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ALEX SMITH 
 Open Champion of the United States and Western Open Champion 
 
Lessons in Golf 
 
 ALEX. SMITH 
 
 open Champion, United States 
 and Western Open Champion 
 
 Nezv York, Arthur Potto w, 
 48 West 2'jth Street 
 
 1907 
 
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 Copyrizht Entry 
 
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 'COPY B/ 
 
 Copyright 1907 
 iy Arthur Pottow 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Alex Smith ii 
 
 Introduction 17 
 
 First Principles 25 
 
 Stance, Grip and Swing 37 
 
 Off tpie Tee and Through the Green ... 55 
 
 The Short Game 67 
 
 On the Green 85 
 
 Getting Out of Difficulties loi 
 
 Advice to Incurables iii 
 
 A Picture Gallery 123 
 
 The Golf Ball 167 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 (Photographs by T. C. Taniir) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Alex Smith Frontispiece 
 
 Smith's Clubs i8 
 
 The head inclined a little forward 20 
 
 Turn the body to the right 2^ 
 
 Finish with a half turn to the left 26 
 
 Swing the walking stick around to the right .... 28 
 
 For the down swing 30 
 
 The right wrist turns slightly out 31 
 
 Finish of the right hand swing S3 
 
 -Finish of the left hand swing 35 
 
 Smith's Grip for Driving 38 
 
 Showing Position of Hands at Finish of Drive .... 39 
 Smith's Interlocking Grip as He Addresses the Ball for 
 
 Approach Shots 40 
 
 Smith's Interlocking Grip at Finish of Approach Shot . . 41 
 
 Addressing the Ball 44 
 
 Top of Swing 46 
 
 Finish of Swing 47 
 
 Side View, Showing Position of Arms at Top of Swing . . 50 
 
 Showing Turn of Wrists after Club Head has Passed the Ball 52 
 
 Side View of Stance 56 
 
 Showing How Wrist Action is Put in at Top of Swing . . 57 
 
 Incorrect Motion of Shoulders 59 
 
 Stance for Pulled Ball 61 
 
 Body in Front of Ball Causing Poke to Right .... 63 
 
 Finish of Jerk Shot 65 
 
 A Sixty-yard Mashie Shot 68 
 
 High Loft with Mashie 71 
 
 How Niblick Blade Strikes Ball Under Centre . . . . jt, 
 
 How Cleek Blade Strikes Ball at Centre 74 
 
 Loose Wrist Action in Quarter Shot 76 
 
 Stiff Wrist Action in Quarter Shot . -7 
 
 Top of Swing for Chip Shot 78 
 
 The Chip Shot. Taking Turf After the Ball is Struck . . 79 
 
 A Push Approach with Midiron at Sixty Yards .... 83 
 
 Long Putt with Push 87 
 
 Ordinary Putting Stance 89 
 
 Putt with Stop 91 
 
 Curling Around Stymie to Left 94 
 
 Curling Around Stymie to Right . 95 
 
 Lofting a Stymie 97 
 
 Lofting a Stymie 99 
 
List of Illustrations [Continued) 
 
 Stance for Ball Lying Above You 102 
 
 Stance for Ball Lying Below You 103 
 
 Ball in a Rut 105 
 
 Playing Out of a Bunker 106 
 
 Playing Out of Long Grass 107 
 
 Stance for Wind Dead Against Player ...... 109 
 
 Playing Out of Water no 
 
 Rising on Left Toe and Swaying Body 112 
 
 Falling Back, Weight on Right Foot 114 
 
 Wrong Bending of Left Wrist 115 
 
 Overswnng (At Top) 117 
 
 A Bad Finish it8 
 
 Scooping the Ball with Mashie 120 
 
 The Drive. Top of Swing 125 
 
 The Drive. Finish of Swing. (Side View) 127 
 
 The Drive. Finish of Swing. (Front View) .... 129 
 
 The Drive. Finish of Swing. (Back View) .... 131 
 
 The Cleek. Address 133 
 
 The Cleek. Top of Swing 135 
 
 The Cleek. Finish of Swing. (Side View) . . • . . . 137 
 
 The Cleek. Finish of Swing. (Front View) .... 139 
 
 The Cleek. Finish of Swing. (Back View) .... 141 
 
 The Iron. Top of Swing 143 
 
 The Iron. Finish of Swing. (Side View) 145 
 
 The Iron. Finish of Swing. (Front View) 147 
 
 The Iron. Finish of Swing. (Back View) . . . . . 149 
 
 The Mashie. Address 151 
 
 The jNIashie. Top of Swing 153 
 
 1 he Mashie. Finish of Swing. (Side View) .... 155 
 
 The Mashie. Finish of Swing. (Front View) .... 157 
 
 Stance Against the Wind 159 
 
 Stance for Ball Below the Player 161 
 
 The Niblick. The Address " . . . . 163 
 
 The Niblick. The Finish 165 
 
 Feather Ball 168 
 
 Gutta Percha Balls. Old. Modern 169 
 
 Hand Hammered Balls 170 
 
 Rubber Filling from a Ball 176 
 
 The Anatomy of the Rubber-filled Ball 177 
 
 Silk Pneumatic Ball 180 
 
 Cross Section of Silk Pneumatic Ball 181 
 
 Wall of Spun Silk Thread 182 
 
ALEX SMITH 
 
 Alex Smith, the open champion of the United States, was 
 born in Carnoustie, Forfarshire, Scotland, thirty-three years 
 ago. Like all the Carnoustie boys he was in the habit of 
 swinging a golf club from his earliest years, and it would 
 be impossible to say how old he was when he made his 
 first appearance on the links. Realizing that at golf more 
 than at any other game practice alone makes perfect, Smith 
 devoted himself most assiduously to the game, with the re- 
 sult that he attained proficiency at a comparatively early age. 
 In 1895 he was placed among the scratch players of his 
 club, and in 1896 the committee rated him so highly as to 
 put him in that select class who had to allow strokes to the 
 scratch players. At one time or another he won most of 
 the trophies of his old club. His first big victory was when 
 he secured the Gold Cross (scratch) and this was followed 
 up by his securing twice in succession the handsome silver 
 kettle presented by the Caledonia Club to its sister club on 
 its Jubilee in 1892. 
 
 In 1897 he won the Stevenson Cup, a trophy for 
 scratch play, having on the full medal course the fine score 
 of 79. The Dalhousie Club presented a Jubilee cup to the 
 Carnoustie Club, and in the first competition Alex Smith 
 went right through the competition to the final, when he 
 was defeated. In September, 1897, he succeeded in lowering 
 the record for Carnoustie links. For some years it had 
 stood at 75 until Smith came in with 74. In many of the 
 team matches he distinguished himself. Playing against 
 St. Andrew's he had the well-known player, David Leitch, 
 as an opponent, and the Carnoustie golfer had Leitch one 
 down at the finish, a result which was reversed when they 
 met at St. Andrew's. 
 
12 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 For nine years he was with Robert Simpson, the famous 
 club maker of Carnoustie, and five of these years he was 
 Simpson's foreman, there can therefore be no doubt of his 
 abiHty as a club maker. 
 
 Alex Smith came to America in 1898 as professional to 
 the Washington Park Club of Chicago, an organization no 
 longer in existence. Fred Herd, a brother of Alex. Herd, 
 shared the duties of professional with him. The year he landed 
 he played in his first American championship, the competi- 
 tion being held at the Myopia Hunt Club, Hamilton, Mass., 
 which then had a nine-hole course of 2960 yards. The 
 Washington Park players carried all before them. Herd 
 winning with 328 and Alex Smith being second with 335. 
 Smith's best round was a 78. Those who played were 
 Willie Anderson, who has turned the tables on him sev- 
 eral times since, and who finished third with 336, and Alex's 
 brother Willie, who came in fifth with 340. Willie re- 
 versed matters at Baltimore next year, winning the open 
 championship with 315. Alex Smith was off his game and 
 could do no better than TfT,"/. 
 
 The American Open Championship of 1900 was made 
 memorable by the presence in it of J. H. Taylor, who was 
 then British Open Champion, and Harry Vardon the famous 
 English golfer. American golf was entirely overshadowed 
 by the performance of the two great English players, Vardon 
 being first with 313 and Taylor second with 315. Smith 
 on this occasion was not among the leaders. 
 
 In 1901 the Myopia Hunt Club had an eighteen-hole 
 course, generally accepted as being the best in the country, 
 and in the Open Championship held there Smith greatly dis- 
 tinguished himself. Besides good golf he required nerve, and 
 neither was wanting. In the last round he needed an 80 
 to tie the low score made by Willie Anderson, and it was 
 not expected that he would succeed, for no player in the 
 competition had returned an 80. However, the old Carnou- 
 stie player was equal to the task and so he had to play ofif the 
 
ALEX SMITH 13 
 
 tie with Anderson. The play-off was at eighteen holes and 
 Anderson won with 85 to Smith's 86. 
 
 In 1901 Smith left Washington Park and came East, be- 
 ing engaged as professional by the Nassau Country Club, 
 of Glen Cove, Long Island, and he has remained with that 
 club ever since. It has a very excellent course of full 
 length and no doubt some of the improvement manifested 
 in Smith's game must be ascribed to the opportunity af- 
 forded him of being able to play over so good a green. In 
 the 1902 Open Championship at Garden City, which was 
 won by Lawrence Auchterlonie with 307, Smith was again 
 outside the money with 331. 
 
 In next year's Open Championship at the Baltusrol Golf 
 Club, Short Hills, N. J., he did much better, finishing fourth 
 with 316. Willie Anderson, the subsequent winner, and 
 David Brown tieing for first place with 307. 
 
 1904 was Willie Anderson's year, not Smith's. The 
 former player won the Open Chamjpionship at the Glen View 
 Club, Chicago, with 303, Smith taking twenty-one strokes 
 more. 
 
 In 1905 Smith made a very distinct advance, and gave 
 the first unmistakable indication that he was soon to be 
 found in that small and select class — the world's great 
 golfers. The first Metropolitan Golf Association Open 
 Championship was held at the Fox Hills Golf Club, Staten 
 Island, N. Y., and it brought out a strong entry list. Smith 
 was notable at this tournament not only on account of 
 his fine play, but because he used a club having a shaft 
 fifty-one inches in length. With this formidable weapon 
 he did great execution, as his winning of the championship 
 shows, but he abandoned it some time after and was content 
 with a shaft forty-six and one-fourth inches in length. He 
 was not dissatisfied with the long-shafted clubs. To use 
 his own words, he gave them up "simply because they 
 were a nuisance to carry around." He and his old rival 
 Willie Anderson tied for first place, with 300, great going 
 
14 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 for a difficult course like Fox Hills, and when they came 
 to the play-off, fortune for once was on Smith's side. He 
 had 74 to Anderson's 76. 
 
 Despite a bad attack of malaria, he did great work in the 
 Open Championship at the Myopia Hunt Club a month later. 
 Willie Anderson came in first with 314, and Smith was 
 second with 316. 
 
 The year 1906 was almost a season of unbroken success 
 -for him. He was victorious in almost every competition in 
 which he took part, and closed the year with a record such 
 as had never been attained by an American golfer. The 
 first great open event of the season of 1906 was the Western 
 Open Championship, held at the Homewood Country Club, 
 Flossmoor, near Chicago, a quite difficult course of 6,144 
 yards. On this occasion the National Open Championship 
 was to be held at the Onwentsia Club, Lake Forest, near 
 Chicago, shortly after the Western Open. This fixture 
 brought to Chicago all ■ the leading professionals of the 
 country, and as the Western Golf Association allowed them 
 to play in the sectional event, it became almost as important 
 as the National Open itself. To start with, Smith had a 
 bad round for him — an 82 — and Willie Anderson had a 74 — 
 so that he was at the beginning of the second round eight 
 strokes worse than the man who was then considered the 
 greatest golfer in America. His temperament came to the 
 rescue, and this with his good golf led to three subsequent 
 rounds of 75, 75 and 74 — very brilliant work — and enabled 
 him to win the Championship with 306. 
 
 The Open Championship at Onwentsia, a week later, was 
 made memorable by Alex Smith winning it in 295, one stroke 
 lower than Jack White had at Sandwich in 1904 in winning 
 the British Open Championship and constituting a world's 
 record for an event of such importance. He played four 
 rounds of 7^,, 74, y;^, 75 respectively over a course of 6,107 
 vards, the last round being played in a downpour of rain. 
 
ALEX SMITH 15 
 
 In the first round he had a 7. The card of this perform- 
 ance is given : 
 
 THURSDAY 
 
 Morning, out 43444454 4—36 
 
 In - 35743534 3—37—73 
 
 Afternoon, out. 54544443 4—37 
 
 In -- 45544434 4—37—74—147 
 
 FRIDAY 
 
 Morning, out -- 43545334 4—35 
 
 In -- 4 5 5 4 4 4 3 5 4—38—73 
 
 Afternoon, out 54644444 4 — 39 
 
 In 45544523 4—3(^75—148—295 
 
 The Smith family was well in front at Onwentsia. Alex's 
 brother Willie was second, with 302, and his brother-in-law, 
 James Maiden, tied for third place, at 305, with Lawrence 
 Auchterlonie. 
 
 The cream of the Eastern professional talent met in \'an 
 Cortlandt Park, New York, in August, in their annual two- 
 days' competition. Here again Smith was victorious, 
 winning the 72-hole competition with a score of 301, the 
 next man having 306. 
 
 By two strokes he was beaten in the Metropolitan Open 
 Championship at the Hollywood Golf Club, Long Branch, 
 N. J., that fine golfer, George Low, of the Baltusrol Golf 
 Club — like Smith a Carnoustie man — winning with 294. 
 
 He closed the season of 1906 with another great victory, 
 when he won the championship of the Eastern Professional 
 Golfers' Association at the Forest Hill (N. J.) Field Club. 
 Smith had 146, and Alex Campbell was second with 149. 
 
 Smith has won the Open Championship of California three 
 times, and has recently won the Florida Championship. To 
 record all his notable doings would require too much space. 
 It is worth mention, however, that he has done his home 
 course at Nassau in 66, figures which speak for themselves. 
 
16 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 The score is so extraordinary that the full card, with dis- 
 tances, is given: Out — i, 310, 3; 2, 500, 4; 3, 310, 3; 4, 
 325, 3; 5; 405, 5; 6, 391, 4; 7, 161, 2; 8, 370, 4; 9, 375, 4. 
 Total, 32. In— 10, 390, 4; II, 190, 4; 12, 395, 3; 13, 300, 3; 
 14, 392, 5; 15, 443. 4; 16, 360, 4; 17, 140, 4; 18, 280, 3. 
 Total, 34. 
 
 Without doubt an equally brilliant career is still before 
 him. 
 
LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 Introduction 
 
 Let me begin by assuming that the reader of these words 
 has never yet taken club in hand. He desires to become a 
 golfer; how must he set about it? The obvious answer is 
 that he should take lessons from a good professional in- 
 structor. That is undoubtedly the surest and best method 
 for arriving at results really satisfactory. A competent coach 
 quickly sizes up his man ; he discerns his natural capacity 
 for the game, and by the aid of precept and example soon 
 has him started on the right road. The novice has the 
 inestimable advantage of actually seeing how the different 
 strokes are played, and, provided that he is mentally and 
 physically sound, there is no reason why he should not 
 develop an effective game. 
 
 But if this statement is true, why am I writing a book ; 
 if the practical method is so much the preferable one, why 
 am I putting these lessons down upon paper? This is a 
 fair question, and one that I am bound to answer in the 
 same spirit. 
 
 I did advise professional instruction, but you will 
 note that I qualified the words by the adjective, good. In- 
 deed, that makes all the difference between success and 
 failure. There are plenty of professionals, who play a good 
 game themselves, who are yet utterly incompetent to teach 
 anyone else. In the first place, a coach should thoroughly 
 know the theory upon which his own game is based; other- 
 wise it is obviously impossible to make the pupil understand 
 what is required of him. A professional golfer who has 
 developed his game according to the instinctive or natural 
 method, may play very well without taking any thought 
 
Smith's clubs, with weights and length, reading from right to left 
 Driver, 14 oz., 46J4 in.; Brassey, 15 oz., 45}/^ in.; Spoon, 14'/^ oz. ; 45 in. 
 Cleek, 1454 oz., 42^^ in.; Driving Iron, 15 oz., 41 in.; Midiron, 16 oz., 40^ in. 
 Mashie, 1514 oz., 39J4 in.; Mashie Niblick, 17J4 oz., 39 in.; Putter, i6>^ oz. 
 38 in. 
 
