game consists in each side playing a 
 ball from a teeing-ground into a hole by suc- 
 cessive strokes. The hole is won by the side 
 which holes its ball in fewer strokes tha"n the 
 opposing side, except as otherwise provided 
 for in the Rules. 
 '4 209
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 The hole ivS halved if both sides hole out 
 in the same number of strokes. 
 
 Conditions of Match 
 
 2. A match consists of one round of the 
 course unless it be otherwise agreed. A 
 match is won by the side which is leading by 
 a number of holes greater than the number 
 of holes remaining to be played. 
 
 A match is halved if each side win the 
 same number of holes. 
 
 Priority on the Course 
 
 Matches constituted of singles, threesomes, 
 or foursomes shall have precedence of and 
 be entitled to pass any other kind of match. 
 
 A single player has no standing, and shall 
 always give way to a match of any kind. 
 
 Any match playing a whole round shall be 
 entitled to pass a match playing a shorter 
 round. 
 
 If a match fail to keep its place on the 
 green, and lose in distance more than one 
 clear hole on the players in front, it may be 
 passed, on request being made. 
 
 Rule 2 
 
 On the Teeing-Ground 
 
 I. A match begins by each side playing a 
 ball from the first teeing -ground. 
 210
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 A ball played from outside the limits of 
 the teeing-ground, or played ]yy a plaj T er when 
 his opponent should have held the honor, 
 may be at once recalled by the opposing 
 side, and may be re-teed without penalty. 
 
 If a ball fall or be knocked off a tee by the 
 player in addressing it, it may be re-teed 
 without penalty; if the ball be struck when 
 so moving, no penalty shall be incurred. 
 * 
 
 The Honor 
 
 2. The option of taking the honor at the 
 first teeing-ground shall, if necessary, be de- 
 cided by lot. 
 
 The side which wins a hole shall take the 
 honor at the next teeing-ground. If a hole 
 has been halved, the side which had the honor 
 at the previous teeing-ground shall retain it. 
 
 On beginning a new match, the winner of 
 the long match in the previous round shall 
 take the honor; if the previous long match 
 was halved, the side which last won a hole 
 shall take the honor. 
 
 Rule 3 
 
 Order of Play in Threesome and Foursome 
 
 In a threesome or foursome the partners 
 shall strike off alternately from the teeing- 
 grounds, and .shall strike alternately during 
 the play of each hole. 
 211
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 If a player play when his partner should 
 have played, his side shall lose the hole. 
 
 Rule 4 
 Asking Advice 
 
 1. A player may not ask for nor willingly 
 receive advice from any one except his own 
 caddie, his partner, or his partner's caddie. 
 
 Advice from Forecaddie 
 
 2. A player may employ a forecaddie, but 
 may not receive advice from him. 
 
 Indicating Line of Play 
 
 3. When playing through the green, or from 
 a hazard, a player may have the line to the 
 hole indicated to him, but no mark shall be 
 placed nor shall any one stand on the proposed 
 line, in order to indicate it, while the stroke 
 is being made. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 
 Rule 5 
 
 Ball to be Fairly Struck at 
 
 The ball must be fairly struck at with the head 
 of the club, not pushed, scraped, or spooned. 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 212
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 Rule 6 
 
 Ball Played Wherever it Lies 
 
 A ball must be played wherever it lies or 
 the hole be given up, except as otherwise 
 provided for in the Rules and Local Rules. 
 
 Rule 7 
 
 The Ball Farther from Hole Played First 
 
 When the balls are in play, the ball farther 
 from the hole shall be played first. Through 
 the green, or in a hazard, if a player play 
 when his opponent should have played, 
 the opponent may at once recall the stroke. 
 A ball so recalled shall be dropped as near 
 as possible to the place where it lay, without 
 penalty. 
 
 Rule 8 
 How to Drop a Ball 
 
 A ball shall be dropped in the following 
 manner: The player himself shall drop it. 
 He .shall face the hole, stand erect, and drop 
 the ball behind him over his shoulder. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 
 If, in the act of dropping, the ball touch 
 the player, he shall incur no penalty, and, if 
 it roll into a hazard, the player may redrop 
 the ball without penalty. 
 213
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Rule 9 
 
 Ball not to be Touched except as Provided for in Rules 
 
 1. A ball in play may not be touched before 
 the hole is played out, except as provided 
 for in the Rules. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be one stroke. 
 
 Ball not to be Touched except in Addressing 
 
 The player may, without penalty, touch his 
 ball with his club in the act of addressing 
 it, provided he does not move it. 
 
 Ball not to be Touched Except for Identification 
 A ball in play may, with the opponent's 
 consent, be lifted for the purpose of identi- 
 fication, but it must be carefully replaced. 
 
 Ball Moved by Opponent's Ball 
 
 2. If the player's ball move the opponent's 
 ball through the green or in a hazard, the 
 opponent, if he choose, may drop a ball, 
 without penalty, as near as possible to the 
 place where his ball lay, but this must be 
 done before another stroke is played by 
 either side. 
 
 Rule JO 
 
 Removal of Irregularities of Surface 
 
 In playing through the green, irregularities 
 of surface which could in any way affect the 
 214
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 player's stroke shall not be removed nor 
 pressed down by the player, his partner, or 
 either of their caddies; a player is, however, 
 always entitled to place his feet firmly on 
 the ground when taking his stance. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 
 Rule H 
 
 Removal of Obstructions 
 
 Any flag-stick, guide-flag, movable guide- 
 post, wheelbarrow, tool, roller, grass-cutter, 
 box, vehicle, or similar obstruction may be 
 removed. A ball moved in removing such 
 an obstruction shall be replaced without 
 penalty. A ball lying on or touching such 
 an obstruction, or lying on or touching 
 clothes, or nets, or ground under repair or 
 covered up or opened for the purpose of the 
 upkeep of the course, or lying in one of the 
 holes, or in a guide-flag hole, or in a hole 
 made by the green-keeper, may be lifted 
 and dropped without penalty as near as 
 possible to the place where it lay, but not 
 nearer to the hole. A ball lifted in a hazard, 
 under such circumstances, shall be dropped in 
 the hazard. 
 
 Rule 12 
 
 Removal of Loose Impediments 
 
 I. Any loose impediment lying within a club 
 215
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 length of the ball and not being in or touching 
 a hazard, may be removed without penalty; 
 if the ball move after any such loose im- 
 pediment has been touched by the player, 
 his partner, or either of their caddies, the 
 player shall be deemed to have caused the 
 ball to move, and the penalty shall be one 
 stroke. 
 
 2. A loose impediment lying more than a 
 club length from the ball may not be moved 
 under penalty of the loss of the hole, unless 
 the loose impediment lie on the putting- 
 green [see Rule 28 (i)]. 
 
 Ball Accidentally Moved 
 
 3. When a ball is in play, if a player, or his 
 partner, or either of their caddies, acciden- 
 tally move his or their ball, or by touching 
 anything cause it to move, the penalty shall 
 be one stroke. 
 
 Ball Moving after Club Grounded 
 
 4. If a ball in play move after the player 
 has grounded his club in the act of addressing 
 it, or if a ball in play being in a hazard 
 move after the player has taken his stance 
 to play it, he shall be deemed to have caused 
 it to move, and the penalty shall be one 
 stroke. 
 
 Note. If the player has lifted a loose 
 impediment [see Rules 12 (l) and 28 (i)] 
 216
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 and the ball has not moved until the player 
 has grounded his club, he shall only be 
 deemed to have caused the ball to move 
 under Section 4 of this Rule, and the pen- 
 alty shall be one stroke. 
 
 Rule 13 
 Playing a Moving Ball 
 
 A player shall not piny while his ball is 
 moving, under the penalty of the loss of the 
 hole, except in the case of a teed ball (Rule 
 2), or a ball struck twice (Rule 14), or a ball 
 in water (Rule 26). When the ball only 
 begins to move while the player is making 
 his backward or forward swing, he shall 
 incur no penalty under this Rule, but he is 
 not exempted from the provisions of Rule 12 
 (i) or Rule 28 (i) and of Rule 12 (3) and (4). 
 
 Rule H 
 Striking Ball Twice 
 
 If a player, when making a stroke, strike the 
 ball twice, the penalty shall be one stroke, 
 but he shall incur no further penalty by 
 reason of his having played while his ball was 
 moving. 
 
 Rule 15 
 Moving or Bending Fixed or Growing Objects 
 
 Before striking at a ball in play, a player 
 217
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 shall not move, bend, or break anything 
 fixed or growing, except so far as is necessary 
 to enable him fairly to take his stance in 
 addressing the ball, or in making his back- 
 ward or forward swing. The club may only 
 be grounded lightly, and not pressed on the 
 ground. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 
 Rule 16 
 Balls Within a Club Length of Each Other 
 
 When the balls lie within a club length of 
 each other through the green or in a hazard, 
 the ball lying nearer to the hole may, at the 
 option of either the player or the opponent, 
 be lifted until the other ball is played, and 
 shall then be replaced as near as possible to 
 the place where it lay. 
 
 If either ball be accidentally moved in com- 
 plying with this Rule, no penalty shall be in- 
 curred, arid the ball so moved shall be replaced. 
 
 If the lie of the lifted ball be altered in 
 playing the other ball, the lifted ball may be 
 placed as near as possible to the place where 
 it lay and in a lie similar to that which it orig- 
 inally occupied. 
 
 Rule 17 
 Moving Ball Stopped 
 
 I. If a ball in motion be stopped or deflected 
 218
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 by any agency outside the match, or by a 
 forecaddie, it is a rub of the green, and the 
 ball shall be played from the spot where 
 it lies. 
 
 Ball Lodging in Anything Moving 
 
 2. If a ball lodge in anything moving, a ball 
 shall be dropped, or, if on the putting-green, 
 placed, as near as possible to the place where 
 the object was when the ball lodged in it, 
 without penalty. 
 
 Ball at Rest Displaced by Outside Agency 
 
 3. If a ball at rest be displaced by any 
 agency outside the match, except wind, the 
 player shall drop a ball as near as possible 
 to the place where it lay, without penalty; 
 and if the ball be displaced on the putting- 
 green, it shall be replaced without penalty. 
 
 Rule 18 
 Ball Striking Opponent, etc. 
 
 If a player's ball strike, or be stopped, or be 
 moved by an opponent or an opponent's 
 caddie or clubs, the opponent shall lose the 
 hole, except as provided for in Rule 22 (3) 
 and Rule 33. 
 
 Rule 19 
 Ball Striking the Player, etc. 
 
 If a player's ball strike or be stopped by 
 219
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 himself, or his partner, or either of their 
 caddies or their clubs, his side shall lose the 
 hole. 
 
 Rule 20 
 
 Playing Opponent's Ball 
 
 1. If a player play the opponent's ball, his 
 side shall lose the hole, unless 
 
 (a) The opponent then play the player's 
 ball, in which case the penalty is cancelled, 
 and the hole shall be played out with the 
 balls thus exchanged. 
 
 (6) The mistake occur through wrong in- 
 formation given by an opponent or his caddie, 
 in which case there shall be no penalty; if 
 the mistake be discovered before the op- 
 ponent has played, it shall be rectified by 
 dropping a ball as near as possible to the 
 place where the opponent's ball lay. 
 
 On the putting-green the ball shall be 
 replaced. 
 
 Playing Ball Outside the Match 
 
 2. If a player play a stroke with the ball of 
 any one not engaged in the match, and the 
 mistake be discovered and intimated to his 
 opponent before his opponent has played his 
 next stroke, there shall be no penalty; if the 
 mistake be not discovered and so intimated 
 until after the opponent has played his next 
 stroke, the player's side shall lose the hole. 
 
 220
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 Rule 21 
 Ball Lost 
 
 If a ball be "lost," except in water, casual 
 water, or out of bounds, the plaj^er's side 
 shall lose the hole, unless it is afterwards 
 discovered that the opponent's ball is also 
 lost, when the hole shall be halved. 
 
 Rule 22 
 
 Looking for Ball in Bent, etc. 
 
 1. If a ball lie in fog, bent, bushes, long 
 grass, or the like, only so much thereof 
 shall be touched as will enable the player 
 to find his ball. 
 
 Looking for Ball in Sand 
 
 2. If a ball be completely covered by sand, 
 only so much thereof may be removed as 
 will enable the pla3 T er to see the top of the 
 ball; if the ball be touched in removing the 
 sand, no penalty shall be incurred. 
 
 Accidentally Moved by Opponent in Search 
 
 3. If a player or his caddie when searching 
 for an opponent's ball accidentally touch or 
 move it, no penalty shall be incurred, and 
 the ball, if moved, shall be replaced. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 221
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Rule 23 
 
 Ball Out of Bounds 
 
 1. If a ball lie out of bounds, the player shall 
 play his next stroke as nearly as possible at 
 the spot from which the ball which is out of 
 bounds was played. If the ball was played 
 out of bounds from the teeing-ground, the 
 player may tee a ball for his next stroke; in 
 every other case the ball shall be dropped. 
 
 Provisional Ball Played 
 
 2. If a player after making a stroke be 
 doubtful whether his ball is out of bounds or 
 not, he may play another ball as provided for 
 in par. I of this Rule; but if it be discovered 
 that the first ball is not out of bounds, it 
 shall continue in play without penalty. 
 
 On reaching the place where the first ball 
 is likely to be, if the player or his opponent 
 be still in doubt, the player is not entitled 
 to presume that the first ball is out of 
 bounds till he has made a search of five 
 minutes. 
 
 Ascertaining Location of Ball 
 
 3. A player has the right at any time of 
 ascertaining wiiether his opponent's ball is 
 out of bounds or not, before his opponent can 
 compel him to continue his play. 
 
 222
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 Standing Out of Bounds 
 
 4. A player may stand out of bounds to 
 play a ball lying within bounds. 
 
 Rule 24 
 
 Ball Unfit for Play 
 
 If a ball split into separate pieces, another 
 ball may be dropped where any piece lies. 
 If a ball crack or become unfit for play, the 
 player may change it on intimating to his 
 opponent his intention to do so. Mud ad- 
 hering to a ball shall not be considered as 
 making it unfit for play. 
 
 HAZARDS AND CASUAL WATER 
 Rule 25 
 
 Conditions of Play in Hazards 
 
 When a ball lies in or touches a hazard, 
 nothing shall he done which can in an}' way 
 improve its lie; the club shall not touch 
 the ground, nor shall anything be touched 
 or moved, before the plaj^er strikes at the 
 ball, subject to the following exceptions : 
 (i) The player may place his feet firmly on 
 the ground for the purpose of taking his 
 stance; (2) in addressing the ball, or in the 
 backward or forward swing, any grass, bent, 
 bush, or other growing substance, or the 
 side of a bunker, wall, paling, or other im- 
 223
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 movable obstacle may be touched; (3) steps 
 or planks placed in a hazard by the Green 
 Committee for access to or egress from 
 such hazard may be removed, and, if a 
 ball be moved in so doing, it shall be replaced 
 without penalty; (4) any loose impediment 
 may be lifted from the putting-green; (5) 
 the player shall be entitled to find his ball 
 as provided for by Rule 22. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule 
 shall be the loss of the hole. 
 
 Rule 26 
 Ball Moving in Water 
 
 When a ball is in water a player may, with- 
 out penalty, strike at it wiiile it is moving, 
 but he must not delay to make his stroke 
 in order to allow the wind or current to better 
 the position of the ball, under penalty of the 
 loss of the hole. 
 
 Rule 27 
 Ball in Water Hazard 
 
 I. If a ball lie or be lost in a recognized 
 water hazard (whether the ball lie in water 
 or not) or 
 
 In Casual Water in a Hazard 
 
 the player may drop a ball under penalty of 
 one stroke either (a) behind the hazard, 
 224
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 keeping the spot at which the ball crossed 
 the margin of the hazard between himself 
 and the hole, or (b) in the hazard, keeping 
 the spot at which the ball entered the water 
 between himself and the hole. 
 
 Ball in Casual Water Through the Green 
 
 2. If a ball lie or be lost in casual water 
 through the green, the player may drop a 
 ball, without penalty, within two club lengths 
 of the margin, as near as possible to the 
 spot where the ball lay, but not nearer to the 
 hole. 
 
 If a ball when dropped roll into the water, 
 it may be redropped without penalty. 
 
 Ball in Casual Water on the Putting-Green 
 
 3. If a ball on the putting-green lie in 
 casual water, or if casual vater intervene 
 between a ball lying on the putting-green 
 and the hole, the ball may be played where 
 it lies, or it may be lifted without penalty 
 and placed by hand, either within two club 
 lengths directly behind the spot from which 
 the ball was lifted, or in the nearest position 
 to that spot which is not nearer to the hole 
 and which affords a putt to the hole without 
 casual water intervening. 
 
 Water Interfering with Stance 
 
 4. A ball lying so near to casual water that 
 's 225
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 the water interferes with the player's stance 
 may be treated as if it lay in casual water, 
 under the preceding Sections of this Rule. 
 
 Want of Space to Drop 
 
 5. If it be impossible from want of space in 
 which to play, or from any other cause, for 
 a player to drop a ball in conformity with 
 Sections I and 2 of this Rule, or to place 
 it in conformity with Section 3, he shall 
 "drop" or "place" as nearly as possible 
 within the limits laid down in these sections, 
 but not nearer to the hole. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 
 PUTTING-GREEN 
 Rule 28 
 
 Removal of Loose Impediments 
 
 I. Any loose impediment may be lifted 
 from the putting-green, irrespective of the 
 position of the player's ball. If the player's 
 ball, when on the putting-green, move after 
 any loose impediment lying within six inches 
 of it has been touched by the player, his 
 partner, or either of their caddies, the player 
 shall be deemed to have caused it to move, 
 and the penalty shall be one stroke. 
 226
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 Removal of Dung, etc. 
 
 2. Dung, worm-casts, snow, and ice may be 
 scraped aside with a club, but the club 
 must not be laid with more than its own 
 weight upon the ground, nor must anything 
 be pressed down either with the club or in 
 any other way. 
 
 Touching Line of Putt 
 
 3. The line of the putt must not be touched, 
 except by placing the club immediately in 
 front of the ball in the act of addressing it, 
 and as above authorized. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 
 Rule 29 
 Direction for Putting 
 
 1. When the player's ball is on the putting- 
 green, the player's caddie, his partner, or his 
 partner's caddie may, before the stroke is 
 played, point out a direction for putting, but 
 in doing this they shall not touch the ground 
 on the proposed line of the putt. No mark 
 shall be placed anywhere on the putting- 
 green. 
 