INTRODUCTION 19 
 
 about it whatever. His muscles do their work automatically, 
 and so long as the results are satisfactory, the player of this 
 class does not need to bother himself about the why and 
 wherefore. He has formed his style imitatively, as does a 
 boy, and the less he thinks about it the better. If he should 
 go off his game in any particular he is necessarily at a loss, 
 and his only remedy is to keep on playing until a kind 
 Providence ordains that the lost magic shall return. But 
 this rule of thumb business is not going to help the pupil, 
 because the latter has never had any game to start with. In 
 such case the difficulties simply multiply until both teacher 
 and scholar find themselves floundering in an impassable 
 slough of despond. 
 
 In the second place, the instructor may be a fine player, 
 with a definite idea of the theory of his art, and yet he may 
 be quite unable to impart his knowledge to another. He 
 cannot pick out the faults into which his pupil is sure to 
 fall, much less apply the necessary remedies. In a word, he 
 has not the gift of teaching (for it is a gift), and without 
 it failure and disappointment are certain. So I say that the 
 professional instruction must be good to be of value. 
 
 Now, a boy picks up things, including golf, imitatively, just 
 as monkeys do. If the child has a good model he will in- 
 stinctively form his own style upon it, and the results will 
 be satisfactory. But in the case of our imaginary beginner 
 at golf we must assume that he has passed beyond the 
 imitative period of boyhood. His intelligence has awak- 
 ened ; he has begun to think, and, above all, self-conscious- 
 ness has developed. Under these circumstances the appeal 
 must be to his mind and not to his muscles. He must 
 understand the theory of what he is trying to do if he is 
 going to accomplish anything at all. 
 
 Granting, for the sake of argument, that the novice is in 
 the adult stage of existence, and living in a place where he 
 cannot obtain the aid of a competent instructor, what is he 
 to do? Certainly he cannot learn golf by the light of his 
 
~riE HEAD INCLINED A LITTLE FORWARD AND LOOKING DOWN 
 
INTRODUCTION 21 
 
 own reason. He may buy a set of clubs and set himself to 
 whacking a ball about a ten-acre lot, but the chances are 
 not one in a thousand that he will hit upon the right way of 
 playing golf. Here and there a genius may work out his own 
 salvation, but I am speaking of the ordinary man; he must 
 have some sort of guide if he is ever going to find the right 
 path. It is for him, then, that these papers are written; a 
 statement as straightforward and practical as I know how 
 to make it, of the essentials underlying the art of golf. I 
 don't pretend to say that the student will be able to make a 
 finished golfer out of himself by means of these lessons, 
 but he may reasonably expect that by following them he can 
 lay the foundations of a sound game. There is everything 
 in beginning right. 
 
 By way of further explanation I must point out that golf, 
 and good golf, is possible under conditions that superficially 
 seem quite at variance. For example, one man plays with 
 an upright swing and, another in a style approaching the 
 horizontal. Both players get the ball away in masterful 
 style and are ranked as class men. Again, take the question 
 of stance, by which is meant the position of the player's 
 feet in reference to the ball. Mr. Horace Hutchinson draws 
 back his right foot and stands with the ball nearly opposite 
 the left heel. This is the position recommended in Badmin- 
 ton, and is the stance used almost universally by the older 
 school of golfers, both professional and amateur. One can- 
 not say that the position is unsound, and yet nearly all of 
 the leaders nowadays, including Vardon, Taylor, and Braid, 
 stand with the right foot advanced, the open position. The 
 obvious conclusion would seem to be that the extreme in 
 either direction should be avoided. 
 
 Go to a championship meeting and you will see golfers 
 playing in what seems to be an infinite diversity of form. 
 One player swings back with painstaking deliberation, 
 another like a flash of lightning; one man gets his distance 
 by means of his arms and body ; another through perfect 
 
22 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 wrist action; here is a player who comes down on the ball 
 with the force of a pile-driver, while his partner has the 
 careless little flick of a man cutting off a daisy head with a 
 riding switch. And yet they all accomplish about the same 
 results; one after another the balls leave the tee and come 
 to rest two hundred or more yards away straight down the 
 fair green. 
 
 Well, what is the conclusion at which we must arrive? 
 Is it that golf may be and is played in any old way ? By no 
 manner of means. We must look deeper and then we shall 
 see that in spite of apparent differences all these styles 
 possess certain similarities — the essentials of good golf. 
 Granted these essentials and golf is possible under many 
 different applications of the basic principles ; ignore them, 
 and no golf whatever is the result. 
 
 And so in preparing these lesson papers I have tried to lay 
 down the cardinal, the universal, the indispensable principles 
 upon which all golf is founded. Naturally, I teach the style 
 in which I play myself. If you, Mr. Novice, could come to 
 me in person for instruction, I should probably modify my 
 theories more or less to suit your particular case. I should 
 ask you to swing a club for me that I might size up your 
 natural way of getting at the ball. Quite possibly I should 
 conclude to develop your game along your characteristic 
 lines ; I should certainly not attempt to put you in a strait- 
 jacket in order to turn out a slavish and ineffective imitation 
 of my own form. But you cannot come to me, and so the 
 best I can do is to indicate to you what I have learned from 
 my own experience, and trust to your intelligence to assimi- 
 late what is really essential and universal. I do say, however, 
 that a great deal of rubbish is talked about physical inapti- 
 tudes and incapacities — that it is impossible that A should 
 play in B's style, or vice versa. So long as a man is not 
 positively misformed or abnormal in any one direction he 
 ought to be able to learn any sound system of golf. Later 
 on, when he has really acquired a game, he can work out his 
 
TURN THE BODY TO THE RIGHT, STILL KEEPING THE HEAD IN 
 ITS ORIGINAL POSITION 
 
24 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 own theories and perhaps improve upon his original tuition. 
 The one thing is to acquire the essentials ; the mannerisms 
 may be trusted to assert and take care of themselves. A 
 theory must first be thoroughly understood before we can 
 venture to improve upon it. 
 
 In the practical application of these lessons I would sug- 
 gest working in pairs. By himself the beginner is apt to 
 get wrong impressions of what he is doing; he may think 
 that he is faithfully following out the directions given in 
 the text, while he is really misunderstanding them either in 
 whole or in part. This caution applies particularly to the 
 preliminary exercises for stance, grip and swing. It is not 
 a sufficient guarantee against error to practise before a 
 looking-glass, as one cannot judge with accuracy from a 
 reflection, and the first principle of golf is to keep the eye on 
 the ball. Let your fellow-student follow the text, diagrams, 
 and illustrations while you are doing the thing itself. He 
 is in the position of the coach to point out and correct the 
 mistakes, and in turn you can perform the same kindly office 
 for him. Two minds, and especially two pairs of eyes, are 
 better than one. 
 
 One final admonition : Don't exaggerate any one point at 
 the expense of everything else. It is a common tendency 
 with beginners at golf to imagine that the whole secret lies 
 in this or that little detail — the bend of an elbow, the turn 
 of a hand, the position of a foot. This is an error. The 
 true golf swing is built up from many small details into a 
 symmetrical whole, and conscious exaggeration in any one 
 direction may throw the entire mechanism out of adjust- 
 ment. I shall try to make you understand what is really 
 important and indispensable and the rest you may leave to 
 nature. Don't trust to nostrums or cure-alls, particularly 
 those of your own invention. Golf is a science and not a 
 bag of tricks. And now, if you please, we will get at the 
 business in hand. 
 
LESSON I 
 
 First Pr'niciples 
 
 The first idea of the beginner is to provide himself with a 
 full set of clubs ; generally, he goes to some department store, 
 where an obliging clerk speedily loads him up with an 
 expensive assortment of wooden and iron furniture, called 
 golf clubs by courtesy. A far better plan is to consult your 
 local clubmaker, since he will at least have some faint idea 
 of fitting you to your tools and so save you both time and 
 money. If there be no such professional adviser available, 
 you can almost certainly find some golf-playing friend who 
 will go with }0U to the shop and help you make a selection. 
 Should you be obliged to rely on your own judgment, I can 
 only advise you to avoid clubs that are on the freak order 
 and also extremes in length or weight. The illustration 
 shows my own playing set, together with their measurements, 
 but you will note that I am a fairly powerful man — 5 ft.95^ in. 
 in height, and weighing 170 pounds. You will perhaps do 
 better to pick out a driver of from 42 to 44 inches in length 
 and weighing 12^ ounces, with the other clubs in proportion. 
 Be particular about the shafts. That of the driver may 
 have a little whip in it, so long as the spring is not under the 
 grip, but well down towards the socket. The shaft of the 
 brassey and cleek should be a bit stififer and the wood of the 
 other iron clubs should have no spring whatever. A great 
 point is balance, and that is a quality impossible to describe 
 on paper. Perhaps you know what it is in a gun, a fishing 
 rod or a tennis racket, and it is equally indispensable in a 
 golf club. The factories turn out the machine-made clubs in 
 enormous quantities and do not put them together with the 
 careful skill and intelligence of the good clubmaker. In 
 consequence, many of these clubs have no balance at all and 
 
FINISH WITH A HALF TURX TO THE LEFT 
 
FIRST PRINCIPLES 27 
 
 are worse than useless. The ckib must feel to your hand 
 as though it would play, and remember that a good shaft 
 is much harder to find than a passable head. I don't believe 
 in light clubs. Of course, I don't mean that you should 
 overclub yourself, and if your wrists are exceptionally weak 
 you may have to humor them at first. As heavy a club as 
 you can swing with comfort ; later on I will explain why. 
 
 For a first set you will need a driver, a brassey, a cleek, 
 a midiron, a niblick, and a putter. The salesman will un- 
 doubtedly tell you that a mashie is the one indispensable club 
 in any golfer's kit, but for your first practise and initial 
 rounds I should prefer that you use the midiron for your 
 approaches. The mashie is one of the most difficult of clubs 
 to use effectively ; indeed, its proper handling is an art in 
 itself. Top a ball with a mashie and it runs like a prairie 
 fire. INIoreover, all heavily lofted clubs have an innate 
 tendency to hook the ball, by which I mean causing it to 
 swerve to the left of the line of play. The midiron is laid 
 back quite far enough to enable you to get over any ordinary 
 obstacle, and its straight face is an aid to direction. Later 
 on you can take up the mashie and grapple with the finer 
 mysteries of the lofted approach. 
 
 The brassey should be as close a duplicate as possible of 
 the driver ; indeed, it differs only in having a brass plate 
 screwed on its sole and in being slightly laid back or lofted. 
 I prefer short-headed wooden clubs, as the weight is thereby 
 kept close behind the ball, where it will do the most good. 
 The face should be fairly deep. The old-fashioned drivers 
 and brasseys, such as I used when a boy on Carnoustie links, 
 were beautiful tools with which to pick up a ball, but their 
 skying tendencies have put them out of the modern play. 
 
 I recommend the cleek and not the driving mashie, 
 which is its ordinary substitute in many a golfer's bag. 
 People will tell you that they cannot play with a cleek. The 
 answer to such nonsense is— learn, then. The cleek is, 
 indeed, a difficult club to master, but it is well worth the 
 
SWING THE WAI.KING STICK AROUND TO THE RICH' 
 
FIRST PRINCIPLES 29 
 
 trouble, and no man can call himself a golfer unless he can 
 use it. But don't begin with it on the teeing ground because 
 it looks easier to handle than a wooden club. Properly, the 
 cleek is only used through the green with the one exception 
 of the short hole whose distance corresponds to its normal 
 range. 
 
 Midirons are pretty much of a pattern ; yours should be 
 fairly heavy, with a stiff shaft. The best niblicks have a 
 broad-lipped sole and plenty of weight. 
 
 You may suit your own fancy in putters — goose-neck, 
 putting cleek, or the old-fashioned models in alumimmi or 
 wood. I don't think much of the iron putter proper, with its 
 perfectly straight socket and upright face; nowadays they 
 are generally made of gun metal and are used chiefly by 
 ladies. Be sure that your putter, of whatever style, is on 
 the heavy side ; a light-headed club is useless on the greenr^. 
 
 You will need half a dozen balls and a sponge-cup for 
 cleaning them. A white ball is pleasanter to play with than 
 a dirty one, and I think it is easier to hit. In an important 
 match it always gives one a feeling of fresh confidence to 
 put down a new ball, and the next best thing is a clean one. 
 
 If your hands are tender, inclined to become blistered or 
 calloused, you may need gloves. But only the one for the 
 left hand is really necessary, as you will soon discover for 
 yourself. A glove on the right hand interferes more or less 
 with the sense of touch, particularly in putting. 
 
 At last we are ready to begin, but we are not yet prepared 
 to play our first round ; indeed, I will ask you to let your 
 clubs stay in the bag until you have mastered a simple 
 exercise or two. For I have now to impress upon your mind 
 one of the prime essentials of good play. 
 
 It sounds very simple — keep your head steady. But in 
 practise it isn't so easy. The natural inclination is to let the 
 body follow the club in the up swing, and of course the head 
 goes with it. This swaying to the right is a common fault 
 of the beginner, and it is quite the worst one that he can 
 
FOR THE DOWN SWING IMAGINE YOU ARE EXECUTING THE 
 ORDINARY BACK-HAND STROKE AT TENNIS 
 
THE RIGHT WRIST TURNS SLIGHTLY OUT 
 
32 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 commit. It keeps the body from entering properly into the 
 stroke and as the arc of the circle in which the club head 
 swings is constantly changing, accurate hitting is rendered 
 impossible. It may be laid down as an indispensable prin- 
 ciple that the body turns only upon its vertical axis through- 
 out the stroke, while the head is kept virtually stationary. 
 To make you understand this I am going to give you a 
 "setting up" exercise, as they call it in the army. 
 
 Draw a chalk line on the floor or ground and stand with 
 the left toe just touching the line and the right foot half way 
 across it. Let the knees be slightly bent, as this will throw 
 the weight back upon the heels where it ought to be. The feet 
 should not be too near together nor too wide apart, and 
 both toes should be turned out. Let the arms fall naturally 
 at the side with the head inclined a little forward and looking 
 down. 
 
 Now turn the body to the right, still keeping the head in 
 its original position. After you have made about a quarter 
 turn you will not be able to go further with any comfort 
 unless you do one of two things — either you must sway to 
 the right or you must ease off the strain on the left leg. The 
 first is wrong, the second right; but you will not get the 
 correct idea by simply rising on the left toe. The proper 
 motion is to let the left knee knuckle in towards the right leg. 
 This will naturally drag the left heel off the ground and so 
 permit the body to make a half turn to the right and still 
 maintain its perpendicularity. The swing to the right 
 properly ends when the left shoulder faces squarely to the 
 front. The rest of the exercise is very simple. From the 
 extreme position to the right bring the body back to its 
 original stance and then finish with a half turn to the left. 
 As the body turns back the left heel naturally finds the floor 
 and the right one rises with the half turn to the left. And 
 all this time the head has been kept as immovable as possible, 
 with the eyes fixed on the floor. There is nothing difficult 
 about this exercise ; it can be acquired perfectly in five 
 
FINISH OF THE RIGHT HAND SWING 
 
34 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 minutes, but it is most important as tending to impress upon 
 your mind the absolute necessity of keeping the head sta- 
 tionary. 
 
 A second essential is the proper wrist action. At last you 
 think I am going to let you take a club in hand, but please 
 have patience. I first want to give you a left hand and then 
 a right hand exercise, and for this purpose a crook-handled 
 walking stick or rolled-up umbrella (also with a crook 
 handle) is better, as being lighter than a club, and so more 
 easily managed. 
 
 Take the same stance as indicated for the "setting up" 
 exercise and grasp the cane or umbrella by its lower end, 
 so that the crook handle serves in place of the ch:b head. 
 Let the left thumb lie on top of the shaft and straight down 
 it. This Avill insure the proper grip, with the back of the 
 hand well over. 
 