 Shielding Ball from Wind 
 
 2. Any player or caddie engaged in the 
 match may stand at the hole, but no player 
 
 227
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 or caddie shall endeavor, by moving or 
 otherwise, to influence the action of the wind 
 upon the ball. 
 
 A player is, however, always entitled to 
 send his own caddie to stand at the hole 
 while he plays his stroke. 
 
 Either side may refuse to allow a person 
 who is not engaged in the match to stand 
 at the hole. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 
 Rule 30 
 
 Opponent's Ball to be at Rest 
 
 When the player's ball lies on the putting- 
 green, he shall not play until the opponent's 
 ball is at rest. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be the loss of the hole. 
 
 Rule 31 
 
 Ball Within Six Inches, Lifted 
 
 I. When the balls lie within six inches of 
 each other on the putting-green (the distance 
 to be measured from their nearest points), 
 the ball lying nearer to the hole may, at the 
 option of either the player or the opponent, 
 be lifted until the ball is played, and the 
 lifted ball shall then he replaced as near 
 as possible to the place where it lay. 
 228
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 If either ball be accidentally moved in 
 complying with this Rule, no penalty shall 
 be incurred, and the ball so moved shall be 
 replaced. 
 
 Playing Oat of Turn 
 
 2. On the putting-green, if a player play 
 when his opponent .should have played, the 
 stroke may be at once recalled by the op- 
 ponent, and the ball replaced. 
 
 Note. For a ball which is displaced on a 
 putting-green, see Rule 17 (2) and (3). 
 
 For a player playing the opponent's ball 
 on the putting-green see Rule 20 (i). 
 
 Casual Water 
 
 For casual water on a putting-green see 
 Rule 27 (3). 
 
 Rule 32 
 
 Removal of Flag-Stick 
 
 I. Either side is entitled to have the flag- 
 stick removed when approaching the hole; 
 if a player's ball strike the flag-stick, which 
 has been so removed by himself, or his 
 partner, or either of their caddies, his side 
 shall lose the hole. 
 
 If the ball rest against the flag-stick which 
 is in the hole, the player .shall be entitled to 
 remove the flag-stick, and, if the ball fall 
 229
 
 PRACTICAL G O L F 
 
 into the hole, the player shall be deemed to 
 have holed out at his last stroke. 
 
 Displacing and Replacing of Balls 
 
 2. If the player's ball knock the opponent's 
 ball into the hole, the opponent shall be 
 deemed to have holed out at his last stroke. 
 
 If the player's ball move the opponent's 
 ball, the opponent, if he choose, may replace 
 it, but this must be done before another 
 stroke is played by either side. 
 
 If the player's ball stop on the spot for- 
 merly occupied by the opponent's ball, and 
 the opponent declare his intention to replace 
 his ball, the player shall first play another 
 stroke, after which the opponent shall replace 
 and play his ball. 
 
 Ball on Lip of Hole 
 
 3. If the player has holed out and the op- 
 ponent then plays to the lip of the hole, the 
 player may not knock the ball away, but the 
 opponent, if asked, shall play his next stroke 
 without delay. 
 
 If the opponent's ball lie on the lip of the 
 hole, the player, after holing out, may knock 
 the ball away, claiming the hole if holing at 
 the like, and the half if holing at the odd, 
 provided that the player's ball does not 
 strike the opponent's ball and set it in motion; 
 if the player neglect to knock away the 
 230
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 opponent's ball, and it fall into the hole, the 
 opponent shall be deemed to have holed out 
 at his last stroke. 
 
 Rule 33 
 
 Penalty of Loss of Hole Qualified by Half Previously 
 Gained 
 
 When a player has holed out and his op- 
 ponent has been left with a stroke for the 
 half, nothing that the player who has holed 
 out can do shall deprive him of the half 
 which he has already gained. 
 
 GENERAL PENALTY 
 
 Rule 34 
 Loss of the Hole 
 
 Where no penalty for the breach of a Rule is 
 stated, the penalty shall be the loss of the 
 hole. 
 
 DISPUTES 
 Rule 35 
 
 Duties of Umpire or Referee 
 
 An umpire or referee, when appointed, shall 
 take cognizance of any breach of rule that he 
 may observe, whether he be appealed to on 
 the point or not. 
 
 231
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Rule 36 
 
 Claims, When and How Made 
 
 If a dispute arise on any point, a claim must 
 be made before the players strike off from 
 the next teeing-ground, or, in the case of the 
 last hole of the round, before they leave the 
 putting-green. All disputes shall be decided 
 by the committee in charge of the competition, 
 which decision shall be final unless appeal 
 be taken to the executive committee of the 
 United States Golf Association, whose decis- 
 ion shall be conclusive. 
 
 SPECIAL RULES FOR MATCH PLAY 
 COMPETITIONS 
 
 Rule \ 
 
 On the putting-green, if the competitor whose 
 ball is the nearer to the hole play first, his ball 
 shall be at once replaced. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall be 
 the disqualification of both competitors. 
 
 Rule 2 
 
 A competitor shall not waive any penalty 
 incurred by his opponent, under penalty of dis- 
 qualification. 
 
 232
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 Rule 3 
 
 Competitors shall not agree to exclude the 
 operation of any Rule or Local Rule, under 
 penalty of disqualification. 
 
 The Rules of Golf Committee recommends that 
 players should not concede putts to their opponents. 
 
 RULES FOR THREE-BALL, BEST BALL, AND 
 FOUR-BALL MATCHES 
 
 DEFINITIONS 
 
 1. When three players play against each 
 other, each playing his own ball, the match 
 is called a three-ball match. 
 
 2. When one player plays his ball against 
 the best ball of two or more players, the 
 match is called a best ball match. 
 
 3. When two players play their better ball 
 against the better ball of two other players, 
 the match is called a four-ball match. 
 
 GENERAL 
 
 Rule \ 
 
 Any player may have any ball in the match 
 lifted or played, at the option of its owner, if he 
 consider that it might interfere with or be of 
 assistance to a player or side. 
 233
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Rule 2 
 
 If a player's ball move any other ball in the 
 match, the moved ball must be replaced as near 
 as possible to the spot where it lay, without 
 penalty. 
 
 Rule 3 
 
 Through the green a player shall incur no 
 penalty for playing when an opponent should 
 have done so, and the stroke shall not be recalled. 
 
 On the putting-green the stroke may be re- 
 called by an opponent, but no penalty shall be 
 incurred. 
 
 THREE-BALL MATCHES 
 
 Rule 4 
 
 During a three-ball match if no player is 
 entitled at a teeing-ground to claim the honor 
 from both opponents, the same order of striking 
 shall be followed as at the last teeing-ground. 
 
 Rule 5 
 
 In a three-ball match, if a player's ball strike, 
 or be stopped, or moved by an opponent or an 
 opponent's caddie or clubs, that opponent shall 
 lose the hole to the player. As regards the oth*er 
 opponent the occurrence shall be treated as a 
 rub of the green. 
 
 234
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 BEST BALL AND FOUR-BALL MATCHES 
 
 Rule 6 
 
 Balls belonging to the same side may be 
 played in the order the side deems best. 
 
 
 Rule 7 
 
 If a player's ball strike, or be stopped, or 
 moved by an opponent, or an opponent's caddie 
 or clubs, the opponent's side shall lose the hole. 
 
 Rule 8 
 
 If a plaj^er's ball (the player being one of a 
 side) strike, or be stopped by himself, or his 
 partner, or either of their caddies or clubs, only 
 that player shall be disqualified for that hole. 
 
 Rule 9 
 
 If a player play a stroke with his partner's 
 ball, and the mistake be discovered and inti- 
 mated to the other side before an opponent has 
 played another stroke, the player shall be dis- 
 qualified for that hole, and his partner shall 
 drop a ball as near as possible to the spot from 
 which his ball was played, without penalty. If 
 the mistake be not discovered till after the op- 
 ponent has played a stroke, the player's side 
 shall lose the hole. 
 
 235
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Rule 10 
 
 In all other cases where a player would, by 
 the Rules of Golf, incur the loss of the hole, he 
 shall be disqualified for that hole, but the dis- 
 qualification shall not apply to his partner. 
 
 SPECIAL RULES FOR STROKE COMPETITIONS 
 
 RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF STROKE 
 COMPETITIONS 
 
 Committee Defined 
 
 Wherever the word Committee is used in 
 these Rules, it refers to the Committee in 
 charge of the Competition. 
 
 Rule \ 
 
 The Winner 
 
 1. In Stroke Competitions the competitor 
 who holes the stipulated round or rounds in 
 the fewest strokes shall be the winner. 
 
 Order of Play 
 
 2. Competitors shall play in couples; if 
 from any cause there be a single competitor, 
 the Committee shall either provide him with 
 a player, or select a marker for him and 
 allow him to compete alone. 
 