 Swing the walking stick around to the right, aiming at 
 the point of the right shoulder. The left wrist will properly 
 turn in slightly (towards the body) so that when the stick is 
 well up the left arm will be lying close to the chest and 
 you can see the full back of the left hand. The motion is so 
 simple that you can hardly go wrong in it. For the down 
 swing imagine that you are executing the ordinary back- 
 hand stroke at tennis. You will soon discover that it is this 
 slight inward turn of the left wrist that gives the power and 
 snap to the stroke, and that is all that there is in it. 
 
 Now for the right hand exercise. Grasp the shaft in 
 such a way that you can just see the nails of the right hand, 
 and hold the stick as much as possible in the fingers. In this 
 right hand grip the thumb should be around the shaft — not 
 on top of it — and the holding power will be secured by 
 jamming the shaft between the thumb and forefinger. You 
 will be surprised to see how much of a grip you can obtain 
 by holding the club in this finger fashion rather than sunk 
 in the palm of the hand. 
 
FINISH OF THE LEFT HAND SWING 
 
36 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 Now, in the swing back, pay particular attention to the 
 point of the right elbow. It should not swing straight out 
 and up from 3^our body, but around it and as close to the 
 side as possible. The right wrist turns slightly out, so that at 
 the top of the swing you still see the finger nails of your right 
 hand. The chief thing in this exercise is to keep the point of 
 the right elbow down and close to the side, and to swing 
 it around the body in a backward direction. The reason 
 why I will give in the proper place. 
 
 There should be enough in this series of movements to 
 occupy your attention for the first afternoon of practise. 
 These exercises are not very amusing, perhaps, but they are 
 worth acquiring perfectly in order to prepare for your real 
 start. A little hard, conscientious work now will save you 
 many future hours of blundering and disappointment. And 
 remember my suggestion, that you practise in company with 
 a partner or fellow-student. 
 
LESSON II 
 
 Stance, Grip, and Swing 
 
 We are now ready for the two-handed swing with the 
 driver. Take up your stance, as already directed, with the 
 left toe just touching the chalk line, and the right foot half 
 way across it. This is the open position, so called, and it 
 is the one used by the vast majority of modern players. 
 There are some golfers who stand with the toe of the right 
 foot two or three inches back of the line, and a still smaller 
 number whose stance is exactly square, that is, with the toes 
 of both feet touching the line. The open position, which I 
 strongly recommend, permits a free follow-through of the 
 club, and the player has a feeling that he knows where he is 
 going to drive the ball. Another advantage is that over- 
 swinging is checked, to a great extent, and the beginner 
 is very apt to commit this fault in striving after what he 
 imagines to be a full St. Andrew's swing. 
 
 The grip is taken as follows : Grasp the club in the left 
 hand, letting the thumb lie on the top of the shaft directly 
 in the middle. Now shift the thumb so that it coils around 
 the club handle but rests on the nail of the forefinger. This 
 is a somewhat tuiusual position for the thumb, but I favor 
 it for the reason that it permits the two hands to be brought 
 closer together. If the thumb simply curls itself around the 
 shaft, its knuckle prevents the right hand from snugging 
 close up to its fellow. It is important to get the hands to 
 work, as nearly as possible, as one, and this can only be done 
 by getting them together. So much for the grip with the 
 left hand. 
 
 Now place the right-hand on the shaft directly below the 
 upper or left hand, and gently pressed against it. The right 
 hand should be turned somewhat under the shaft, so that 
 
38 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 you can see the finger nails. This is what is called the 
 unequal grip, the left hand being well over the shaft and the 
 right hand a trifle under. It is the grip generally used by 
 reformed cricketers in England and by old baseball players 
 
 .SMITHS GRIP FOR DRIVING 
 
 in this country, and at one time it was considered quite 
 unorthodox. My argument is that the underneath position 
 of the right hand permits of a more effective wrist action, 
 and also brings into play the muscles of the right forearm, 
 which means driving power. Of course, it has its disad- 
 
STANCE, CRIP AND SWINC 39 
 
 vantages as well. If the right hand is allowed to entirely 
 overpower the left, a pull, or worse yet, a hook, may send 
 your ball to the left of the true line of play. Be careful, then, 
 not to exaggerate the position. 
 
 There is another grip which I ought to describe, seeing 
 that it is used by some of the foremost players in the world, 
 
 SHOWING POSITION OF HANDS AT FINISH OF DRIVE 
 
 including Taylor, Braid, and Vardon, and indeed, I use it 
 myself for all my approach work. It is known as the over- 
 lapping grip, and may be described as follows : 
 
 Take the club in the left hand, just as you did in the first 
 place, but let the thumb remain in position on top of the 
 shaft. Slide the right hand partly over the left so that the 
 little finger of the right hand rides upon the forefinger of the 
 
40 
 
 LESSONS IN COLF 
 
 left. In this grip the right hand is generally more over the 
 shaft than in the cricket grip already described ; in other 
 words, you see the back of the right hand and not the finger- 
 nails. The left thumb is entirely covered by the right palm ; 
 
 SMITH S INTERLOCKING GRIP AS HE ADDRESSES THE BALL 
 FOR APPROACH SHOTS 
 
 the right thumb may either coil about the grip or lie on the 
 top, straight down the shaft. For my approach work I 
 prefer the latter position as tending to greater accuracy. 
 
STANCE, CRIP AND SIV/NC 
 
 4! 
 
 There is no doubt about it that this overlapping grip gives 
 the player great command over the club, as it prevents the 
 possibility of the two wrists working against each other. 
 
 SMITH S INTERLOCKING GRIP AT FINISH OF APPROACH SHOT 
 
 This is the rea:son why I use it in my short iron work, but I 
 prefer my ordinary grip for all full shots. After giving the 
 
42 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 overlapping- grip a fair trial I have convinced myself that 
 the other has more driving power in it. Vardon himself 
 admits that he gets a longer ball with the ordinary, or "V" 
 grip, but he thinks that he can keep straighter in the over- 
 lapping style. My experience is that I can control the ball 
 quite as well with the "V" grip, and I can unquestionably 
 hit harder, and so get farther. And distance is what we 
 want in the long game. I ask you, therefore, to give the 
 cricket grip a trial, and I hope to tell you how to keep 
 straight with it. As we shall learn the overlapping grip 
 anyway for the short game, you can later on decide for 
 yourself whether or not you will use it altogether. Once 
 acquired it is perfectly easy to use both grips interchange- 
 ably. Let me add that with either grip the club should be 
 held as much in the fingers as possible, and this admonition 
 particularly applies to the right hand. Under no circum- 
 stances should the shaft be buried in the right palm. It only 
 remains to add that I hold the club, for all full shots, with the 
 left hand at the extreme end of the shaft. Otherwise you 
 are simply depriving yourself of valuable leverage ; other 
 things being equal, it is the longer shaft that drives the 
 longer ball. 
 
 For the present Ave will not put down a ball, for I want 
 you to practice the two-handed swing before you attempt 
 actual driving. But you must have something to aim at, so 
 you may pick out a daisy head or use a bit of white paper 
 to represent the ball. Notice that the latter's position is 
 about three inches to the right of an imaginary line drawn 
 from the left heel to the right-angled line of play on which 
 the ball is resting. I do not tell you in actual inches how 
 far away you must stand, nor give you any empirical rules 
 of measurement by means of the club or otherwise. It must 
 appear evident that the proper distance away will vary for 
 every individual case. All I can tell you is to stand with 
 the knees and elbows slightly flexed and the club laid 
 squarely behind the ball. You should feel comfortable, and 
 
STANCE, GRIP AND SWING 43 
 
 this you cannot be if yon are under or over reached. If 
 you stand too near, the stroke will lack power ; if too far 
 away, you will not be able to keep your balance. With both 
 knees and elbows slightly bent you cannot be far out of the 
 correct position. 
 
 I cannot tell you again just how wide apart your feet 
 should be. A straddle that is too narrow tends to over- 
 swinging, and one that is too wide stiffens the stroke and 
 prevents proper hip action. Use )'our common sense and 
 adopt the golden mean. 
 
 One final admonition — keep both toes turned slightly out- 
 ward, as this is an aid to the proper balancing of the body. 
 And remember to keep the weight well on the heels. 
 
 Now recall your exercises for the right and left hand with 
 the walking stick or umbrella. The important thing with the 
 left hand was to turn the wrist slightly in towards the body 
 as the club went back, while with the right you were to let 
 the point of the right elboyv swing back around the body 
 close to the side. Start the club with the wrists or rather 
 with the fingers of the right hand, and then let the arms 
 come in to help with the swing. The club will have gone 
 far enough back when your left arm presses gently against 
 the chest. This is not a full swing, for you have not found 
 it necessary to lift the left heel clear of the ground. Indeed, 
 it is little more than a half swing, but if your wrists have 
 worked properly and the right elbow has begun to swing 
 back, there is considerable power in it. You will notice 
 that I have not told you to bother about the line in which 
 the club head is taken back. That will take care of itself, 
 provided that the right elbow swings around and close to the 
 side. J. H. Taylor puts great stress upon this movement of 
 the right elbow, and says that without it his swing would lack 
 power. He does not give the reason why, but I have a 
 theory of my own on this point, and I may as well enunciate 
 it now. 
 
ADDRESSING THE BALL 
 
STANCE, CRIP AND SWINC 45 
 
 All the old authorities and text-books will tell you that in 
 the down swing the left is the master hand ; that it should 
 pull the club down from its position at the top of the swing. 
 This I believe to be quite wrong, at least for my grip and 
 swing. My theory is that the power of the down swing 
 comes from what I call the "throw of the club." If the 
 club is started by a left hand pull it is apt to come down too 
 straight, and the arc described by the club head will approxi- 
 mate that of a true circle. Moreover, with the left hand in 
 command, the left elbow swings away from the body as the 
 club comes through and the effect is to cause a depression of 
 the right shoulder, which means an instant loss of power, 
 for the ball is whipped up into the air instead of being driven 
 straight through. 
 
 Now, the true course of the club head in all full driving 
 shots is that of the slightly flattened circle — an ellipse, if you 
 want to use the mathematical term. All the doctors agree 
 on this latter point, and the only difference is the method 
 by which they make the club head travel in this slightly 
 flattened circle. The usual explanation is that the circle is 
 swept back in this elliptical curve in the up-swing, or rather 
 it must be if the down-swing is to take the same course. The 
 older treatises, such as Badminton, expressly taught that the 
 club must be taken back as close to the ground as possible, 
 and in a direction that was the backward prolongation of the 
 ball's line of flight. The club was swung out and away 
 from the body and in consequence the swing was nearly 
 perpendicular. Now, the modern practice, with the open 
 stance, or the right foot advanced, does not permit of 
 an upright or perpendicular swing. The movement, as I 
 have described it to you, more nearly approaches the hori- 
 zontal. If you swing back the right elbow the club head 
 must travel around the right leg and the player cannot stretcli 
 out his arms in order to let the club head "sweep back as 
 close to the ground as possible." Of course the new school' 
 players do not lift the club straight up as they swing back ; 
 
TOP OF SWING 
 
FINISH OF SWING 
 
48 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 otherwise they would be chopping at the ball. They secure 
 the flattened arc of the true swing by the backward move- 
 ment of the right elbow. Try it for yourself and you will see 
 the difference at once. With the right elbow moving out 
 from the body the club is taken up very much straighter 
 than when the elbow moves back, keeping close to the side. 
 This is one reason, then, for Taylor's insistence upon the 
 importance of this point. Its second office is to create 
 driving power, and this is secured by what I have called 
 the "throw of the club." To make you understand what I 
 mean, it will be necessary to resume our exercise in swing- 
 ing. I told you to stop the back or up-swing of the club so 
 soon as you felt the left arm gently pressed against the chest. 
 I did not ask you to swing down again, for the exercise was 
 intended merely to accustom you to the proper starting of 
 the club and to ensure that the wrists were working properly. 
 We will now go a little further. 
 
 Start as before, the right fingers beginning the backward 
 swing and the arms joining in as they are needed. As the 
 club swings farther back and up you will have to turn your 
 body to the right, and to accomplish this the left knee will 
 knuckle in towards the right leg and the left heel will be 
 pulled a little way off the ground. Remember your "setting 
 up" exercise and be sure that you keep the^ody in a vertical 
 position, with the head looking downward, and not moving 
 by a hair's breadth to the right. Again I remind you that 
 the knees should be bent a little, so as to throw the weight 
 on the heels, and the arms should be slightly flexed at the 
 elbows. Otherwise the stiffened arms will form one straight 
 line with the club shaft, which is wrong. 
 
 When the riglit elbow has swung as far back as it con- 
 veniently can, the club will be nearly perpendicular, pointing 
 vertically to the sky. Now bend both wrists sharply towards 
 the point of your right shoulder and the club will then be in 
 a horizontal position behind your neck. You will under- 
 stand, of course, that in the actual swing there should be no 
 
STANCE, CRIP AND SWINC 49 
 
 distinct divisions in this up-swing, the different movements 
 all blending into one harmonious whole. There should be 
 nothing like a break in the swing at any point of its progress. 
 
 It will be well to stop here at the top of the swing to see if 
 the wrists have been properly turned. With the club firmly 
 held in its horizontal position back of the neck, drop the 
 right hand from the grip. You will then be able to look 
 around at the club head. Its toe ought to be pointing to the 
 ground like a pear hanging from a branch. To give you 
 a more definite guide, notice the maker's name on the club 
 head. It ought to be about horizontal as you look at it. If 
 the wrist action has been wrong the toe of the club at the 
 top of the swing will be pointing not downward, but side- 
 ways, and the maker's name will be nearer the vertical than 
 the horizontal. 
 
 This should be plain enough, but a caution is necessary. 
 It is quite possible to exaggerate the turn of the wrists to 
 such an extent as to lose all leverage from them. In this 
 case the club head will be, apparently, in the proper position, 
 but there will be no power left in the wrists for the down- 
 swing. The wrists must turn, but they must be kept 
 "creamed-up," to use an English expression. If you allow 
 them to become slack and flabby from overturning, you will 
 have no leverage for the "throw of the club." 
 
 I told you that near the top of the swing the wrists must 
 be bent sharply towards the right shoulder. (Note that this 
 bending is different from the turning of the wrists.) In 
 this way you set the trigger for the "throw of the club" — 
 you feel the weight of the club head poised for the down- 
 ward sweep. If you allow the wrists to become too slack, 
 you inevitably overswing and so lose the sense of the set 
 trigger, and the club head becomes a dead weight which 
 must be lifted back to its proper position before you can use 
 it. At this point both wrists will be under the shaft, their 
 proper position. 
 
SIDE VIEW, SHOWING POSITION OF ARMS AT TOP OF SWING 
 
STANCE, CRIP AND SIVINC 51 
 
 With the right elbow well to the back and close to the 
 side you must now reverse this inward bend of the wrists. 
 Throw them back and out as sharply as possible, and when 
 the club head is some two feet away from the ball let the 
 right wrist take command. This is the ''throw of the club" 
 and upon its. proper execution depends in great measure the 
 power and accuracy of the stroke. 
 
 One further point, and a most important one, although 
 I have never seen it brought out in any of the previous text- 
 books. 
 
 As the club comes down on the ball, do not allow the left 
 elbow to swing out and away from the body. It must be 
 kept back so as to allow of the "snap of the wrists" at the 
 critical moment when the ball is struck. If the left elbow 
 swings away an instant too soon the hands go through in 
 advance of the club head and the result is either a slice or a 
 loss of power. A favorite phrase nowadays is "timing the 
 club," by which is meant the securing of the full power of 
 wrists, arms and body at the moment when the actual hit is 
 made. The phrase is a good one, but unless the coach can 
 explain how to bring about this desirable result the mere 
 words will not help the beginner much. My theory is that 
 this "timing" is dependent upon keeping back the left elbow, 
 thereby enabling the full force of the stroke to be brought 
 into the ball. 
 
 The books place great emphasis upon the finish of the 
 stroke — the "follow-through," as it is called — and the be- 
 ginner is assured that unless he can get his arms to reach out 
 after the ball the stroke will be a failure. This is a rock 
 upon which untold myriads of golfers have foundered, and 
 so perished miserably. 
 