 The order cind times of starting should, 
 when possible, be determined by ballot. 
 236
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 Order of Starting 
 
 3. Competitors should strike off from the 
 first tee in the order in which their names 
 appear upon the starting list. 
 
 The Honor 
 
 Thereafter the honor should be taken as 
 in match play, but if a competitor by mistake 
 play out of turn, no penalty shall be incurred, 
 and the stroke cannot be recalled. 
 
 Rule 2 
 
 Not to Discontinue Play in Bad Weather 
 
 1. Competitors shall start in the order and 
 at the times arranged by the Committee. 
 They shall not discontinue play nor delay 
 to start on account of bad weather or for 
 any other reason whatever, except such as 
 the Committee may consider satisfactory. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be disqualification. 
 
 Course Unplayable 
 
 2. If the Committee consider that the course 
 is not in a playable 'condition, or that in- 
 sufficient light renders the proper playing of 
 the game impossible, it shall at any time have 
 power to declare the daj^'s play null and 
 void. 
 
 237
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Rule 3 
 
 Ties, How and When Decided 
 
 If the lowest scores be made by two or more 
 competitors, the tie or ties shall be decided 
 by another round to be played on the same 
 day; but if the Committee determine that 
 this is inexpedient or impossible, it shall 
 appoint a day and time for the decision of 
 the tie or ties. 
 
 Should an uneven number of competitors 
 tie, their names shall be drawn by ballot and 
 placed upon a list; the competitors shall 
 then play in couples in the order in which 
 their names appear. The single competitor 
 shall be provided for by the Committee 
 either under Rule I (2), or by allowing three 
 competitors to play together if their unani- 
 mous consent has been obtained. 
 
 Rule 4 
 New Holes 
 
 1. New holes should be made on the day on 
 which Stroke Competitions begin. 
 
 Practice on Day of Competition 
 
 2. On the day of the Competition, before 
 starting, no competitor shall play on, or on 
 to, any of the putting-greens, nor shall he 
 intentionally play at any hole of the stipu- 
 
 238
 
 RULES OF G O L F 
 
 lated round which is within his reach, under 
 penalty of disqualification. 
 
 Rule 5 
 The Scores, How Kept 
 
 1. The score for each hole shall be kept by 
 a marker or by each competitor noting the 
 other's score. Should more than one marker 
 keep a score, each shall sign the part of the 
 score for which he is responsible. The scores 
 should be called out after each hole. On 
 completion of the stipulated round the card 
 shall be signed by the person who has marked 
 it, and the competitor shall see that it is 
 handed in as soon as reasonably possible. 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be disqualification. 
 
 Scoring cards should be issued with the 
 date and the player's name entered on the 
 card. 
 
 Marking and Addition of Scores 
 
 2. Competitors must satisfy themselves be- 
 fore the cards are handed in that the scores 
 for each hole are correctly marked, as no 
 alteration can be made on any card after 
 it has been returned. If it be found that a 
 competitor has returned a score lower than 
 that actually played, he shall be disqualified. 
 For the additions of the scores marked the 
 Committee shall be responsible. 
 
 239
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Committee to Decide Doubtful Penalties 
 
 3. If, on the completion of the stipulated 
 round, a player is doubtful whether he has 
 incurred a penalty at any hole, he may 
 enclose his scoring card with a written 
 statement of the circumstances to the Com- 
 mittee, who shall decide what penalty, if 
 any, has been incurred. 
 
 RULES FOR PLAY IN STROKE COMPETITIONS 
 
 Rule 6 
 Advice 
 
 A competitor shall not ask for nor willingly 
 receive advice from any one except his caddie. 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be disqualification. 
 
 Rule 7 
 
 Playing Outside Limits of Teeing-Ground 
 
 If at any hole a competitor play his first 
 stroke from outside the limits of the teeing- 
 ground, he shall count that stroke, tee a ball, 
 and play his second stroke from within these 
 limits. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule .shall 
 be disqualification. 
 
 Rule 8 
 
 Must Hole Out with Own Ball 
 
 I. A competitor shall hole out with his own 
 240
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 ball at every hole. The penalty for a breach 
 of this Rule shall be disqualification. 
 
 Playing Two Consecutive Strokes with Wrong Ball 
 
 2. If a competitor play a stroke with a ball 
 other than his own he shall incur no penalty 
 provided he then play his own ball; but if 
 he play two consecutive strokes with a 
 wrong ball, he shall be disqualified. 
 
 Exception in Hazards 
 
 3. In a hazard, if a competitor play more 
 than one stroke with a ball other than his 
 own and the mistake be discovered before 
 he has played a stroke with the wrong ball 
 from outside the limits of the hazard, he 
 shall incur no penalty provided he then play 
 his own ball. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Rule shall 
 be disqualification. 
 
 Rule 9 
 Ball Striking the Player 
 
 If a competitor's ball strike or be stopped 
 by himself, his clubs, or his caddie, the 
 penalty shall be one stroke, except as pro- 
 vided for in Stroke Rule 13 (i). 
 
 Rule JO 
 
 Ball Striking or Moved by Another Competitor 
 
 I. If a competitor's ball strike or be stopped 
 16 241
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 by another competitor, or his clubs, or his 
 caddie, it is a rub of the green, and the ball 
 shall be played from where it lies, except as 
 provided for in Stroke Rule 13 (i). If a 
 competitor's ball which is at rest be acciden- 
 tally moved by another competitor, or his 
 caddie, or his clubs, or his ball, or any outside 
 agency except wind, it shall be replaced as 
 near as possible to the spot where it lay. 
 The penalty for a breach of this rule shall 
 be disqualification. 
 
 Allowed to Lift Another Competitor's Ball 
 
 2. A competitor may have any other player's 
 ball played or lifted, at the option of its 
 owner, if he finds that it interferes with his 
 stroke. 
 
 Rule U 
 
 Lifting Ball Under Two-Stroke Penalty 
 
 I. A ball may be lifted from any place on 
 the course under penalty of two strokes. A 
 ball so lifted shall be teed and played behind 
 the place where it lay; if this be impossible, 
 it shall be teed and played as near as possible 
 to the place where it lay, but not nearer to 
 the hole. 
 
 In preparing a tee, as above authorized, 
 the player is exempted from the restrictions 
 imposed by Rule 15. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Section 
 of the Rule shall be disqualification. 
 242
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 Lifting for Identification 
 
 2. For the purpose of identification, a com- 
 petitor may at any time lift and carefully 
 replace his ball in the presence of the player 
 with whom he is competing. 
 
 The penalty for a breach of this Section 
 of the Rule shall be one stroke. 
 
 Rule 12 
 Ball Lost 
 
 If a ball be "lost" (except in water, casual 
 water, or out of bounds) the competitor 
 shall, whether he has played from "through 
 the green'' or from a hazard, return as near 
 as possible to the spot from which the ball 
 was struck, and there tee a ball under penalty 
 of one stroke. 
 
 (Under this Rule a ball shall only be con- 
 sidered " lost " when it has not been found 
 after a search of five minutes). 
 
 Rale 13 
 
 Play Within 20 Yards of Hole. Ball Striking Flag- 
 stick, etc. 
 
 I. When a competitor's ball lying within 
 twenty yards of the hole is played and 
 strikes either the flag-stick or the person 
 standing at the hole, the penalty shall be 
 two strokes. 
 
 243
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Ball Striking Fellow-Competitor's Ball 
 
 2. When both balls are on the putting-green, 
 if a competitor's ball strike the ball of the 
 player with whom he is competing, the com- 
 petitor shall incur a penalty of one stroke, 
 and the ball which was struck shall IDC at 
 once replaced, see Stroke Rule 10 (i). 
 
 Nearer Ball may be Lifted 
 
 3. The competitor whose ball is the farther 
 from the hole may have the ball which is 
 nearer to the hole lifted or played at the 
 option of its owner. If the latter refuse to 
 comply with this Rule when requested to do 
 so, he vshall he disqualified. 
 
 Ball Nearer Hole of Assistance to Player 
 
 4. If the competitor whose ball is the nearer 
 to the hole consider that his ball might be of 
 assistance to the player with whom he is 
 competing, he should lift it or play first. 
 
 Ball Lifted When Player's Ball in Motion 
 
 5. If the competitor whose ball is the nearer 
 to the hole lift his ball while the player's 
 ball is in motion, he shall incur a penalty 
 of one stroke. 
 
 Ball Lifted Before Holed Out 
 
 6. If a competitor or his caddie pick up his 
 ball from the putting-green before it is holed 
 
 244
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 out (except as provided for above), he shall, 
 before he has struck off from the next tee, 
 or, in the case of the last hole of the round, 
 before he has left the putting-green, be per- 
 mitted to replace the ball under penalty of 
 two strokes. 
 
 Rule 14 
 General Penalty 
 
 Where in the Rules of Golf the penalty 
 for the breach of any Rule is the loss of the 
 hole, in Stroke Competitions the penalty 
 shall be the loss of two strokes, except where 
 otherwise provided for in these Special Rules. 
 
 Rule 15 
 General Rule 
 
 The Rules of Golf, so far as they are not at 
 variance with these Special Rules, shall 
 apply to Stroke Competitions. 
 
 Rule 16 
 Disputes, How Decided 
 
 All disputes shall be decided by the Com- 
 mittee in charge of the competition, which 
 decision shall be final, unless appeal be taken 
 to the Executive Committee of the United 
 States Golf Association, whose decision shall 
 be conclusive. 
 