 Now, at the risk of being pronounced hopelessly hetero- 
 dox, I am going to tell you that you need not bother about 
 the follow-on at all. In my theory of the swing the power 
 of the stroke depends on proper hip rotation, the correct 
 turning of the wrists, and the position of the elbows. Pro- 
 
SHOWING TURN OF WRISTS AFTER CLUB HEAD HAS PASSED 
 THE BALL 
 
STANCE, CRIP AND SWINC 53 
 
 vided, that the right elbow moves around and close to the 
 body on the up-swing and the left elbow is kept close to the 
 body until after the ball is struck, the stroke will be a power- 
 ful and accurate one, the arms finishing as shown in the 
 illustration. 
 
 To avoid possible misunderstanding, let me say again that 
 my method is not the only one in which golf may be played. 
 A firm distinction must be made between the two schools 
 of swinging — perpendicular and horizontal. If a man plays 
 with an upright swing, then of necessity his stance will be 
 with the right foot drawn back ; the club head will be carried 
 back in a long sweep close to the ground ; the right elbow 
 will swing up and away from the body; the club will be 
 pulled down by the left arm and both arms will be stretched 
 out in the direction of the ball's flight — the follow-through. 
 But if you adopt the horizontal swing, which is the modern 
 practice, and best exemplified in the play of J. H. Taylor, 
 you must do none of these things. The club goes back 
 around the right leg ; it is thrown down by the power of the 
 wrists, particularly the right one, and the right elbow is 
 kept close to the body on the up-swing, with the left one 
 held back until after the impact. The perpendicular style 
 is more of a sweep ; the horizontal rather in the nature of a 
 hit. Concentration of force is the characteristic of the hori- 
 zontal swing, and if you have ever seen J. H. Taylor play 
 you will understand what I mean. There is no wandering 
 away of club head, arms or elbows. Everything is kept 
 under severe control, but not an ounce of power is wasted 
 or misapplied. The old-fashioned loose-jointed style of 
 swiping at the ball is very pretty to watch, but it is an art 
 that can only be learned imitatively and in youth. 
 
 It will be well in practising the full swing to stand with 
 the sun directly at your back. You will then be able to 
 detect any sidewise movement of the body or head, particu- 
 larly to the right. Accuracy depends upon keeping the body 
 strictly perpendicular, and the head as immovable as pos- 
 sible. ~^ ^~ 
 
54 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 The rotation of the body should come from the hips rather 
 than from the shoulders. Otherwise you will be apt to 
 move the head or depress the right shoulder, and either fault 
 inevitably spoils the stroke. 
 
 Our preliminary practice has been long and arduous, bvit 
 have patience. In our next lesson we will get out upon the 
 teeing ground with the real ball at our feet. 
 
LESSON III 
 
 Off the Tee and Through the Green 
 
 Now we are on the teeing ground and ready for business. 
 I don't mean, of course, that we shall start in at once to play 
 matches. That sort of thing is bad practice, or rather no 
 practice at all, and our aim should rather be to learn some- 
 thing about the different strokes that make up the actual 
 game. 
 
 The full drive is naturally our point of departure. There 
 are people who aft'ect to sneer at long driving, and who will 
 tell you that the real science of golf lies altogether in the 
 approaching and putting. It is quite true that no one can 
 win many matches unless he plays the short game well, but 
 good driving makes the approaching and putting easier; 
 I need not enlarge upon a truism so obvious. 
 
 Again, driving is said to be the easiest department of the 
 game. So it is when you learn how. But unless you start 
 doing the right thing you may foozle along for years un- 
 numbered, ever searching for the magic secret and never 
 finding it. I don't know of a harder or more hopeless 
 task than that of the bungler who habitually misplays all 
 his full shots. A top, a slice, a clean miss — what vexation 
 of soul is not summed up in these simple words ! There are 
 some duffers who, by virtue of perseverance and a naturally 
 good eye, manage to evolve what they call their drive. They 
 may even achieve a kind of steadiness, but it is invariably at 
 the expense of length. And distance does count, no matter 
 how expert you may be on the putting green. Moreover, 
 full free driving off the tee and through the green is one 
 of the most pleasurable sensations of the game ; indeed, 
 there are few things in the world that can compare with the 
 joy that animates the golfer's heart when he has just got 
 
SIDE VIEW OF STANCE 
 
OFF THE TEE AND THROUGH THE GREEN 57 
 
 off a clean bow-shaped raker straight down the course. 
 Without good driving there is no golf. 
 
 Let me briefly recapitulate the essentials of a correct 
 swing. 
 
 A comfortable distance from the ball ; right foot slightly 
 advanced ; knees and elbows a little bent ; body kept vertical, 
 and head steady; left hand over the grip and right hand 
 
 SHOWING HOW WRIST ACTION IS PUT-IN AT TOP OF SWING 
 
 under ; the club taken back by the fingers of the right hand ; 
 right elbow swinging round close to the body ; wrists turning 
 inward and then bent sharply back to bring the club to the 
 horizontal behind the neck; the body turning from the hips 
 with the left knee knuckling in towards its fellow; left heel 
 slightly raised so as to ease the body around ; the wrists 
 flung down to start the downward swing, with the right 
 hand in control ; arms and body following ; the right wrist 
 
58 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 putting in the power and turning slightly over at the 
 moment of impact; the left arm keeping close to the body 
 until taken out by the club ; the swing finishing with a full 
 sweep around the left shoulder ; body turning to full front 
 with the right knee knuckling into the left one and the right 
 heel clear of the ground — that is the golfing swing so far 
 as words may depict it. 
 
 Most of these directions I have already commented upon ; 
 there are one or two upon which I should like to add a 
 word. 
 
 As the club swings up, I told you that the wrists must 
 turn inward and then bend sharply back. Now, the common 
 and easy and incorrect way of getting the club behind the 
 neck is to bend the elbows and pull in the hands. If you do 
 this you will invariably swing too far with your shoulders, 
 and the swing will lack both power and accuracy. So keep 
 the left elbow fairly extended and get the club around by 
 bending back the wrists. You will thus set the trigger for 
 what I elsewhere call the "throw of the club," the turn over 
 of the right wrist at the moment of striking the ball. 
 
 I wish that you could see me drive a ball, for then it 
 would be a much simpler thing to explain my management 
 of the right forearm and wrist. My normal drive is rather 
 low, rising very gradually from the tee. Its direction is 
 to the right of the centre of the course, but during the last 
 portion of its flight it begins to curve in a little and falls 
 straight in line. In other words, it is a ball with just a touch 
 of pull, i. c, a curve to the left. Under all ordinary cir- 
 cumstances this is the ball that I always try to get, and 
 for the following reasons : 
 
 In the first place, a pulled ball, by virtue of its over-spin, 
 has a much longer run than any other, a manifest advantage. 
 Secondly, a pulled ball is the direct opposite of a sliced one, 
 and every golfer knows that a slice invariably means trouble, 
 if it is only loss of distance. Now, the man who normally 
 tries for a perfectly straight ball is apt to drive a little higher 
 
INCORRECT MOTION OF SHOULDERS 
 
60 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 than is good for distance, especially against the wind, and 
 the slightest drawing in of the hands turns the straight ball 
 into a sliced one, by which is meant curving to the right of 
 the true line. If a man invariably plays for a pull, he 
 may not always get it, but he will, at least, save himself 
 from slicing. If the pull does not come ofif, the ball either 
 goes perfectly straight, or comes to rest a little to the right 
 of the middle of the course. There is still a respectable 
 distance gained, and the ball is seldom off the fair green. 
 In other words, slicing is the worst of golfing faults, and the 
 one to be avoided most sedulously. The books enter into 
 learned theories upon the causes of slicing and how to cure 
 it. I prefer to play for a pull, and so avoid its possibility 
 altogether. Once acquired, the pulled ball is even easier to 
 control than a straight one, and, as I have said, it is the 
 longest one that can be driven. Only once in a blue moon 
 will a golfer need to slice a ball intentionally, and while it 
 is a very scientific and pretty play, it is better to eschew such 
 niceties until one is very sure of his ability to control his 
 swing. Scientific slicing depends largely upon drawing in 
 the arms, as the club comes down, so as to put a cut on 
 the ball. Now, this drawing in of the arms is a fatally natural 
 movement, and it is unwise to encourage the tendency. 
 
 Playing, then, as I do, for a pull, I stand with the right 
 foot slightly advanced, the ball nearer my left foot than my 
 right, the right hand gripping under the shaft, and the 
 right wrist turning quickly over as the ball is struck. These 
 are the conditions upon which all authorities agree as con- 
 ducive to the pulled shot, and, as I have said, it is my 
 normal method of play. 
 
 I acknowledge that I am what is called a right-handed 
 player, but I am so deliberately, and because I believe that 
 it yields me the best results. The left arm, according to 
 my theory, merely assists in the guiding of the club. It 
 does not start the stroke by pulling the club down, still less 
 does it take command of the stroke at any time. I am 
 
STANCE FOR PULLED BALL 
 
62 LESSONS IN COLF 
 
 not conscious of relaxing my grip at either the top or the 
 finish of the swing. I grip with both hands firmly from 
 beginning- to end, and I consider that distance depends, in 
 large measvire, upon the way the wrists, and especially the 
 right one, come into the stroke at the moment of hitting. 
 This, at least, is my theory. 
 
 Don't make a high tee, and don't make a careless one. 
 A small pinch of sand is quite enough, and you only want to 
 elevate the ball sufficiently to let the club head meet it 
 squarely. It is not easier, but more difficult to hit cleanly 
 when the ball is perched up at an unnatural distance from 
 the ground, and the effect is to spoil your playing through 
 the green. 
 
 Be sure that you begin the downward swing with the 
 down fling of the wrists, and start easily ; the force is to be 
 put in just before the club head swings onto the ball. If 
 )ou put in all your power at the top, the swing degenerates 
 into a jerky chop and the major part of the force is wasted. 
 
 Let }'0ur arms, shoulders, and body follow the wrists in 
 the order named. If the body gets in advance of the hands, 
 }'0U will come down on the ball at an angle which means 
 loss of distance, and probably a straight poke off to the 
 right, or a slice. It is the same principle upon which the 
 baseball batsman, who, striking just an instant too late, 
 sends the ball to right field. (Distinguish carefully between 
 these straightforward pokes to right or left, and the slice 
 and pull. The former are the result of bad timing, or an 
 incorrect stance; the latter are due to spin put upon the ball. 
 In both pull and slice the ball starts off in a fairly straight 
 line down the course, and the curve only comes in during the 
 latter part of the flight.) 
 
 Now, when the body comes properly into the stroke, the 
 stance, at the moment of striking, will be precisely the same 
 as that of the original address. 
 
 In the play through the green I use the driver, or play 
 club, as it would be called, whenever the He is at all good. 
 
BODY IN FRONT OF BALL CAUSING POKE TO RIGHT 
 
64 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 Why not? The fact that the brassey face is laid back 
 means that the ball is lofted higher in the air and, above a 
 certain elevation, loss of distance is the result. So don't 
 use your brassey unless the lie is heavy or you want a shot 
 short of your full range. The low ball with a pull is the 
 effective one for distance gaining, and, if you find you are 
 driving or brasseying too high, it is not a bad plan to turn 
 the nose of the club slightly over. 
 
 I play all full shots with cleek or driving iron just as I 
 do my wooden clubs. The only difference, that I know 
 of, is that with a wooden club the shaft a t the very top_ Qf 
 the swing falls into the web between the thumb and fore- 
 finger of^theTighl; hand. As the "throw of the club" begins, 
 the shaft goes back into its original position, i. e., into the 
 finger grip. With iron clubs I hold the club in one position 
 throughout, swinging a trifle shorter. 
 
 I prefer to play all full shots to the value of the club. In 
 other words, I take a full shot with an iron rather than a 
 half shot with a cleek. 
 
 The so-called push shot is a most useful one to learn. You 
 lose a little in distance, but it is the only way of dealing with 
 a bad lie. The ball flies on a low trajectory, has but little roll, 
 and, when properly executed, gives one great control over 
 the ball. 
 
 To play it, the club, firmly gripped, is brought up rather 
 straighter than usual, and you hit as though you wanted to 
 drive the ball into the ground. The club head first hits the' 
 ball, and then goes into the earth, cutting out a bit of turf 
 immediately in front of the ball, never behind it. If you 
 take the turf before the ball is struck the shot will be a 
 failure. The right wrist turns over at the moment of im- 
 pact, and you must be sure to carry the hands through and 
 not hold back the left arm as in the regular swing. The 
 chief difference between the push shot and the ordinary 
 one is that the hands and left shoulder go through after 
 the ball instead of swinging around. The push is a shot that 
 
FINISH OF JERK SHOT, SHOWING CLUB GOING INTO GROUND 
 WHERE Bx\LL WAS 
 
66 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 may be played with any club. The ball should be a trifle 
 nearer the right foot. 
 
 With the mastery of these two strokes the golfer should 
 be able to play the long game respectably. There are what 
 are called hanging lies, where the ball lies on a downward 
 slope, and again the stance may be above or betow the level 
 of the ball. These variations from the normal make the play 
 more difficult, but I will not complicate it still further by 
 giving you elaborate differences of detail in the swing. 
 There is just one golden rule for all these contingencies, 
 swing easily and take the ball clean. 
 
LESSON IV 
 
 T^he Short Game 
 
 There are many amateurs who can drive a fine ball off 
 of the tee and even negotiate a full second shot in first-class 
 style. But when they are called upon to approach the green, 
 the weakness of their game is disclosed. It is in approach- 
 ing (including the approach putt) that the professional 
 player has the call upon the average "class" amateur, and 
 I think this explanation lies in the fact that the professional 
 realizes that his bread and butter depends upon his pro- 
 ficiency in all departments of the game. Consequently he 
 really works at getting up his approaching strokes, while 
 the amateur is generally quite satisfied to be driving well. 
 It is really the difference between play and work. A 
 scientific golfer will tell you that he gets quite as much 
 pleasure from the nicely graduated mashie shot or closely 
 calculated long putt as he does from the two hundred-yard 
 drive. Very true, and yet who would play golf if driving 
 were eliminated from the game? Full, free hitting, where 
 the player has only to think of keeping reasonably straight, 
 and then getting as far as he possibly can, is the essence 
 of golf, and nothing can take its place. But this is the 
 play part of the game, and once the full driving stroke is 
 acquired, its exercise makes no particular demand upon the 
 thinking powers and nervous system of the player. We 
 all like to swipe away at the ball; we enjoy the freedom 
 of the stroke and the opportunity it gives us to put in every- 
 thing we possess of strength and determination. If we can 
 drive at all, we are proud of our success ; we never get 
 entirely used to the pleasure of hitting that little sphere 
 into space. A good golf drive is "a thing of beauty and a 
 joy forever." 
 
A SIXTY-YARD MASHIE SHOT 
 
THE SHORT CAME 69 
 
 But golf is not all play, and the long driver, pure and 
 simple, will not win many matches. The ball must be placed 
 finally in a hole four and a quarter inches in diameter, and 
 it is evident that to accomplish this we shall have to abandon 
 the pleasures of free hitting for the studious attention and 
 masterful control upon which the success of the shorter 
 strokes depend. In other words, we must think, we must 
 study, we must be master of our club in all its moods and 
 tenses. Mere distance, combined with tolerable directness, 
 is easy enough, but now we must be really straight and 
 just far enough. This last is work rather than play, and 
 puts a severe strain upon both the mental and moral facul- 
 ties ; the muscles are no longer allowed to disport them- 
 selves in careless freedom, but must become trained and 
 obedient to their task. 
 
 Now, as I have said, the professional understands that 
 he must be able to play the short game well if he is to reach 
 the first flight, and so he is forced to work at the problem 
 until he masters it. The ordinary amateur thinks that he is 
 practising approaching when now and then, on an offday 
 or for a few minutes before his match, he goes out on the 
 course and plays a few "general" shots for the home green, 
 with half a dozen long putts by way of good measure. 
 