 245
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LOCAL RULES 
 
 Special Hazards or Conditions 
 
 When necessary, Local Rules should be made 
 for such obstructions as trees, hedges, fixed 
 seats, fences, gates, railways, and walls, for 
 such difficulties as rabbit scrapes, hoof 
 marks, and other damage caused to the 
 course by animals, and for such local con- 
 ditions as the existence of mud which may 
 be held to interfere with the proper playing 
 of the game. 
 
 Ball, When " Dropped "; When " Placed " 
 
 When a ball is lifted under a Local Rule, as 
 in the case of a ball lifted from a putting- 
 green other than that of the hole which is 
 being played, the Rules of Golf Committee 
 recommends that if it is to be played from 
 "through the green," it should be dropped; 
 if it is to be played on the putting-green of 
 the hole that is being played, it should be 
 placed. 
 
 FORM AND MAKE OF GOLF CLUBS 
 
 The Rules of Golf Committee intimates that 
 
 it will not sanction any substantial departure 
 
 from the traditional and accepted form and 
 
 make of golf clubs, which, in its opinion, consist 
 
 246
 
 RULES OF GOLF 
 
 of a plain shaft and a head which does not con- 
 tain any mechanical contrivance, such as springs. 
 
 ETIQUETTE OF GOLF 
 
 1. No one should stand close to or directly 
 behind the ball, move, or talk, when a player is 
 making a stroke. 
 
 On the putting-green no one should stand 
 beyond the hole in the line of a player's stroke. 
 
 2. The player who has the honor should be 
 allowed to play before his opponent tees his ball. 
 
 3. No player should play from the tee until 
 the party in front have pla\ 7 ed their second strokes 
 and are out of range, nor play up to the putting- 
 green till the party in front have holed out and 
 moved away. 
 
 4. Players who have holed out should not 
 try their putts over again when other players are 
 following them. 
 
 5. Players looking for a lost ball should 
 allow other matches coming up to pass them; 
 they should signal to the players following them 
 to pass, and having given such a signal, they 
 should not continue their play until these players 
 have passed and are out of reach. 
 
 6. Turf cut or displaced by a player should 
 be at once replaced and pressed down with the 
 foot. 
 
 7. A player should carefully fill up all holes 
 made by himself in a bunker. 
 
 247
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 8. Players should see that their caddies do 
 not injure the holes by standing close to them 
 when the ground is soft. 
 
 9. A player who has incurred a penalty stroke 
 should intimate the fact to his opponent as soon 
 as possible.
 
 INDEX TO RULES 
 
 Accidentally moving ball 
 
 By another competitor, etc 
 
 By opponent in search 
 
 Removing loose impediment. . . 
 
 Within club length 
 
 Addressing ball 
 
 Grounding club 
 
 In hazard 
 
 On tee 
 
 Through green 
 
 Advice 
 
 Appeals from decisions 
 
 Bad light 
 
 Bad weather 
 
 Ball 
 
 Accidentally moved 
 
 By another competitor, etc. . . 
 
 By opponent in search 
 
 Removing loose impediment . 
 
 Within club length 
 
 Addressing 
 
 Grounding club 
 
 In hazard 
 
 On tee 
 
 Through green 
 
 Casual water 
 
 Covered by sand 
 
 Cracked 
 
 Displaced 
 
 On putting-green 
 
 Outside agency 
 
 Dropped 
 
 Casual water 
 
 How to drop 
 
 Lodging in anything moviny 
 
 249 
 
 General 
 
 22 
 12 
 16 
 
 12 
 
 25 
 2 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 36 
 
 12 
 
 25 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 27 
 22 
 24 
 
 32 
 17 
 
 27 
 8 
 
 Match 
 
 Stroke 
 1O 
 
 6 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 10
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Ball Dropped (Continued) 
 
 Moved by opponent's 
 
 Outside agency 
 
 Out of bounds 
 
 Played out of turn. . . 
 
 Playing opponent's 
 
 Playing partner's ball 
 
 Touching obstruction 
 
 Touching player 
 
 Unfit for play 
 
 Want of space 
 
 Water hazard 
 
 Farther from hole 
 
 Flag-stick 
 
 Striking 
 
 Resting against 
 
 Fog, Bent, Bushes, etc 
 
 Holing out 
 
 By request 
 
 Caddie at hole 
 
 Knocking away opponent's. . 
 
 Own ball 
 
 Resting against flag-stick. . . 
 
 Identification 
 
 Interfering with stroke 
 
 Knocking in opponent's 
 
 Lie of 
 
 Altered 
 
 Play wherever lying 
 
 Within six inches 
 
 Lifted 
 
 Ground under repair 
 
 Interfering with stroke 
 
 Nearest hole 
 
 Player's ball in motion 
 
 Three-ball, etc., matches. . . . 
 
 Two-strokes penalty 
 
 Within club length 
 
 Within six inches 
 
 Lip of hole 
 
 Lodging in anything moving. . 
 
 Long grass, etc 
 
 Lost 
 
 In water ha zard 
 
 Moved 
 
 Accidentally 
 
 Accidentally by opponent . . . 
 
 250 
 
 General 
 
 9 
 17 
 23 
 
 7 
 20 
 
 II 
 
 8 
 
 2\ 
 
 27 
 27 
 
 7 
 
 32 
 32 
 
 32 
 29 
 32 
 
 32 
 9 
 
 32 
 
 16 
 6 
 
 1 6 
 
 3i 
 32 
 17 
 
 22 
 21 
 27 
 
 12, l6 
 
 Match 
 
 Stroke 
 
 II 
 10 
 
 10 
 13 
 13 
 
 II 
 
 12
 
 INDEX TO RULES 
 
 Ball Moved (Continued) 
 
 By another competitor, etc. . . 
 
 By opponent, etc 
 
 By opponent's 
 
 By outside agency 
 
 Thro' lifting opponent's 
 
 Moving 
 
 Moving in water 
 
 Moving opponent's 
 
 Moving teeing-ground 
 
 Mud adhering to 
 
 Opponent's out of bounds 
 
 Opponent's to be at rest put- 
 ting-green 
 
 Out of bounds 
 
 Outside of match 
 
 Outside teeing-ground 
 
 Partner's 
 
 Permanent water 
 
 Playing opponent's 
 
 Pushed 
 
 Recalled played out of turn. . 
 Recalled played out of turn. . 
 Recalled played out of turn. . 
 
 Re-dropped 
 
 Re-dropped 
 
 Replaced 
 
 Ball striking competitor's. . . 
 
 Lie altered 
 
 Lifting before holing 
 
 Match competitions 
 
 Mov'd by anoth'r comp., etc. 
 
 Moved by opponent's 
 
 Moved in searching 
 
 Obstructions 
 
 Outside agency 
 
 Played out of turn 
 
 Three-ball, etc., matches. . . . 
 
 Within six inches 
 
 Sand 
 
 Scraped 
 
 Split 
 
 Spooned 
 
 Stopp'd by anoth'r comp., etc. . 
 
 Stopped by opponent, etc 
 
 Stopped by player, etc 
 
 Striking another comp., etc. . . . 
 
 251 
 
 General 
 
 18 
 
 9 
 
 17 
 
 . 
 
 26 
 
 9, 32 
 
 2 
 
 24 
 
 23 
 
 30 
 23 
 20 
 
 27 
 20 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 27 
 
 16 
 
 32 
 
 22 
 II 
 17 
 31 
 
 5 
 
 24 
 5 
 
 18 
 19 
 
 Match 
 
 Stroke 
 10 
 
 13 
 13 
 10 
 
 10
 
 PRACTICAL GO L F 
 
 Ball (Continued) 
 Striking fellow competitor's. . . 
 Striking flag-stick, etc 
 Striking opponent etc 
 
 General 
 
 32 
 18 
 
 Match 
 
 Stroke 
 13 
 13 
 
 Best ball etc. match ... . 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 Three-ball match 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 Striking player etc. 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 Q 
 
 Struck twice 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 Touched 
 
 q 
 
 
 
 Touched accid'ly by opponent. 
 Touching hazard 
 
 22 
 
 2=; 
 
 
 
 Touching obstruction . ... 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 Unfit for plav . 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 Unplayable .... 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 Water casual 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 Water permanent 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 Wind shielding 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 Wrong 
 
 20 
 
 q 
 
 8 
 
 Wrong hole 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 Balls 
 Both lost 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 Exchanged 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 Within club length 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 ^Vithin six inches 
 
 -II 
 
 
 
 Bent touching etc 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 Best ball matches 
 Lifting ball 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Loss of hole .... 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Order of play 
 
 
 f, 
 
 
 Partner's ball 
 
 
 q 
 
 
 Penalty not applying to partner 
 Playing out of turn 
 
 
 10 
 
 T. 
 
 
 Replacing ball 
 
 
 -> 
 
 
 Striking opponent etc. . 
 
 
 j 
 
 
 Striking player or partner, etc. . 
 Bounds out of 
 
 2T, 
 
 8 
 
 
 Breach of rales not specified. . . . 
 Bushes touching etc 
 
 34 
 22 
 
 
 
 Caddie 
 Accidentally moving ball 
 
 I ~> 
 
 
 
 Ace. touch' g, etc., ball in search 
 Advice from 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 
 6 
 
 Ball striking etc 
 
 18 19 
 
 578 
 
 q 10 
 
 Giving direction of putt 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 Giving wrong information . . . 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 Lifting ball before holing . . . 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 Moviner ball . . 
 
 
 
 IO 
 
 252
 
 INDEX TO RULES 
 
 Caddie (Continued) 
 
 Moving loose impediment 
 
 putting-green 
 
 Moving loose impediment 
 through the green 
 
 Pressing irregular surface 
 
 Shielding ball from wind 
 
 Standing at hole 
 
 Casual water 
 
 Claims when to be made 
 
 Club not to be grounded 
 
 Conditions of match 
 
 Course unplayable 
 
 Cracked ball 
 
 Delaying stroke 
 
 Ball in moving water 
 
 Directing putt 
 
 Discontinuing play 
 
 Displacing ball 
 
 Disputes umpire's duties 
 
 Disputes -how decided 
 
 Disqualification 
 
 See under "Penalties" 
 
 Doubtful penalties 
 
 Dropping ball 
 
 Casual water 
 
 How to drop 
 
 Lodging in anything moving. . 
 
 Moved by opponent's 
 
 Outside agencj^ 
 
 Out of bounds 
 
 Playing opponent's 
 
 Playing out of turn 
 
 Playing partner's ball 
 
 Touching obstructions 
 
 Touching player 
 
 Unfit for play 
 
 Want of space 
 
 Water hazard 
 
 Dung 
 
 Exchanging balls 
 
 Fixed objects moving of 
 
 Flag-stick 
 
 Ball resting against 
 
 Removal of 
 
 Striking 
 
 Fog touching, etc 
 
 General 
 28 
 
 12 
 10 
 29 
 2 9 
 27 
 36 
 25 
 I 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 29 
 
 17, 32 
 
 35 
 36 
 
 27 
 8 
 
 17 
 9 
 
 17 
 23 
 
 20 
 
 7 
 
 24 
 27 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 20 
 15 
 
 32 
 32 
 32 
 22 
 
 Match Stroke 
 
 1 6 
 
 13 
 13 
 
 253
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Forecaddie advice from 
 
 Forecaddie ball .slopped by. ... 
 Four-ball, etc., matches 
 
 Lifting ball 
 
 Loss of hole 
 
 Order of play 
 
 Partner's ball 
 
 Penalty not applying to partner 
 
 Playing out of turn 
 
 Replacing ball 
 
 Striking opponent, etc 
 
 Striking player, partner, etc. . . . 
 Foursome, etc. order of play... 
 
 General penalty 
 
 General rule stroke competition. 
 
 General rules 
 
 Golf clubs form and make of . . . 
 Greenkeeper's tools obstructing. . 
 
 Ground under repair 
 
 Growing objects moving of. ... 
 Halved hole 
 
 Ball on lip of hole 
 
 Both balls lost 
 
 Cannot be deprived of 
 
 Honor 
 
 Halved match 
 
 Honor 
 
 Hazard 
 
 Ball moving in water 
 
 Dropping ball rolling into 
 
 Dropping space 
 
 Grounding club 
 
 Improving lie of ball in 
 
 Obstruction in 
 
 Play in 
 
 Playing out of turn in 
 
 Plajdng wrong ball in 
 
 Removing steps or planks .... 
 
 Stance in 
 
 Touching or moving anything in 
 
 Water casual and permanent 
 
 Holes new 
 
 Holing out 
 
 Own ball 
 
 Honor 
 
 Ice .. 
 
 General 
 
 4 
 17 
 
 3 
 34 
 
 ii 
 ii 
 
 15 
 i 
 
 32 
 
 21 
 
 33 
 
 2 
 I 
 2 
 
 26 
 
 8 
 
 27 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 II 
 
 25 
 
 7 
 
 25 
 25 
 25 
 27 
 
 32 
 
 2 
 28 
 
 Match Stroke 
 
 I 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 14 
 15 
 
 4 
 13 
 
 254
 
 INDEX TO RULES 
 
 Identification of ball 
 
 General 
 n 
 
 impediments loose . 
 
 
 Outside club length . 
 
 12 
 
 Within club length 
 
 12 
 
 Within six inches put'g-green 
 Irregular surface 
 
 28 
 10 
 
 Lie of ball 
 Altered 
 
 16 
 
 Play wherever lying 
 
 6 
 
 Within six inches put'g-green 
 Lifting ball 
 Interfering with stroke 
 
 3i 
 
 Nearest hole 
 
 
 Player's ball in motion 
 
 
 Three- ball etc. matches 
 
 
 Two strokes penalty 
 
 
 Within club length . . . 
 
 16 
 
 Within six inches 
 
 7i 
 
 Light insufficient for play 
 
 
 Line of play indicating 
 
 4 
 
 Line of putt 
 
 28 2Q 
 
 Long grass, etc. touching 
 
 22 
 
 Loose Impediments 
 Outside club length 
 
 12 
 
 Within club length 
 
 12 
 
 Within six inches put'g-green 
 Lost ball 
 
 28 
 21 
 
 In water hazard 
 
 27 
 
 Loss of hole 
 See under "Penalties" 
 Loss of strokes 
 See under "Penalties" 
 
 Match play 
 
 j i,3 
 
 Mode of p^ay 
 
 ( I, 10 
 
 i 
 
 Moved ball 
 Accidentally 
 
 12 
 
 Accidentally by opponent 
 By another competitor, etc 
 By opponent etc 
 
 22 
 
 18 
 
 By opponent's ball 
 
 Q 
 
 By outside agency 
 
 17 
 
 Through lifting opponent's ball 
 Moving ball 
 
 31 
 1 1 
 
 Moving ball in water 
 
 26 
 
 Movinp ball teeinp-oround. . 
 
 2 
 
 Match 
 
 Stroke 
 II 
 
 10 
 
 13 
 13 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 255
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Moving fixed or growing objects . 
 Moving objects ball lodging in. 
 Moving opponent's ball putting 
 
 green 
 
 Mad adhering to ball 
 
 New holes 
 
 Obstructions 
 
 Opponent's ball 
 
 Accidentally moved 
 
 Displaced 
 
 Knocking away 
 
 Out of bounds 
 
 Player's ball knocking in 
 
 To be at rest putting-green. . 
 
 Order of play 
 
 Order of starting 
 
 Out of bounds 
 
 Out of turn 
 
 Opponent's honor 
 
 On putting-green 
 
 Stroke competitions 
 
 Threesome and foursome 
 
 Through green, etc 
 
 Outside agency 
 
 Partner's ball 
 
 Penalties doubtful 
 
 Penalties general 
 
 Penalties Disqualification 
 
 Asking advice wrongfully 
 
 Discontinuing play sheltering 
 
 Holing out wrong ball 
 
 Playing consecutive strokes 
 wrong ball 
 
 Playing outside limits teeing- 
 ground 
 
 Playing outside rules 
 
 Practice play before competition 
 
 Refusing to lift ball nearest hole 
 
 Replacing incorrectly putting- 
 green 
 
 Scoring incorrectly 
 
 Teeing incorrectly after lifting. 
 
 Waiving penalty 
 
 PenaltiesLoss of hole 
 
 Ball striking or moved by op- 
 ponent, etc 
 
 256 
 
 General 
 15 
 I? 
 
 32 
 24 
 
 II 
 
 22 
 32 
 32 
 23 
 32 
 30 
 
 7 
 23 
 
 2 
 31 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 34 
 
 18 
 
 Match 
 
 5, 7 
 
 Stroke 
 
 5 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 13 
 
 5 
 ii
 
 INDEX TO RULES 
 
 Penalties Loss of hole (Cont'd) 
 Ball striking or stopped by 
 
 player, etc 
 
 Delaj'ing stroke moving water 
 
 Dropping incorrectly 
 
 Grounding club in hazard 
 
 Improving lie in hazard 
 
 Improving lie in long grass, etc. 
 
 Line of play indicating 
 
 Loose impediment wrongfully 
 
 removed 
 
 Lost ball 
 
 Mov'g fixed or growing objects 
 Playing ball outside of match. . 
 
 Playing moving ball 
 
 Playing opponent's ball 
 
 Playing out of turn 
 
 Playing partner's ball 
 
 Pressing irregular surface 
 
 Pushing ball 
 
 Putting-green 
 
 Playing before opponent's 
 
 ball stopped 
 
 Shielding ball wind 
 
 Touching line of putt wrong- 
 fully . 
 
 Removing irrcgidar surface. . . 
 
 Scraping ball 
 
 Spooning ball 
 
 Striking flag-stick, etc 
 
 Unplayable ball 
 
 Penalties Loss of stroke 
 
 Ball striking fellow competitor's 
 
 ball 
 
 Ball striking player, etc 
 
 Lift'g ball player's ball mov'g 
 
 Lost ball 
 
 Lying or lost in water-hazard 
 
 Casual and permanent. . . . 
 