 Another reason for professional superiority in the quarter 
 shot is that many "pros" are graduated from the caddie 
 ranks. Now a caddie, particularly in this country, does not 
 get many chances to play the actual game, but he can 
 nearly always manage to command an old iron some- 
 where, and balls may be picked up on the course. There is 
 generally an unoccupied piece of green sward near the 
 caddie shelter which he may appropriate for his own uses, 
 and if the greenkeeper is good natured he will supply a 
 discarded cup ; or an old tin can will serve almost as well. 
 The consequence is that the embryo professional grows up 
 with his approaching club constantly in hand — is "teethed 
 upon it," as they say. He learns his short game from A to 
 
70 LESSONS IN COLF 
 
 Izzard, and the knowledge is a most valuable asset in his 
 niaturer years. The amateur, on the other hand, almost 
 invariably begins by playing regular matches, and so never 
 gets one-tenth of the approaching practise that his caddie 
 puts in. Now, a first-class short game, with cjuite indif- 
 ferent driving, will win every time against tremendous 
 swiping and sloppy approach work. Finally, the profes- 
 sional, as a class, is usually in better physical shape than the 
 amateur ; he has fewer nerves and a less insistent imagina- 
 tion. The delicate shots twenty yards away from the green, 
 the tricky putt up to the hole — these are strokes that demand 
 the utmost balance of body and poise of mind, and the 
 amateur is apt to let himself get out of hand through sheer 
 nervousness and a too realizing sense of his responsi- 
 bilities. The perfect golfing machine should be one with- 
 out nerves or imagination, and here is where the profes- 
 sional scores. 
 
 Enough has been said to emphasize the supreme im- 
 portance of the short game ; let us now proceed to define 
 it. What is an approach? In one sense, the short hole 
 which we can reach from the tee, is an approach. It may 
 be a driver or it may be a mashie which we use for the 
 shot, depending, of course, on the distance ; the essential 
 point is that it is possible to reach the green in one stroke, 
 and we must therefore play for both distance and direction. 
 
 But these tee shots for the green are, after all, quite 
 simple. The ball is placed so as to give us every chance, 
 and we have only to know what our normal distance is with 
 the various clubs, and then make reasonable allowance for 
 the wind. Really, we shall have no excuse to offer if we 
 fail to get within putting distance. 
 
 Again, we may say that we approach when a half brassey 
 or a full cleek will land us at the hole side, but really the 
 play differs but little from the ordinary course of the long 
 game. We are still driving, and distance is a trifle more 
 valuable than direction. 
 
HIGH LOFT WITH MASHIE OVER A CLUMP OF TREES 
 
72 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 The actual zone of the approach shot begins, let us say, 
 at a hundred and twenty-five yards from the green. This 
 is a distance that everyone can negotiate after some fashion, 
 with an iron club, and it is with our metal furniture that 
 true approaching is done. 
 
 You remember that when I gave you the list of clubs that 
 you would need for your first essays I omitted the mashie. 
 The reason I did so was because the mashie is a difficult 
 club to master, and its practice should begin at the opposite 
 end to that of the driving clubs — starting with the shortest 
 possible stroke and working back. Full mashie shots are a 
 dangerous form of amusement, since the increased amount 
 of loft is very apt to hook the ball. Personally, I never 
 play a full mashie unless I am a long way from the hole 
 and it is absolutely necessary to loft the ball over some 
 exceptionally high hazard, such as a clump of trees. 
 
 The mashie, that is, a good one, is not an easy thing to 
 find. The most popular model is that known as Taylor's, 
 with a deep, broad face and a substantial sole. The quality 
 of balance is important, and it is a mistake to buy a light- 
 weight club. In these mashie shots the weight of the head 
 has a good deal to do with the making of the stroke, and 
 if your club is too light you will try and make up for this 
 deficiency by forcing a little — striking too hard. The shaft 
 should be perfectly stifif. 
 
 Now, before we attempt any actual strok-e, I want to say 
 a few words on the spin, a subject about which much has 
 been written and which yet remains a mystery to many good 
 players. 
 
 We are already familiar with the spin to the right which 
 produces slice, and with the corresponding spin to the left, 
 which shows itself in the pulled ball. We know, too, that a 
 straight ball from the tee may have either a direct over spin 
 or a direct under spin. In the former instance, which is 
 analogous to the follow-shot at billiards, the ball has a 
 long run ; in the latter case the ball is inclined to rise or 
 
THE SHORT CAME 73 
 
 tower near the close of its flight and falls comparatively 
 dead. Finally, slice or a spin to the right is generally ac- 
 companied by under spin, both of which tend to shorten 
 its flight. The pulled ball, on the other hand, has both left 
 hand and over spin and is the longest ball that can be driven. 
 
 HOW NIBLICK BLADE STRIKES BALL UNDER THE CENTRE 
 
 Now, all of these different spins from the play and 
 driving clubs have a distinct influence upon the ball's flight, 
 but their scientific use in the long game is a subject 
 too advanced for these practical papers, and as I have 
 already said, I am not sure that the "game is worth the 
 candle" with the one exception of the pull. But when we 
 come to iron play, we shall have to take them into account. 
 
74 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 In the first place, I advise you to leave the cut or sliced 
 approach severely alone. It looks very pretty to see a ball 
 cut up to the hole side, falling on the green a little to the 
 left and then sliding over towards the cup, but there are 
 not many golfers who have really mastered the stroke so 
 as to be able to use it at will. Moreover, since the cut is 
 put on by drawing in the arms, it tends to get you in the 
 
 now CLEKK BLAISE STRIKES BALL AT CENTRE 
 
 habit of slicing other shots, and it is hard to get rid of the 
 habit — slicing is the one almost universal vice. In my own 
 game I am quite content to depend upon the simple over 
 and under spins, and to play the ball straight. Better to 
 have two shots that you can use than a bag full of fancy 
 tricks which may fail you more than half the time. 
 
THE SHORT CAME 75 
 
 We have, then, the two straightforward spins — the over, 
 which corresponds to the follow at billiards, and the under, 
 which produces in some degree the effect of the draw. 
 How are these spins produced? 
 
 My theory is that the quality of the spin depends almost 
 entirely upon the amount of loft on the club. The mashie 
 and niblick are laid back farther than any other club, and 
 their natural tendency is to put an under spin on the ball. 
 It is the lower half of the blade that first meets the ball, 
 striking it below the centre. The consequence is under 
 spin, or draw, just as in billiards. With the midiron, the 
 driving mashie, and the cleek the blade is more and more 
 upright, and it meets the ball at the centre line or a little 
 above it. The consequence is the over spin, or the billiard 
 follow-on. Normally played, the cleek drives a lower ball 
 than the driving mashie, and the driving mashie gives a 
 lower flight than the midiron. The difference depends on 
 the amount of loft, and the less the pitch of the club the 
 lower the trajectory. The iron putter, for example, is 
 straighter in the face than any other club, including the 
 driver, and it accordingly drives the lowest ball of all. 
 An interesting confirmation of my theory is a putter brought 
 out a few years ago in which the face of the blade was 
 hung over the ball — the direct opposite of the ordinary loft. 
 The theory was that it would strike the ball well above the 
 centre and so put a forward or over spin upon it, and this 
 is just what it did do. 
 
 We have, therefore, over spin as the normal result of play 
 with driver, brassey, spoon, cleek, and driving mashie. The 
 midiron stands just upon the dividing line, and then come 
 the mashie and niblick, producing under spin. With this 
 theory established, we may go on to put it in practice. 
 
 In the first place, for all half and quarter shots I believe 
 in using the overlapping grip, with the thumb down on the 
 shaft. (See illustration of this grip in Lesson II.) In all 
 iron play, properly executed, more or less turf is taken, and 
 
76 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 with the thumb on the shaft there is much less danger of 
 the club turning in the hand. Again, we need the full power 
 of the right hand to push the club through, and this can only 
 be obtained with the thumb on the shaft and not curled 
 around it. In the latter position the club is apt 'to fall into 
 the web formed by the right thumb and right forefinger, and 
 power, at a critical moment, is thereby wasted. Finally, 
 
 LOOSE WRIST ACTION IN QUARTER SHOT 
 
 the right thumb on the shaft gives us an easy and certain 
 method of arriving at a half swing. It is impossible to 
 make a perfect full swing with the right thumb in this 
 position, and we have therefore an automatic preventive 
 against overswinging with our irons. 
 
 Once again we will distinguish in our approach work be- 
 tween the shots played with a stiff wrist and those in which 
 
THE SHORT CAME 
 
 11 
 
 the latter are loosened up. With the flexible wrist the shot 
 is what we may call normal, the club head hitting the ball 
 in advance of the hands, and as a consequence the ball is 
 sent into the air or lofted. With the wrists held stiffly, so 
 as not to bend backward, the hands are in advance of the 
 club head and the result is a low ball with plenty of run. 
 Finally, if in this last stroke we allow both hands and left 
 
 STIFF WRIST ACTION IN QUARTER SHOT 
 
 shoulder to go out after the ball, instead of swinging round 
 to the left, we shall produce the shortened form of the push 
 stroke already described. These then are the essential 
 principles of approach play — the right thumb down the 
 shaft, the stiff or flexible wrists, and the hands, either kept 
 behind the club or pushed through in advance of it. All 
 modifications of the quarter game depend upon our knowl- 
 edge and practical mastery of these principles. 
 
rOP OF SWING FOR CHIP SHOT ONTO THE GREEN 
 
THE CHIP SHOT. TAKING TURF AFTER THE CALL IS STRUCK 
 
80 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 For the approach shot generally the mashie is the proper 
 club, and we will now proceed to deal with its mysteries, 
 beginning, as I have already said, with the shortest possible 
 shot and looking back. 
 
 Suppose the ball lies about twenty yards from the cup, 
 with two or three yards of the ordinary course between us 
 and the green. It is possible, of course, to run the ball up 
 with putter or midiron, but I prefer to take a mashie and 
 play what is called a chip onto the green. This is, perhaps, 
 my favorite shot and, lying in this position, I am generally 
 willing to back myself to hole out in two. 
 
 For the stance the right foot is still farther advanced, 
 as shown in the illustration, and the ball lies nearer the right 
 foot. The swing back is quite short, as short, indeed, as 
 you can make it, for it is the weight of the club head that 
 is going to do the work. The grip is firm with both hands, 
 and be sure that the right thumb is on the shaft and not 
 around it. A little turf is taken with the stroke after the 
 ball is struck, and the hands are not held back, but go out 
 after the club. As the stroke is a hit in the strictest sense of 
 the word, the follow-on is shortened up and the hands and 
 club head are checked about a foot past the ball. Now, 
 with a putter or driving iron, such a stroke would have 
 over spin, and consequently a low flight and a long run. 
 But, as I have already explained, the excessive loft of the 
 mashie produces under spin, and the result is a low ball with 
 a drag on it. Such a ball may be pitched from twenty yards 
 away to within a few feet of the hole, and its run will only 
 be long enough to take it up to the cup. 
 
 There is great control over the ball in this modification 
 of the jerk or push shot, and the tendency of the mashie 
 to hook the ball is almost wholly nullified. The wrists, by 
 the way, are kept stifif — not bent back — but, of course, they 
 must work easily, and the grip, though firm, must not be 
 rigid. 
 
THE SHORT GAME 81 
 
 Be particular not to swing back too far ; if you do you 
 will instinctively try to spare the shot and the result will be 
 a failure. Be equally careful that both hands are pushed 
 through with the impact, and don't imagine that you will 
 have to put in some extra wrist action in order to get the 
 ball into the air ; the loft on the club will attend to that. 
 
 Now, if we play this identical shot with a jigger "(a jiggeF 
 is nothing more than a lofted cleek), a midiron, or a driving 
 mashie, we shall get the same results except that these other 
 clubs will put on over spin instead of under spin, and the 
 ball will run proportionately farther. Playing the stroke 
 with the midiron it will be necessary to pitch the ball about 
 half way and let it run the rest of the distance. 
 
 This shot can be used for all distances up to the range of 
 the half mashie, the only difference being that the club is 
 taken farther back for the longer strokes. Moreover, it 
 can be played with any iron club, remembering, of course, 
 that all clubs, except a mashie or niblick, will give a run 
 to the ball. With practise, you will be able to lay out a scale 
 of distances for all your approaching clubs. 
 
 Let us now turn to the wrist shot proper. In this stroke 
 the wrists are not kept stiff, but allowed to bend back as 
 far as they will go. The stance is the same for the right 
 foot, but you may have the ball nearly half way between 
 the feet. When the club comes through, the hands do not 
 go after the club, but the left one is held back a trifle, just 
 as in the driving stroke, and the left shoulder swings around. 
 Not so much turf is taken as in the push shot. The ball 
 will be lofted well into the air and, as before, it will have 
 over or under spin according to the pitch of the club em- 
 ployed. The usefulness of the wrist shot is, of course, to 
 get the ball over whatever obstruction may be in the way, 
 such as a cop bunker. If we want a short, high loft, with 
 plenty of stop on the ball, we may take the niblick, but 
 watch out for its tendency to hook the ball to the left. 
 Moreover, in all shots with iron clubs it is advisable to hit 
 
82 LESSONS IN COLF 
 
 with the toe rather than with the heel of the club head; 
 otherwise we shall be continually hooking, foundering, or 
 slicing our shots. 
 
 Playing my normal game, I prefer the push stroke first 
 described to the wrist shot, as I find it gives better control 
 both for distance and direction. There are occasions, of 
 course, when it is absolutely necessary to get the ball well 
 into the air, as for example, when you are quite a way from 
 the green and stymied by trees or high bushes. In this 
 emergency I should play a full wrist shot with the mashie, 
 so as to get distance, loft, and a dead fall. 
 
 This, then^ is my general scheme of action for the ap- 
 proach shot, and I admit that the theory looks almost too 
 simple. There are scientific manuals on the game which 
 make a great deal of the approach stroke, subdividing it into 
 numberless variations, such as the three-quarters stroke 
 with cut, the dead loft with the club laid back, and so on. 
 I will acknowledge that if a man plays with only one club, 
 say a midiron, it will be necessary for him to learn to 
 use it in various ways to get the desired results. It seems 
 to me a simpler plan to employ but the two strokes — the 
 push and the wrist, and depend upon the particular club 
 used for the minor variations. The requirements of the 
 theorists are all very pretty on paper, but they require 
 genius and a lifetime of practice for their mastery. My 
 idea is to know less, but to know that perfectly. 
 
 To recapitulate : The stiff wrist goes with the hands 
 pushed through in advance of the club head, and the result 
 is a low flying ball. The heavily lofted clubs — the mashie 
 and niblick — put on under spin, which stops the ball com- 
 paratively dead ; the other iron clubs put on over spin, which 
 causes the ball to run. 
 
 The wrist stroke proper is made with the wrists well bent 
 back, and the club head goes through in advance of the 
 hands, producing a high flight to the ball. As before, the 
 heavily lofted clubs give under spin and the others over spin. 
 
A PUSH APPROACH WITH MIDIRON AT SIXTY YARDS 
 
84 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 111 the rnnning-up stroke with the cleek or driving mashie 
 the ball may be kept low and its running power increased 
 if the wrists are kept extra stiff, the right one turning 
 sharply over as the ball is struck. 
 
 For approaches at long distances a spoon is an excellent 
 club. The spoon is a wooden club, resembling the driver, 
 but with a larger head and a face laid back as much as a 
 brassey. The stroke may be either a push or a wrist. 
 
 Remember, finally, that in playing anything short of a full 
 swing with the irons you must keep your right thumb on 
 the shaft and use the overlapping grip, as already described. 
 The right elbow swings back close to the body just as in the 
 full driving strokes, and the right hand is always in com- 
 mand. Approaching is difficult and always will be, and it 
 can only be mastered by hard and conscientious practice. 
 Go out alone with nothing but a mashie and a half dozen 
 balls and really work at the problem, and your trouble will 
 be amply repaid in the lowering of your medal scores. 
 
LESSON V 
 
 On the Green 
 
 That putting is not so easy as it looks is a truism that 
 every golfer finally establishes for himself. Who among 
 us has not executed (in practice) feats of putting that have 
 bordered upon the miraculous. Long putts, short putts, 
 borrows, stymies — nothing was too difficult; we could not 
 miss the hole if we tried. And then, the very next day, 
 when we had that easy looking fourteen-inch dribble for 
 the hole and match ! Ah ! we all know what that is. 
 