 Moving ball accidentally 
 
 Moving ball when addressing 
 Removing loose impediment 
 
 moving ball 
 
 Removing loose impediment 
 
 moving ball put'g-green 
 Replacing incorrectly 
 
 General 
 
 19 
 26 
 
 8,27 
 25 
 25 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 21 
 
 15 
 20 
 
 13 
 2O 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 5 
 
 30 
 29 
 
 28 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 32 
 6 
 
 27 
 
 12 
 12 
 
 12 
 28 
 
 Match 
 
 Stroke 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 
 13 
 
 12 
 
 I I 
 
 257
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Penalties Loss of stroke (Cont'd) 
 
 Striking twice 
 
 Unauthorized touching of ball 
 Penalties Loss of 2 strokes 
 
 Lifting ball before holing . . . 
 
 Lifting ball from any place. . 
 
 Striking flag-stick, etc. within 
 
 20 yards 
 
 Penalty not applying to partner . 
 Penalty Loss of distance ball 
 
 out of bounds 
 
 Penalty waiving 
 
 Planks in hazard 
 
 Playing opponent's, etc., ball .... 
 Playing oat of tarn 
 
 Opponent's honor 
 
 On putting-green 
 
 Stroke competitions 
 
 Threesome and foursome 
 
 Through green, etc 
 
 Playing outside limits teeing- 
 
 ground 
 
 Practice play 
 
 Pressing irregularities of surface . . 
 
 Priority on coarse 
 
 Provisional ball 
 
 Pashing ball 
 
 Putt-directing 
 
 Putting-green 
 
 Ball striking competitor's ball 
 
 Balls within six inches 
 
 Casual water 
 
 Direction of putt 
 
 Dung 
 
 Flag-stick removal of 
 
 Flag-stick, etc. striking 
 
 Holing-out 
 
 Ice .. 
 
 Impediments loose 
 
 Lifting ball nearest hole 
 
 Lift'g ball player's ball mov'g 
 
 Line of putt touching 
 
 Lip of hole 
 
 Lodging in anything moving. . 
 
 Marking 
 
 Opponent's ball 
 At rest . . 
 
 General 
 14 
 9 
 
 23 
 
 25 
 20 
 
 2 
 31 
 
 3 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 i 
 23 
 
 5 
 29 
 
 31 
 27 
 29 
 28 
 32 
 
 32 
 28 
 28 
 
 28 
 32 
 17 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 Match 
 
 10 
 
 2, 3 
 
 Stroke 
 
 13 
 II 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 13 
 
 13 
 13 
 
 2 5 8
 
 INDEX TO RULES 
 
 Putting-green Opp't's ball (Con.) 
 
 Displaced 
 
 Knocking in 
 
 Moving of 
 
 Playing out of turn 
 
 Playing out of turn 
 
 Practice play 
 
 Replacing ball 
 
 Shielding ball wind 
 
 Snow 
 
 Wormcasts 
 
 Recalling ball pl'd out of turn 
 Recalling ball pl'd out of turn 
 Recalling ball pl'd out of turn 
 Re-dropping ball 
 
 Rolling into casual water 
 
 Rolling into hazard 
 
 Referee 
 
 Removing irregularities of surface 
 Removing loose impediments. . . . 
 Removing loose impediments 
 
 putting-green 
 
 Removing obstructions 
 
 Replacing ball 
 
 Ball striking competitor's ball 
 
 Lie altered 
 
 Lifting before holing 
 
 Match competitions 
 
 Mov'd by another compet'or, etc 
 
 Moved by opponent's 
 
 Moved in searching 
 
 Obstructions 
 
 Outside agency 
 
 Played out of turn 
 
 Plaj'ing opponent's 
 
 Three-ball, etc., matches 
 
 Within six inches 
 
 Re-teeing ball 
 
 Re-teeing ball 
 
 Rub of the green 
 
 Rules operation of excluded. . . . 
 
 Sand-removing 
 
 Scoring 
 
 Scraping ball 
 
 Sheltering 
 
 Shielding ball from wind 
 
 Sides. . 
 
 General 
 32 
 32 
 32 
 31 
 
 20 
 
 29 
 28 
 28 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 31 
 
 27 
 8 
 
 35 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 28 
 II 
 
 16 
 
 32 
 
 22 
 
 II 
 17 
 31 
 20 
 
 31 
 2 
 
 23 
 17 
 
 22 
 
 29 
 I 
 
 Match 
 
 Stroke 
 
 13 
 13 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 259
 
 P R A C T I C A L G O L 
 
 Single player 
 
 Snow 
 
 Split ball 
 
 Spooning ball 
 
 Stance casual water 
 
 Standing out of bounds 
 
 Starting order of 
 
 Steps or planks in hazard 
 
 Stopping ball in motion 
 
 Striking competitor, etc 
 
 Striking flag-stick, etc 
 
 Striking opponent, etc 
 
 Best ball, etc., matches 
 
 Three-ball matches 
 
 Striking player, etc 
 
 Striking twice 
 
 Stroke delayed moving water. 
 
 Stroke play 
 
 Stymie 
 
 Taking shelter 
 
 Teeing-ground 
 
 Three-ball, etc., matches 
 
 Honor 
 
 Lifting ball 
 
 Playing out of turn 
 
 Replacing ball 
 
 Striking opponent, etc 
 
 Threesome, etc. order of play 
 
 Ties 
 
 Time limit searching 
 
 Lost ball 
 
 Lost ball out of bounds 
 
 Touching ball 
 
 Accidentally by opponent . . 
 
 Identification 
 
 Touching line of putt 
 
 Touching fog, bushes, etc. 
 
 Umpire 
 
 Unplayable ball 
 
 Waiving penalty 
 
 Water casual 
 
 Water hazard 
 
 Ball moving in 
 
 Delaying stroke in 
 
 Wind shielding ball 
 
 Winner 
 
 260 
 
 General 
 
 Match 
 
 Stroke 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 25 
 l/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 32 
 18 
 
 13 
 
 7 
 
 
 5 
 19 8 
 
 9 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 3i 
 
 
 i, 16 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 9 
 28, 29 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 35 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 2, 3 
 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 27 
 26 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 
 i
 
 INDEX TO RULES 
 
 Wormcasts 
 
 General 
 28 
 
 Match 
 
 Wrong ball 
 
 20 
 
 q 
 
 Wrong hole 
 
 II 
 
 
 Wrong information by oppn t, etc. 
 
 20 
 
 
 Stroke
 
 GLOSSARY 
 
 TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN CONNECTION WITH 
 THE GAME OF GOLF 
 
 Addressing the Ball The act of the player placing himself 
 in position to strike the ball. 
 
 Approaching Playing a ball on to the putting-green. 
 
 Back Spin See Undercut. 
 
 Baffy-spoon or Baffy A wooden club with a short shaft and 
 very much lofted in the face, formerly used for approaching. 
 
 Bogey, Colonel See page 179. 
 
 Bone or Fibre A piece of horn or wood fibre, or other 
 material, inserted in the sole of wooden clubs, to prevent 
 the face from being injured at the bottom. 
 
 Borrow When a putt requires to be played across sloping 
 ground, the player must borrow, or play the ball a little 
 up the slope to counteract the effect of its falling off down 
 hill while rolling towards the hole. 
 
 Brassey A wooden club with a brass plate on the sole. 
 Vide page 124. 
 
 Bulger A club with a convex face. Vide page 118. 
 
 Bunker A generic term ordinarily used to comprehend 
 all hazards of an artificial nature. 
 
 Bye A hole or holes which remain to be played after 
 the match is finished. 
 
 Bye-bye A hole or holes which remain to be played after 
 the bye is finished. 
 
 Caddie The person who carries the golfer's clubs. 
 
 Carry The distance from where a ball is driven to where 
 it alights. 
 
 262
 
 G L O S S A R Y 
 
 Cleek A club with an iron head. Vide page 126. 
 
 Club The implement with which the ball is struck. 
 
 Cop The top or face of a bunker. 
 
 Course The ground upon which golf is played. 
 
 Cup A small hole in the course, of varying depth, usually 
 made by the stroke of some previous player. Sometimes 
 used also to indicate the hole in the putting-green into which 
 the ball is played. 
 
 Dead When a ball alights without rolling it is said to fall 
 " dead." A ball is also said to be " dead " when it is so near the 
 hole that the player is certain to hole it on the next stroke. 
 
 Divot The piece of turf displaced by a player when mak- 
 ing a stroke. 
 
 Dormy A player is " dormy " when he is as many holes 
 ahead of his opponent as there remain holes to be played. 
 
 Driver The wooden club with which tee shots are usually 
 played. 
 
 Driving Used in two senses : first, playing tee shots ; 
 and, second, playing any full strokes. 
 
 Driving-iron ) Iron clubs for playing tee shots. Vide 
 
 Driving Mashie > page 133. 
 
 Even See Square. 
 
 Face That part of the club head which strikes the ball. 
 
 Flat A club has a " flat " lie when the head is at a very 
 obtuse angle to the shaft. 
 
 Flub Vide Foozle. 
 
 Fluke Bringing off a shot successfully which was not 
 played for or contemplated. 
 
 Fog Moss ; also thick, rank grass. 
 
 Follow-through The continuation of the stroke after the 
 ball has been struck. 
 
 Foozle A badly played stroke. 
 
 Fore A corruption of " Before." The warning cry which 
 a golfer gives to any person liable to be struck by the ball 
 which he has driven or is about to drive. 
 
 Forecaddie A person employed to go ahead of the players 
 to watch where their balls go. 
 
 Foursome A match in which four persons take part 
 two. playing alternately, playing against the other two, 
 likewise playing alternately. 
 
 263
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Gobble A putt played with such force that, although 
 it goes into the hole, would otherwise have gone some dis- 
 tance beyond. 
 
 Green First, the whole links or course ; second, the putt- 
 ing-green within twenty yards of a hole, exclusive of hazards. 
 
 Grip First, the part of the club - shaft grasped by the 
 player ; second, the grasp itself. 
 
 Half First, a stroke allowed on every alternate hole ; 
 second, the term usually applied when a hole has been made 
 by each player in the same number of strokes. 
 
 Half Shot A stroke midway between a full and a quar- 
 ter shot. 
 
 Halved A hole is " halved " when each side takes the 
 same number of strokes. A match is halved when both 
 sides have won the same number of holes. 
 
 Hanging Lie A ball which lies on ground sloping down- 
 ward in the direction of play. 
 
 Hazard A comprehensive term for bunkers, water, sand, 
 loose earth, paths, roads or railways, bushes, fences, 
 ditches, or anything outside of the fair-green. 
 
 Head That part of the club unattached to the shaft. 
 
 Heel First, that part of the head between the face and 
 the neck ; second, to hit the ball off the heel. 
 
 Hole First, the hole in the putting-green ; second, the 
 act of playing the ball thereinto ; third, the whole space 
 between the teeing-ground and the putting-green. 
 
 Honor The privilege of playing off first from the tee. 
 
 Hook See Pull. Hook on a club refers to the face, when 
 the head is placed flat on the ground, lying in to the ball. 
 Also used to describe a ball played to the left of the line of 
 play. 
 
 Horn See Bone. 
 
 Hose The socket of irons into which the shaft is fitted. 
 
 Iron A club with an iron head. 
 
 Jerk First when a stroke is played with " jerk " the 
 club head, after striking the ball, digs into the ground ; 
 second, additional force exerted spasmodically before striking 
 the ball. 
 
 .Jigger An iron club between a mid-iron and a mashie. 
 
 Lie First, the lie of a club refers to the angle of the head 
 264
 
 GLOSSARY 
 
 to the shaft ; second, with reference to the position of the 
 ball in relation to its immediate surroundings, a good lie 
 signifying that the ball lies clear of all obstructions, and a 
 bad lie signifying that it lies in a hole or in heavy grass, etc. 
 
 Lift To lift a ball is to take it out of a hazard or elsewhere 
 and drop or tee it in accordance with the Rules. Used also 
 to indicate when a player lifts his ball after playing several 
 more strokes than his opponent, and thereby conceding the 
 hole as lost. 
 
 Like The like is the stroke which equalizes the number 
 played by the other side. Thus, after the tee-shots have 
 been played, the player farthest from the hole plays the 
 " odd," and, if he places the ball nearer the hole than his 
 opponent, his opponent then plays the " like," and the players 
 are said to be " like as they lie." 
 
 Like as We Lie When both players have played the 
 same number of strokes. See Like. 
 
 Links The ground on which golf is played. See Course. 
 
 Loft First, to send the ball into the air ; second, the degree 
 of angle to which the face of a club is laid back. 
 
 Lofter A lofting-iron. 
 
 Looting-iron A club with an iron head with more or less 
 loft in the face ; used to pitch the ball in the air. 
 
 Long Game Driving and playing full shots through 
 the green. 
 
 Mashie An iron club, with a deep, short blade, more or 
 less lofted. 
 
 Match First, the sides playing against each other ; second, 
 the game itself. 
 
 Match Play Golf played by holes only. 
 
 Medal Play Golf played by strokes only. 
 
 Mid-iron An iron-headed club with more loft on the 
 face than a cleek. 
 
 Neck The bent part of the head of the club where it is 
 connected with the shaft. 
 
 Niblick An iron club with a small, heavy head, well 
 lofted, used to play the ball out of bunkers, hazards, and 
 bad lies. 
 
 Nose See Toe. The pointed part of the club farthest 
 away from the player. 
 
 265
 
 PRACTICAL GOLF 
 
 Odd To play the " odd " is to play one stroke more than 
 one's opponent. 
 
 One off Two, One off Three, etc. When your opponent has 
 played three strokes more, your next stroke is " one off three"; 
 when he has played " two more," your next stroke is " one 
 off two," and so on. 
 
 Play-club See Driver. 
 
 Press To strive to hit the ball harder than usual, in order 
 to get greater distance. 
 
 Pull See Hook. 
 
 Putt To play a stroke on the putting-green. 
 
 Putter A club used for putting. 
 
 Quarter Shot A stroke less than a half shot. 
 
 Rub of the Green Whatever happens to a ball in motion, 
 such as its being deflected or stopped by any agency outside 
 the match, or by the forecaddie, is a rub of the green, and 
 the ball must be played from where it lies. 
 
 Run First, to play the ball along the ground instead of 
 lofting it ; second, the run of a drive is the distance the ball 
 runs after alighting. 
 
 Scare The part of the club where the head and shaft 
 are spliced together. 
 
 Sclaff To hit the ground before striking the ball, thus 
 robbing the stroke of a good deal of its strength. 
 
 Scratch Player One who does not receive any handicap 
 allowance. 
 
 Screamer A very long stroke, so called from the whistling 
 noise made by the ball. 
 
 Shaft The handle of the club. 
 
 Short Game Approaching and putting. 
 
 Slice First, to draw the face of the club across the ball 
 from right to left in the act of hitting it ; second, the flight 
 described by the ball so struck. 
 
 Socket The part of the head of iron clubs into which the 
 shaft is fitted. 
 
 Socket Clubs Clubs which have the shaft running down 
 into the neck. 
 
 Sole The flat bottom part of the club head which rests 
 on the ground. 
 
 Spoons Clubs with wooden heads, more or less lofted. 
 266
 
 GLOSSARY 
 
 Spring The degree of suppleness of the shaft. 
 
 Square Said of a game when it stands level, neither 
 side being any holes ahead. 
 
 Stance The position of the player's feet when he ad- 
 dresses the ball. 
 
 Steal To hole a long, unlikely putt so that it just drops 
 into the hole. 
 
 Stroke Any movement of the club which is intended to 
 strike the ball. 
 
 Stymie When the balls, near the hole, are directly in 
 the line of play and more than six inches aw r ay from each 
 other. Sometimes applied also to a tree or other obstruction 
 in the direct line of play. 
 
 Suring The manner in which the club is swung when 
 in the act of hitting the ball. 
 
 Tee The elevation, usually a small pinch of sand, on 
 which the ball is placed for the first stroke to each hole 
 
 Teeing-ground The space marked out within the limits 
 of which the ball must be teed. 
 
 Third A handicap of one stroke allowed at every third 
 hole. 
 
 Three-quarter Stroke A stroke of less distance than a 
 full stroke, but more than a half stroke. 
 
 Toe See Nose. 
 
 Top To hit the ball above its centre. 
 
 Two More To play two strokes more than one's opponent, 
 and so on. 
 
 Undercut To hit the ball beneath the centre, so that it 
 rises high in the air and runs comparatively little alter 
 alighting. 
 
 Upright See Lie. 
 
 Whipping The twine with which the club head and shaft 
 are bound together. 
 
 Wrist Shot See Quarter Shot.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Approaching, 42 
 Balance, 6-8 
 Balls, 134-146 
 Brassey, 36, 124 
 Bulger, 118 
 Bunker, 163 
 Cleek, 127 
 
 Clubs, 108, 131, 198 
 Cut, 49 
 
 Driver, 108, 124 
 Driving, 7, 22, 118 
 Driving-iron, 133 
 F^/ or Balance, 7 
 Follow-through, 24, 32 
 General Remarks, 97-107 
 Greens, 165-177 
 G"n'/> o/ c/ztb, ii, 72 
 /-/a// shots, 132 
 Handicapping, 178 
 Hanging lie, 40 ^^ 
 Hazards, 87, 187 
 Heeling, 49 
 //o/r, 159, 160, 172 
 Hooking, 118 
 Irons, 127 
 Jerking, 21, 46 
 Learning golf, 14 
 Leather faces, 112 
 Length of drives, 22 
 Length of holes, 35 
 Links, 151 
 Lofting, 55, 56, 80 
 Long game, 22, 30 
 
 Mashic, 45, 127 
 Match play, 106, 183 
 Medal play, 104, 105 
 Niblick, 133 
 O2 o/ form, 100 
 Physical strength, 22 
 P/ay through the green, 
 
 42 
 
 Position of ball, 27 
 Practising, 97, 102, 103 
 Pressing, 2 1 
 Pulling, 14, 27, 35 
 Putters and putting, 63, 76, 
 
 129 
 
 Rules of golf, 205 
 Sdafflng, 21, 39 
 Shafts, 121-124 
 Slicing, 1114, 2 7 99 
 Spoons, 132 
 Stance, 4, 71 
 Stymies, 83 
 Swing, 15, 20 
 Tecing-grounds, 162 
 TVrs, 162 
 
 Three-quarter strokes, 132 
 Topping, 101 
 Tournament play, 103 
 Training, 104 
 Undercut, 53 
 Upkeep of links, 151 
 IKa/cn'ng greens, 165 
 Tl'Vwrf, 54 
 Wrist work, 17
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
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 DEC 1 9 19^? 
 
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