 Of course, there are natural good putters as well as 
 hopelessly bad ones. It is the tendency of the golfer, who 
 takes up golf in middle life, to rather underestimate the 
 value of putting. If he happens to be a "born" putter, so 
 much the better, for he will thereby win a goodly proportion 
 of his matches. But if he is poor in his work on the green 
 he does not greatly care — it will be time enough to work 
 up the putting after he has mastered the long game and 
 becomes fairly steady in his mashie play. 
 
 Now, I firmly believe that this point of view is all wrong. 
 Putting is just as much a part of the game as driving from 
 the tee, and even more important. The simple faculty of 
 regularly holing in three, from sixty yards or so, will give 
 a man a respectable rating on the handicap list, and I can 
 safely assert that no player ever yet won an important 
 championship whose putting has not been well above the 
 average. Yes, and think of the many championships that 
 have been lost, simply because the golfer happened to have 
 an off day on the greens. And so I tell you to work at 
 your putting as conscientiously as you do at the more 
 amusing pastime of free swiping at the ball. It will well 
 repay you. 
 
86 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 I have spoken of "off" days in one's putting. That would 
 seem to imply that the process of holing out depends for its 
 efficiency upon something entirely outside of the player's 
 self. It is true that we all have our moments of inspira- 
 tion when the ball is certain to find a resting place at the 
 bottom of the cup. It is equally certain that there are days 
 upon which nothing seems to go right. Our approach putts 
 are miles too short; our holing out is unaccountably off in 
 direction. Despair overwhelms us, and we cannot putt 
 at all. 
 
 Of course, there is a philosophical explanation for these 
 vagaries, and it all lies in one word — confidence. If we 
 are sure that we can hole the ball, in it goes, and contrari- 
 wise. If we had no such troublesome things as nerves and 
 imagination, what phenomenal putters we could be! But 
 the instant we get frightened we are all in, as the gentle- 
 men of the prize ring say. 
 
 It is obviously impossible to give a receipt that shall 
 insure us the possession of that invaluable confidence when- 
 ever we want it. It follows that if we do our putting in 
 haphazard fashion and trust to inspiration and luck for 
 success, Ave shall never get very far. There are not enough 
 of these golden moments in a golfer's life to go round, and 
 for the best part of the time we shall have to depend upon 
 ourselves. In other words, we shall have to evolve some 
 sound system of dealing with the ball on the green, and . 
 learn it so thoroughly and practice it so faithfully that we 
 may reasonably hope for, at least, an average percentage 
 of respectable play. If we have some idea of how we are 
 going to do a thing, we are a long way towards its ac- 
 complishment, and while some good putters are born, the 
 vast majority are self-made. Inspiration and luck — they 
 will be welcome enough when they come, but they are not 
 in the day's work. 
 
 Good putting is possible under many systems' I give 
 you the benefit of my own experience and if you can make 
 
LONG PUTT WITH PUSH 
 
88 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 it yours, well and good. I can, at any rate, start you on 
 the right road, and it will be your own fault if you leave it. 
 Reduced to its simplest expression, effective putting depends 
 upon absolutely true hitting, with a reasonable proficiency 
 in distance judging. The latter comes largely through 
 experience ; the former from strict attention to the busi- 
 ness in hand. 
 
 I am a great believer in saving myself strokes whenever 
 I can. It is for that reason that I have taken so much 
 pains to perfect myself in the very short approach, or chip 
 onto the green, described in the previous chapter. What 
 success I have had I ascribe, in large measure, to my being 
 able to get the ball near enough to the hole, on the short 
 approach, to insure me a fair chance of holing out on the 
 next. I try to eliminate the long putt, so far as practicable, 
 and nothing in golf politics pays so well. Two strokes on 
 the green is Colonel Bogey's allowance; if you can cut 
 those eighteen strokes down to twelve, you have the Colonel 
 beaten and probably your flesh and blood adversary as well. 
 
 To come down to practical definitions, I generally use a 
 push stroke in playing the ball up to the hole. This is 
 much the same sort of stroke as the very short approach 
 referred to above. The club is held with a firm grip and 
 the hands are in advance of the ball when the latter is 
 struck. But do not stab at the ball, nor try to jerk it, or 
 unsteadiness and failure are certain. This stroke is also 
 good for holing out, particularly if the green be at all 
 rough or heavy. 
 
 The illustration will give you a general idea of my stance 
 (although the latter is largely a matter of personal prefer- 
 ence) and, as with all my other strokes, the right is the 
 master hand. Both thumbs are down on the shaft. 
 
 You will notice that I use a putting cleek, for American 
 greens do not seem to favor the old-time wooden putter. 
 The turf in this country lacks the smooth keenness of the 
 seaside greens of Great Britain, and the ball seems to run 
 
ORDINARY PUTTING STANCE 
 
90 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 better off the iron. There are very few Old Country pro- 
 fessionals who still cling to their wooden putters in their 
 American play. 
 
 When the green does happen to be exceptionally true and 
 fast it is advisable to put a back spin on the ball, particularly 
 in the down hill strokes. To get this back spin it is neces- 
 sary to hold the club with a decidedly loose grip and allow 
 the hands to follow through freely after the ball. The 
 principle is that of the draw at billiards — you will get 
 no spin worth considering if your grip is tight and the 
 stroke is nipped. 
 
 The clubhead must meet the ball squarely and truly to 
 make the latter run straight. The great difficulty is to keep 
 one's attention on this point, and it is quite impossible so 
 long as your mind (and perhaps your eye) is fixed upon 
 the hole instead of on the ball. The plan usually recom- 
 mended I believe to be sound. Stand behind your ball and 
 pick out the line over which you intend that the ball shall 
 travel ; then make up your mind how much strength will be 
 necessary. If it is a long putt, of say fifteen feet, pick 
 out some particular blade of grass, two or three feet from 
 your ball and in the proper line. This will be the mark 
 for which you are playing, and since it is so near you will 
 not have to bother much about direction, but can devote 
 all your energies to hitting the ball clean and with tlie 
 proper degree of strength. For the holing-out strokes 
 pursue the same tactics, but in this case your mark will 
 be proportionately nearer the ball — say from six inches 
 to a couple of feet. The idea is that you shall put the hole 
 itself as much out of your consciousness as possible and 
 thereby avoid the temptation of looking up too soon. This 
 latter is the chief cause of all missed putts, especially the 
 short ones. If you look up you will not bring the clubhead 
 squarely into contact with the ball, and the consequence is 
 a miss-hit, top, slice, or pull, as the case may be. 
 
PUTT WITH STOP 
 
92 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 Some teachers recommend taking- the line from behind 
 the hole to the ball, but I think that from the ball to the 
 hole will give better average results. To try both methods 
 and then endeavor to strike the mean between them will 
 only confuse you. 
 
 For running up very long approach putts, from off the 
 green, the wooden putter is the club. But the proper 
 conditions of comparatively smooth ground for the run-up 
 are not often found in this country. On the sand greens 
 or "browns" of Southern and Californian golf courses I use 
 the push stroke with a putting cleek, even at long distances 
 from the green proper. The lofted approach is useless on 
 sand greens and, indeed, one must learn his putting all 
 over again to perform creditably on the "browns." A ball 
 runs truly on the good sand green, but the problem of 
 strength is a very difificult one. 
 
 We have been dealing with ordinary, plain putting on 
 level greens ; we have now to consider the other problems 
 connected with holing out. 
 
 In putting on undulating greens we have the choice of 
 two distinct methods of play. We may borrow — that is, 
 allow for the slope — or we may play the ball straight for 
 the hole and endeavor to counteract the roll by using pull 
 and slice. Of the two systems, I unhesitatingly prefer the 
 former, for the simple reason that a putting green is not 
 a billiard table, and it is very difficult, indeed, to produce 
 and control these side spins. Therefore, I think it better 
 to borrow, playing the ball up on the slope and letting it 
 follow a curved line to the hole. Of course, no more 
 definite advice can be given ; the player will have to learn 
 by experience how much to allow for the roll' of the ground. 
 
 I have been asked if I favor stymie play, and I answer 
 emphatically that I do. Stymies have always been played 
 in match golf, and there is no real golf without them. Of 
 course, there is luck and hard luck, too, in having a stymie 
 laid you, but how about the lies through the green? More- 
 
ON THE GREEN 93 
 
 over, there is some very pretty strategy to be employed in 
 laying a stymie against the other chap. Of course, a player 
 never tries to lay a stymie in preference to holing his own 
 ball — that would be simply throwing away a stroke. But 
 suppose you are playing your long approach putt and can 
 only hope to lie dead. Your opponent's ball is, we will say, 
 two feet to the left of the cup. Your play should then be 
 for the left edge of the hole. If the putt does not go down, 
 there is still a chance that it may stop between your ad- 
 versary's ball and the "tin," making his holing out a diffi- 
 cult problem. 
 
 Again, your opponent's ball lies in a straight line to 
 yours, but beyond the hole. You must be sure to hit your 
 ball hard enough to overrun the hole by a few inches, and 
 so lay the enemy a stymie. The same holds good when the 
 two balls are in line and your adversary is nearer the hole. 
 You are now stymied yourself, and it being a long putt, 
 you have small chance of getting down. Be sure, then, 
 to lay your ball dead and with the idea of getting the 
 inside position for your ball, thereby reversing the original 
 situation. 
 
 This brings us to the several methods of negotiating a 
 stymie when your ball is within possible holing distance. 
 If the balls are not quite in line and the lie of the ground is 
 at all favorable, you will try to screw yours around by 
 putting on slice or pull. For the former, hit the ball off 
 the heel of your putter, at the same time drawing the hands 
 in. To pull, hit off the toe of the club and turn the hands 
 over. These strokes are very pretty when they come off, 
 but, of course, they call for very accurate striking and a 
 most delicate grip. 
 
 When the balls are so close together as to be almost 
 within the six-inch limit and directly in line, the only play 
 is the loft over. For this stroke the best club is a mashie- 
 niblick, or a plain niblick. Hit accurately, smoothly and 
 let the cliih head'do the zvork. 
 
CURLING AROUND STYMIE TO THE LEFT 
 
CURLING AROUND STYMIE TO THE RIGHT 
 
96 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 There is one stymie that is virtually impossible. This is 
 where your adversary's ball is in direct line and lying on 
 the edge of the cup. Some golfers try to play this shot on 
 the principle of the follow at billiards. They hit their own 
 ball on the top to induce forward spin and play it hard and 
 directly upon the obstructing ball. The theory is that the 
 impact will drive your adversary's ball clean over and 
 beyond the hole, while yours follows on and drops in. Very 
 pretty, but in the vast majority of cases it is your oppo- 
 nent's ball that is holed, while yours remains outside. Golf 
 balls are not made of ivory, and you cannot play billiard 
 tricks with them with any degree of certainty. Better to 
 try and loft your ball cleanly into the hole, unless you have 
 two for the half, when it would be the part of wisdom to 
 Ignore the stymie entirely and merely play to lay yourself 
 dead. 
 
 Enough has been said about the stymie to show that 
 there is some very real play connected with it, both offensive 
 and defensive. The golfers who. oppose the stymie are 
 generally card-and-pencil players who care more for their 
 miserable score than they do for the match. Such persons 
 would undoubtedly like to see tablecloths laid in all the 
 bunkers to save themselves strokes. Let us have the rigor 
 of the game, gentlemen. 
 
 It is a common practice among players to bar stymies in 
 friendly matches. Now, so long as the stymie does remain 
 a part of the game it ought to be played, and golfers 
 aspiring to national tournament honors will need all the 
 practice they can get in this line. I believe that the 
 U. S. G. A. has formally ruled that in the championship 
 meetings, held under its direction, contestants may not 
 exclude stymies by mutual consent or otherwise, and players 
 generally should feel bound to conform to this official 
 attitude of the ruling body. 
 
 Giving of putts in friendly matches is also an objection- 
 able practice. In medal play contests all putts must be holed 
 
LOFTING A STYMIE 
 
98 LESSONS IN COLF 
 
 out and the golfer who gets in the habit of giving and 
 receiving short putts may very Hkely fall down badly in a 
 qualifying round. Either he forgets and picks up his ball, 
 or he actually misses one or two baby putts, and so loses 
 confidence. 
 
 The giving of a short putt is, of course, intended as a 
 courtesy, but curiously enough the practice has led to some 
 exceedingly mean and underhand play. The following- 
 case is not uncommon ; it may almost be called typical : 
 
 A has an eight-inch putt for the winning of the hole. He 
 wonders whether B intends to give him the putt, as has 
 been their practice up to this point, or not. On this par- 
 ticular occasion B says nothing and A, a trifle disturbed in 
 mind, plays and misses. It is clear that B has deliberately 
 taken a psychological advantage of A by withholding, at a 
 critical moment, a customary courtesy or privilege, or what- 
 ever you like to call it. 
 
 But this sort of dishonorable strategy goes even further. 
 A has the same eight-inch putt for the hole. "You can't 
 miss that, I suppose," says B, and half turns away. A is 
 naturally undecided as to what B's words may mean. . Is 
 A expected to hole out or not? He plays and misses. 
 "What !" explaims B, "did you miss that? I get a half, then." 
 
 It is perfectly evident that under these circumstances A 
 should have immediately picked up his ball and claimed the 
 hole. B's remark was tantamount to giving up the hole, 
 and should have been so taken. But A might have objected 
 and disclaimed any intention of giving up the hole. 
 
 The particular point I want to bring out is that unpleasant 
 misunderstandings are always possible unless all putts are 
 holed as a matter of course. If you want to present your 
 opponent with a win or a half, say explicitly : "Your hole," 
 or pick up his ball and hand it to him. 
 
 There is a little point in green play clearly defined in the 
 rules, but which few golfers seem to know. Supposing 
 your opponent's ball is lying in a precarious position on the 
 
LOFTING A STYMIE 
 
100 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 lip of the cup and you hole out for the win or the half. 
 You have then the right to immediately knock his ball 
 away from the hole, thereby preventing its possible follow- 
 ing in through the agency of the wind or otherwise. This 
 is a small thing, but upon occasion it may mean the match. 
 
LESSON VI 
 
 Getting Out of Difficulties 
 
 In a former lesson I referred briefly to play through the 
 green, where the ball is on a hanging lie or either above or 
 below the player. I said then, and repeat it now, that the 
 chief essentials are accuracy and an easy swing, but I may 
 add a word or two upon the proper stance and swing for 
 these variations from the normal. 
 
 When the ball is lying on an uphill slope, and consequently 
 above }'ou, the tendency is to hook it badly. It will help 
 you to play straight if you stand a little farther from the 
 ball than usual, swinging very easily. 
 
 When the ball lies on a downhill slope, or beneath you, 
 the tendency is both to slice and to fall forward as the club 
 comes through. Stand well behind the ball and slightly 
 turn down the nose of your club. The swing should not be 
 more than a three-quarters one. 
 
 When the ball is on a hanging or downward lie (in the 
 direct line of play) the stroke should be well off the right 
 foot. In other words, stand more in front of the ball than 
 usual, the left knee very firm and the right one compara- 
 tively loose. The grip, too, should be light, or you may 
 poke the club into the ground. For all these shots I prefer 
 a spoon, this last being a wooden club a trifle shorter than 
 the driver and laid back like a brassey. It has no brass sole 
 plate and is consequently a better balanced club than the 
 ordinary brassey. Referring again to the push stroke, which 
 is largely used when the ball is in a shallow cup or moder- 
 ately bad lie, the tendency is to stiffen the shoulders and 
 tighten up the grip. This is quite wrong. The grip should 
 be decidedly slackened, so as to take the jar off the wrists 
 and permit the putting on of back spin. It is excellent 
 
STANCE FOR BALL LYING ABOVE YOU 
 
STANCE FOR BALL LYING BELOW YOU 
 
104 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 practice to learn this stroke by playing balls out of a shallow 
 bunker in which the sand is loose and yielding. You will 
 have no fears for the safety of the club shaft or injury to 
 your wrists, and the stroke can be brought off in proper 
 fashion. 
 
 When the ball lies in a deep rut there is nothing to do 
 but to take your niblick and pound at it. It is generally 
 advisable to follow the rut. Indeed, the great principle of 
 all play out of bad lies is to get out. Make up your mind 
 that you have lost one stroke and are only trying to place 
 yourself in position for the next one. You have lost one 
 stroke ; don't lose two. 
 
 In getting out of bunkers the older authorities advised 
 hitting into the sand behind the ball, the distance being pro- 
 portional to the looseness of the sand. It is hardly worth 
 while bothering over such niceties ; take the sand as close 
 to the ball as possible and let the grip be loose and flexible. 
 Sometimes you will find the ball cocked up in a bunker, 
 teed, as one may say. In such case it is advisable to stand 
 well behind the ball so as to clearly catch it on the up swing 
 cvS the club comes through. It is very easy to foozle even 
 so simple a shot as this appears to be by taking sand. Note 
 that this is exactly the reverse situation to the ordinary 
 bunker play in which the ball lies in a heel point or is half 
 buried. 
 
 In playing out of long grass take the heaviest club in 
 your bag, preferably a mashie-niblick, and bang away. 
 The stroke is more on the straight up and down order, for 
 all that you expect to do is to get back on the fair green, 
 and with the usual long sweep back the club has to fight its 
 way through that much more obstruction. 
 
 The wind is a difficulty that must always be reckoned with 
 on a seaside course, and even the inland ones have their 
 share of stormy weather. There are scientific golfers who 
 make much of their ability to use a wind, putting or slicing, 
 as the case ma}- be, and the theory is a plausible one. In 
 
BALL IN A RUT 
 
PLAYING OUT OF A BUNKER 
 
PLAYING OUT OF LONG GRASS 
 
108 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 practice? Well, for the beginner, it is enough if he can 
 hit cleanly and straight. A high wind always exaggerates 
 the effect of a spin, and I have already given my opinion 
 that the deliberate cultivation of a slice is a dangerous 
 thing. 
 
 When the wind is coming from the right you may safely 
 play well into it, turning the wrists over at the moment of 
 impact so as to get a little pull. As the latter begins to take 
 effect the wind will then keep it along in the general direc- 
 tion of the hole. 
 
 In a left hand wind you would theoretically play again 
 well into its eye with a slice. But I say, don't slice inten- 
 tionally under any circumstances. Aim a little farther to 
 the left and try for a perfectly straight ball. 
 
 With the wind dead against you, you naturally want a 
 low ball. To get it you should play well off the right foot, 
 and the hands may be allowed to come through a trifle in 
 advance of the club head. With a following wind, stand 
 well behind the ball, so that you may pick it up as the club 
 head begins to rise. You want to get it well into the air 
 so that the wind may exert its full force upon it for the 
 longest possible time. 
 
 A ball in water is played as though it were in a sand 
 bunker. Don't be afraid of the splash. 
 
 Generally speaking, a golfer looks upon bad lies as being 
 more difficult than they really are. The irresistible inclina- 
 tion is to stiffen oneself and hit a little harder than usual. 
 We all know the fallacy of this proceeding, but, nevertheless, 
 we continue to pursue it. There is only one cure, and that 
 is to regard the ball in difficulty as having lost for you one 
 complete stroke. If you can reconcile yourself to this, you 
 will not attempt much more than to put your ball in position 
 for the next stroke; you will play easily and well within 
 yourself and the results will be correspondingly favorable. 
 After a while you will find that you are getting more distance 
 as well and the bad lies will have lost most of their terrors. 
 
STANCE FOR WIND DEAD AGAINST PLAYER 
 
PLAYING OUT OF WATER 
 
LESSON VII 
 
 Advice to Incurables 
 
 There are golfers — plenty of them — who the more they 
 play, the worse they play. They have read all the books, 
 they have taken lessons from all the teachers within reach, 
 and still they cannot achieve a respectable game ; and by this 
 I mean long game, which is the same thing in the minds of 
 most of our middle-aged amateurs. If they could only drive 
 decently, they would be pretty well satisfied, even though no 
 single piece of prize pewter ever graced their sideboards. 
 For these unfortunate gentlemen I have a word, and I trust, 
 an enlightening one. 
 
 In my experience as a teacher I have had to deal with 
 some desperate cases, considered from a medical golfer's 
 standpoint, and I have learned to recognize the more com- 
 mon and deadly forms of disease. These I reduce to three, 
 for while there are other minor ailments, they are not 
 absolutely fatal ; they do not prevent the golfer from 
 achieving something that resembles a game. 
 
 For instance, a player finds great difficulty in getting his 
 ball well into the air, particularly on the brassey shots, so- 
 called. He hits hard and the ball sails, but time and again 
 it is so low that it fails to clear the distant hazard. On 
 other occasions it is the plain ordinary "top" that reduces 
 him to despair. 
 
 Now, it is more than probable that the whole trouble is 
 due to the fact that this golfer has never got it into his 
 head that the club must get down to the root of the ball. 
 He has been looking at the top of the ball and telling 
 himself that the club must take the ball with such marvelous 
 cleanness that the ground is not touched in the slightest. 
 Consequently, he is always hitting the ball a bit above the 
 
RISING ON LEFT TOE AND SWAYTNG r.OnV 
 
ADVICE TO INCURABLES 113 
 
 belt, which means a low trajector\\ If he is not quite so 
 accurate as usual, a "top" follows as a matter of course. 
 
 The cure in this case is ridiculously easy. The player 
 has only to get down to the ball and matters will quickly 
 right themselves. 
 
 Again, there are golfers who are naturally inept at all 
 forms of outdoor sport. Hand and eye do not work accu- 
 rately together, and they are just as bad shots and billiard 
 players as they are golfers. 
 
 For this class, the general or constitutional treatment is 
 their only hope. And this general treatment is simply hard, 
 continuous and conscientious practice. Hand and eye must 
 be trained to work in unison, and practice is the only possible 
 way of bringing this about. A player who labors under this 
 natural disadvantage is never likely to become absolutely 
 first-class ; but he may obtain a respectable position on the 
 handicap list, if he thinks it worth the price. All depends 
 upon himself, provided, of course, that he has not acquired 
 any of the two or three deadly sins that make all golf 
 impossible, and which I will take up further on. 
 
 Minor faults are legion and may be dismissed from the 
 present discussion, for the simple reason that they are not 
 permanent disorders of the golfing system. They are not 
 organic, but functional disturbances, and left to themselves 
 they run their little course and disappear. Nature is the 
 healer in these cases and the cure is best left to her. 
 
 Keen, intelligent men who like to think of the game as a 
 science and who try to play it as such, are all the time falling 
 into mannerisms and tricks of style, which temporarily may 
 improve their game — sometimes to a remarkable degree. 
 "Now we have it at last," they say, "and it is all in a stiff 
 left wrist. Keep the left wrist like a poker, my boy, and 
 you have the secret of golf." 
 
 Well, they go on playing with an abnormally rigid left 
 wTist and really accomplish great things. They would do 
 quite as well if they were to tighten up the right wrist 
 
FALLING BACK, WEIGHT ON RIGHT FOOT, CAUSED BY PULLING 
 CLUB WITH LEFT HAND 
 
WRONG BENDING OF LEFT WRIST 
 
 instead of the left^ for their whole success Hes in their 
 confidence that they have discovered the one thing that 
 makes golf. By and by two or three strokes go wrong. 
 The player tightens up his left wrist still more (and inci- 
 dentally his whole body as well) and begins to press in order 
 
116 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 to recover his momentarily departed form. Of course, 
 there is a general smash-up, despair, a casting about for 
 another theory, a new discovery, and the whole business 
 over again. 
 
 Let us treat these poor theorists tenderly. Their ambi- 
 tion is a noble one, and they are always the keenest of golfers 
 and the best of sportsmen. Golf could not do without them 
 any more than they could do without golf. All I can say 
 is to warn them that the first business of a golfer is to hit 
 the ball, and no system, no theory, no great and inner secret 
 can do that for you. Clean hitting is the foundation upon 
 which everything else is builded. 
 
 Coming now to our subject proper, there are three mis- 
 takes in particular against which I desire to warn you. So 
 long as you persist in these vital errors you will never be a 
 player, and you must first learn to recognize the symptoms 
 before proceeding to cure the disease. 
 
 Rising on the left toe, at the same time keeping the left 
 knee stiff, is a virulent and common disorder of the golfing 
 system. The inevitable result is that the player is unable to 
 see the ball, unless he sways his body over to the right and 
 out of the correct vertical position. 
 
 The cure is simple. Let the left knee relax and turn in 
 towards its fellow. You will then be able to swing the body 
 around in the correct vertical plane and the ball will remain 
 comfortably in sight. The left heel leaves the ground when 
 it gets ready to do so and not before. Let it be clearly 
 understood that swaying the body to the right is absolutely 
 destructive of good golf, and that if you stiffen up your left 
 knee this same swaying is the inevitable consequence. 
 
 Another chronic disease shows itself at the end of the 
 swing, where the player falls back, thereby depriving his 
 stroke of a large percentage of its power. The difficulty 
 here is that the body has not entered properly into the swing. 
 As the club head goes through the weight is kept upon the 
 right foot instead of being transferred to the left heel, and 
 
OVERSWING (at TOp) 
 
A BAD FINISH 
 
ADVICE TO INCURABLES 119 
 
 the player is obliged to fall back in order to keep his balance 
 at all. 
 
 As I figure it out, the difficulty arises from the fact that 
 the player tries to pull the club through with his left hand. 
 That allows the right shoulder to drop and so the weight 
 is kept back on the right foot and the body cannot come 
 through. The player who adopts my theory about the right 
 hand and forearm being always in command, will not be 
 troubled by this tendency to fall back. The right shoulder 
 will be kept up, the weight will be transferred to the left 
 foot, at the proper moment, and the full power of the player's 
 body will be thrown into the stroke. It follows that golfers 
 who hold to the generally accepted theory that the golfing 
 stroke is principally made with the left are in especial 
 danger of getting into the falling back habit. . 
 
 The last, and perhaps the worst of the ills to which golfing 
 flesh is subject, is the wrong bending of the left wrist. 
 Study the illustration which shows the incorrect position 
 and then compare it with the true wrist action, as depicted 
 in several of the photographs of the earlier lesson chapters. 
 Then take your natural swing and, holding the club in its 
 horizontal position behind your neck, step up to a mirror 
 and look at your left wrist. Never mind about the right 
 one; that will take care of itself; it is the left one whose 
 position is important. 
 
 Now, if it is bent, as shown in illustration for this lesson, 
 you will have to get it put right, or give up all hope of ever 
 becoming even a passable golfer. Neither power nor 
 accuracy is possible unless the wrists work freely and 
 naturally, and in the common error illustrated above they 
 could not be less free, or more unnatural. 
 
 There is a cause, of course, and in the great majority of 
 cases I diagnose it as due to the pushing out of the left 
 elbow as the club goes back. If I am right, the remedy is 
 equally obvious — keep the left elbow in and let the wrist 
 turn towards the body so that you can see the full back of 
 
SCOOPING THE BALL WITH MASH IE 
 
ADVICE TO INCURABLES 121 
 
 the left hand. This ensures the proper wrist action and adds 
 immensely to the power, speed and accuracy of the stroke. 
 
 There is little more that can be said, in a general way, 
 for the benefit of golfing- invalids. The best plan is, of 
 course, to see a physician personally, since nearly every 
 case calls for special treatment. All I have endeavored to 
 do is to describe, as clearly as I can, the more common of 
 the really dangerous maladies, so that you may be able to 
 recognize them and apply the simple household remedies I 
 have suggested. 
 
 As a rule, shorten up your swing when you fall into a 
 streak of bad play. It is a common fallacy that the longer 
 the swing, the longer the ball driven by it; and yet experi- 
 ence is constantly teaching us that that is by no means the 
 case. Into the long, loose swing all kinds of golfing heresies 
 may creep quite unnoticed and unfelt; then their deadly 
 work begins and we are undone. Curiously enough, with 
 the long, loose swing we are very apt to tighten up the 
 grip, and that means pressing with its usual consequences. 
 The sick man in golf must play well within himself, if he 
 wants to regain his wonted health, and this advice applies 
 with particular force to the convalescent. We all go off 
 our game now and then; but if it is essentially a sound 
 one, and we are willing to let Nature take her time about 
 it, she will work the cure. 
 
> 
 
 A PICTURE GALLERT 
 
 The interesting- point about this series of pictures is the 
 absolute uniformity of the style displayed. The different 
 strokes are all relative developments of the same basic 
 principles. The golf is "all of a piece," and the logical 
 result is the fine game. 
 
124 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE DRIVE. TOP OF SWING 
 The position of the left arm is important. Note that it is 
 kept virtually straight, insuring a long, wide sweep of the 
 club. The common and easy way to get the club to a 
 horizontal position back of the head is to bend the elbows 
 and draw in the hands. But then the swing will necessarily 
 be short and too straight up and down. In the true swing 
 the left arm is kept extended and the club is brought to the 
 top of the swing through the proper action of the wrists. 
 

 ^^iE^^?'-^ 
 
 THE DRIVE. TOP OF SWING 
 
126 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE DRIVE. FINISH OF SWING ^ 
 
 (side view) I 
 
 Observe that the body is not straining towards the hole ; 
 there is no suggestion of the player's throwing himself after 
 the ball. The weight is solidly poised on the left foot and 
 the position of the body is vertical. The right shoulder is 
 well to the front and the right foot, balanced upon the toe, 
 shows how full and free has been the facing about of the 
 player. Note the club head, hanging like a pear upon its ^ 
 branch, just as it did at the top of the swing. 
 
the drive. finish of swing 
 (side view) 
 
128 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE DRIVE. FINISH OF SWING 
 (front view) 
 Following- the finish around, we are struck by the com- 
 parative straightness of the arms. Evidently they have been 
 extended at full length throughout the swing and particularly 
 so in the follow-on. The grip of the left hand has relaxed 
 so that the club may swing the more easily behind the 
 player's back. Both elbows have been kept low, meaning 
 that the swing has been a powerfully concentrated one. 
 
THE DRIVE. FINISH OF SWING 
 (FRONT view) 
 
130 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE DRIVE. FIXISH OE SWING 
 (back view) 
 The finish is perhaps an unusually low one, and the posi- 
 tion emphasizes the compact nature of the swing. The 
 rigidity of the left leg is evidence of the power and control 
 of the stroke ; the "let-go" of the right leg and foot be- 
 tokens its grace and freedom. Some players have, a "broken 
 finish," the club dropping at a limp angle from the wrists 
 instead of being brought around the back. This does not 
 afifect the power or accuracy of the stroke, but it is certainl\- 
 not a pretty style. Here control is kept throughout. 
 
 1 
 
HE l)kl\l-:. FINISH OF SWING 
 
 (back view) 
 
132 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE CLEEK. ADDRESS 
 The thumb of the right hand is around the shaft, not 
 upon it. Note that the hands are kept rather low and that 
 in consequence the toe of the club is slightly tilted up and 
 off the ground. This is necessary in all iron play, for if 
 the toe of the cleek or iron takes the ground first it is very 
 apt to dig in and spoil the stroke. The arms and club 
 shaft should not be in the same plane so as to form one 
 straight line. The right knee is kept rigidly stiff. Unless 
 this is done the body has a fatal tendency to sway to the 
 right. 
 
 1 
 
THE CLEEK. ADDRESS 
 
134 LESSONS IN COLF 
 
 THE CLEEK. TOP OF SWING 
 The left shoulder and elbow should be kept well down ; 
 otherwise the left shoulder would foul the chin when the 
 club swings up. This is true, of course, for the swing with 
 any club. The left knee has bent well in, and this is the 
 important point in the correct pivoting of the body about its 
 vertical axis. Beginners are apt to be concerned only with 
 the lifting of the left heel. That will take care of itself. 
 Note that the weight is almost entirely on the right leg. 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
THE CLEEK. TOP OF SWING 
 
136 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THECLEEK. FINISH OF SWING ■ 
 (side view) 
 It is worth noting that the position of the left foot is 
 virtually the same as in the address. There are good golfers, 
 for example, Mr. Findlay Douglas, whose left foot, at the 
 finish, will be found to point directly at the hole. But a 
 player of this type crouches at the end of his stroke. The 
 upright position and the immovable left foot likewise go 
 together. It is an interesting difference in stvle. 
 
the cleek. finish of swing 
 (side view) 
 
138 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE CLEEK. FINISH OF SWING 
 (front view) 
 The full front view of a finish is not a usual point of 
 observation ; certainly not a very safe one. It is, however, 
 an instructive object lesson on the value of poise and balance. 
 The golfer who falls back at the end of his stroke, as well 
 as he who lurches forward, robs himself of a good proportion 
 of power. The inside edge of the left foot is the proper 
 pivot for the back swing rather than the toe ; and in the 
 down swing the outside edge acts as a check on the outward 
 flow of the body. Note that the right shoulder is kept well 
 up as it swings around. Otherwise the ball is apt to be 
 foundered. 
 
the cleek. finish of swing 
 (front view) 
 
14t)-^ LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE CLEEK. FINISH OF SWING 
 (back view) 
 There are players who always finish a full stroke by 
 taking a step, or even a short run after the ball. Unless 
 this is a natural idiosyncrasy, the result is probably a slice, 
 the shoulders entering too freely into the stroke. Note that 
 the club does not come quite so far around as in the full 
 drive with a wooden club. Also, that the left elbow is drawn 
 in close to the body, evidence that the arms have been fully 
 extended. The left elbow, in particular, does not begin to 
 bend until the follow-on is completed. 
 
the cleek. finish of swing 
 (back view) 
 
142 LESSONS IN COLF 
 
 THE IROX. TOP OF SWING 
 The club has not gone back so far as hi the fuU drive and 
 full cleek. Moreover, it has been taken up a trifle straighter. 
 All iron clubs have a tendency to pull the ball, and the 
 greater the loft the greater the hook. Consequently, the play 
 should be more on the straight up and down style, the club 
 being taken over the shoulder instead of around its point. 
 It is a good principle of iron play to never take more than 
 half a swing, since forcing means disastrous pulling. If 
 you want greater distance, use a more powerful club. 
 
THE IRON. TOP OF S^^■IXG 
 
144 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE IRON. FINISH OF SWING 
 (side view) 
 The left knee is a trifle bent as compared with the finish 
 with driver and cleek. This is probably consequent upon 
 the swing being more on the up and down variety. Note 
 again that the finish corresponds to the top of the swing in 
 that the club rises above the shoulder instead of swinging 
 around it. 
 
 I 
 
the iron. finish of swing 
 (side view) 
 
146 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE IRON. FINISH OF SWING 
 (front view) 
 A noteworthy feature is the unusually short grip on the 
 shaft. In this case the iron happens to have a shaft of extra 
 length, and the grip is taken so as to secure the best balance. 
 Naturally, every player will vary this to suit himself and 
 the club that he is using. It is worth remembering, however, 
 that the tendency to pull may be corrected by gripping the 
 club with the left hand at the extreme end of the shaft. 
 This, at least, is the theory of Willie Park, one of the finest 
 cleek and iron players in the world. 
 
the iron. finish of swing 
 (front view) 
 
148 LESSONS IN COLF 
 
 THE IRON. FINISH OF SWING 
 (back view) 
 The hands are raised higher than in the finish with the 
 full driving- clubs. This is the natural result of the club 
 swinging over the shoulder. In all other respects the atti- 
 tude and poise of the body is the same. One of the cardinal 
 principles of a good style is that every stroke is, broadly 
 speaking, modeled on the same general lines. 
 
the iron. finish of swing 
 (back view) 
 
 t 
 
150 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE MASHIE. ADDRESS 
 The right foot is well advanced and the ball is relatively 
 nearer to it. The right thumb lies along the shaft, instead 
 of being curled around it. It is not a bad plan in mashie 
 play to aim with the toe of the club. Otherwise the slightest 
 falling forward, in the down stroke, will result in the ball 
 being hit off the heel. Pulling is almost inseparable from 
 mashie play and in an approach of say fifty yards an allow- 
 ance of three yards is often necessary to compensate for 
 the hook. 
 
 ( 
 
THE MASHIE. ADDRESS 
 
152 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE MASHIE. TOP OF SWING 
 The up swing is relatively shorter and the wrists are not 
 bent so much as in the driving- strokes. This is the fullest 
 swing that should ever be taken with a mashie, for accu- 
 racy and judgment of distance are more important than 
 length. The left arm is kept as straight as possible, practi- 
 cally the same as in the address. The left heel has hardly 
 left the ground and the body has not made more than a 
 half turn to the right, the hips being kept under firm control. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
THE^MASHIE. TOP OF SWING 
 
154 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE MASHIE. FINISH OF SWING 
 (side view) 
 The shorter the chib, the shorter the up swing and the 
 shorter the finish. Here again quite a piece of the shaft has 
 been allowed to extend beyond the grip with the idea of 
 securing a perfect balance. The bend in the left knee also 
 corresponds to the same position in the finish with the iron. 
 

 
 -,^,-mm^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 g^^ *I8P|^| 
 
 
 
 ^M "^rii J 
 
 
 
 ^p^fl| 
 
 
 
 ^K^^^l 
 
 
 
 Ip^^I 
 
 
 
 ^^m 
 
 
 
 
 
 the mashie. finish of swing 
 (side view) 
 
156 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE MASHIE. FINISH OF SWING 
 (front view) 
 The interesting feature of this picture is the position of 
 the right wrist. It has been turned well over, signifying 
 that it has taken the master part in the stroke. Incidentally 
 the turning over of the right hand helps to keep the ball 
 low and adds distance to the stroke. Compare the finish of 
 the drive with wooden club and cleek. Also note the close- 
 in position of the left elbow. 
 
THE MASHIE. FINISH OF SWING 
 (FRONT view) 
 
158 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 STANCE AGAINST THE WIND 
 The ball is nearly opposite the right foot, and if anything, 
 the club head should be turned a trifle in. The grip with 
 the right hand is exceptionally firm, since what is wanted is 
 a low ball with a slight pull on it, thereby insuring a long 
 run. In the down stroke the hands are slightly in advance 
 of the ball. 
 
STANCE AGAINST THE WIND 
 
 I 
 
160 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 STANCE FOR BALL BELOW THE PLAYER . 
 The straddle is unusually wide, for the great difficulty 
 lies in maintaining the balance, the tendency being to fall 
 over the ball. Also, the knees are more bent than in the 
 regular address and the right foot is well forward. This 
 is perhaps the most difficult of all lies to negotiate success- 
 fully. Badminton's advice is to swing quietly ; let the club 
 (not the body) follow on the ball, and hope for the best. 
 
STANCE FOR BALL BELOW THE PLAYER 
 
62 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE NIBLICK. THE ADDRESS 
 Remember that the chib cannot be soled in a bunker and 
 that consequently increased accuracy, in aiming is necessary. 
 The stance should be fairly wide, for it is slugging power, 
 pure and simple, that we want. The orthodox practice is 
 to hit an inch or so behind the ball, the exact distance varying 
 with the nature of the sand. A shortened grip is advisable 
 as making for accuracy. 
 
THE NIBLICK. THE ADDRESS 
 
164 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 THE NIBLICK. THE FINISH 
 The stroke has carried everything away with it and here, 
 if ever, the man of exceptional physical powers has the 
 advantage over the merely scientific player. Note that the 
 feet are still solidly planted on the ground, the natural conse- 
 quence of the wide straddle. The extension of the left arm 
 is also interesting. The club has gone into the sand and the 
 stroke is finished. If it had been a regular finish, the elbows 
 would now begin to bend as the club swung up over the 
 shoulder. As it is, the stroke has ended with the follow-on. 
 
THE NIBLICK. THE FINISH 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 History of the Golf Ball 
 
 Everybody knows that the original golf ball was made of 
 leather stuffed with feathers, but few golfers of this 
 generation have ever seen a specimen of the old-time 
 handicraft. The accompanying illustration gives a fair idea 
 of its appearance, and Mr. H. T. Peters, a St. Andrew's 
 veteran, has given the following account of the ball in the 
 making : 
 
 "The leather was of untanned bull's hide, two round 
 pieces for the ends and a piece for the middle, being cut to 
 suit the weight wanted. These were properly shaped, after 
 being sufficiently softened, and then firmly sewn together, a 
 small hole being, of course, left, through which the feathers 
 might be afterwards inserted. But before stuffing, it was 
 through this little hole that the leather itself had to be 
 turned outside in (so that the seams should be inside), an 
 operation not without difficulty. The skin was then placed 
 in a cup-shaped stand (the worker having the -feathers in 
 an apron before him), and the actual stuffing done with a 
 crutch-handled steel rod, which the maker placed under his 
 arm. And very hard work, I may add, it was. Finally the 
 aperture was closed and firmly sewed up, and this outside 
 seam was the only one visible. When I say this, I, of course, 
 refer only to new balls. Veterans showed the effects of 
 service in open seams with feathers outlooking, and on a wet 
 day the water could be seen driven off in showers from a 
 circle of protruding feathers as from a spray-producer. A 
 ball perhaps started as a 'twenty-eight' and ended a 
 'pounder.' Consequently a new one had to be put down at 
 every hole if the match was an important one." 
 
 In spite of its shortcomings there was nothing better than 
 the "feather"' ball, and it held the field alone for an odd 
 
68 
 
 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 century or so. And then, in 1848, a formidable rival 
 appeared. Sir Thomas Moncrieff, an ardent and ingenious 
 lover of the sport, conceived the idea that golf balls might 
 be made of gutta percha, and having secured a piece of 
 the raw material, he gave it to Willie Dunn, of Musselburgh, 
 and asked him to make the experiment. The lump of India 
 rubber was roughl)- fashioned into shape and given a fair 
 trial, but it would not fly. It would start away from the 
 club all right, and then suddenly "dook," or pitch downward. 
 Nobodv could account for these erratic movements, but the 
 
 A FEATHER B.^.LE 
 
 fact remained that it could not be driven, and it was then 
 contemptuously thrown away. 
 
 The legend goes on to say that the caddies began to 
 play with the discarded ball, for want of anything better, 
 and as they hacked away at it with their irons they made a 
 curious discovery. The more the ball was cut up, the better 
 it flew. The experiments were renewed, and some one 
 suggested that the ball should be nicked into lines with a 
 shoemaker's hammer. This was accordingly done, and with 
 the happiest results ; the flight was now all that could be 
 desired, and the davs of the feather ball were numbered. 
 
THE COLF BALL 
 
 169 
 
 It was some time, however, before the battle was finall}^ 
 decided in favor of the new ball. Allan Robertson was 
 bitterly opposed to the innovation, on the very reasonable 
 ground that his "feather" ball business would be ruined if 
 the "g-utty" came into general use. For the time being he 
 tried to check the rising tide by buying up all the gutta 
 percha balls that he could find and destroying them. And 
 yet, ten years later, we find him making his famous 79 over 
 the old St. Andrew's course, and using one of the very balls 
 that he had done his utmost to discredit. 
 
 GUTTA PERCHA BALLS 
 
 It is generally supposed that the gutta percha ball ousted 
 its rival on the strength of its longer carry. But "Old Tom" 
 Morris seems to think that the carry of the two balls was 
 much the same, and certainly a well-made "leather and 
 feather" ball went off very sweetly from the club. It was 
 simply the cjuestion of durability, and, above all, the 
 difference in price, that turned the scale. A "feather" ball 
 cost three and sixpence, while the gutta percha could be 
 turned out at a shilling. The life of a "feather" ball was 
 not long at the best, and a heavy "top" in a bunker was 
 liable to extinguish it at any time. Finally the "feather" 
 
170 
 
 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 ball was at a severe disadvantage in wet weather, for it 
 quickly absorbed moisture and became sodden and over- 
 weight. No wonder, then, that the "gutty" carried the day. 
 For a number of years golf balls were moulded in a 
 smooth press, and then nicked by hand into the familiar 
 geometrical patterns. Some of the workmen became very 
 expert in their art, the lines being nicked with almost mathe- 
 matical exactness. But of course this extra labor added to 
 the cost of the ball, and finally all gutta percha balls were 
 
 HAND HAMMERED BALLS 
 
 moulded and scored by machinery, and in a single operation. 
 In the old days, feathers are said to have been weighed 
 by troy weight, though nobody can pretend to give the 
 reason why. Naturally the same convention was continued 
 when the gutta percha ball was introduced, and a "twenty- 
 seven" ball was supposed to weigh twenty-seven penny- 
 weights troy. As a matter of fact, the numbers referred 
 rather to the size than to the weight of the ball, and the 
 latter might vary (in different makes) by as much as two 
 pennyweights. But the diameters, as gauged by the accu- 
 rate modern moulds, were nearlv alwavs uniform. The old 
 
 I 
 
THE GOLF BALL 171 
 
 hand-hammered ball seems to have been a heavier ball, size 
 for size, than the gutta. 
 
 The "composition" ball was the next step. The material 
 of which the "compo" balls was made was always kept 
 secret, but india rubber, glue, sawdust and other ingredients 
 were used. The once well-known Eclipse ball was the 
 earliest of the "putties," as they were christened, and for a 
 time it threatened to displace the "gutty" altogether. Its 
 great merit was its indestructibility. It could stand any 
 amount of hard pounding without vital injury, and all that 
 it needed was a new coat of paint from time to time. But 
 it could not be driven so far as a "gutty," and it was almost 
 impossible to get it to lie dead upon a green that was at 
 all keen. It finally died a natural death. So also the 
 "Maponite," which had a brief run of favor. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 l^he Golf Ball in Action 
 
 What is it that makes a golf ball fl_v through the air? I 
 use the word "fly" advisedly, for a well-driven ball looks 
 "and behaves like a living thing. A ten-inch shell is hurled 
 through the air ; a base ball is hammered through space ; but 
 it is only the golf ball that really flies. We have all watched 
 and admired the inexplicable way in which it suddenly 
 unfurls its invisible wings and proceeds to float along as 
 though the law of gravitation had been temporarily laid off 
 duty. Anybody can see for himself that a golf ball stays 
 longer in the air than we have any reason to expect; but 
 why ? 
 
 Several years ago Professor Tait of Edinburgh con- 
 tributed two articles to London Golf on this interesting- 
 subject, and his theories seem to fit the facts with remarkable 
 precision. 
 
 It is a matter of common observation that a well-hit ball 
 leaves the club head at a comparatively low angle of tra- 
 jectory, and then almost immediately begins to soar as 
 though it were entirely independent of gravitation. It floats 
 along as though it was made of thistle down instead of solid 
 giitta percha, and its path for nearly half the total range 
 of carry is concave npzvards. 
 
 We know by practical experiment that a well-struck golf 
 ball will remain in the air for as long as six seconds. Now, 
 assuming that a non-rotating sphere is projected at an in- 
 clination of one in four and remains in the air for six sec- 
 onds, it must (the air's resistance being as the square of the 
 speed) attain a range at the very least of four hundred 
 yards. If there were no air resistance, the range would 
 be nearer eight hundred yards. Now, no such carries are 
 
THE GOLF BALL 173 
 
 ever achieved in actual practice, and the conckision follows 
 that the ball which takes six seconds or so to travel must 
 have some form of buoyancy or levitation. 
 
 Of course the longer a projectile stays in full flight, the 
 farther will be the distance covered, and the ballooning-like 
 propensity of the golf ball is the means by which it is 
 enabled to defy the deadly pull of gravitation. The ball 
 must have time in which to travel. Having determined the 
 value of this featherlike buo}-ancy of the well-hit golf ball, 
 we naturally wish to know how it is produced. Professor 
 Tait says it depends entirely upon the speed of the ball's 
 rotation, but this rotation must be the result of direct under- 
 spin. Without underspin a ball to carry 250 yards would 
 have to leave the club head at a velocity somewhat greater 
 than that of sound. It is eas}- enough to put the wrong kind 
 of spin upon the ball, but then, instead of a good, we achieve 
 a marvelously bad drive. A poor drive may be sliced or 
 heeled or topped, the consequent deflection being to the 
 right, to the left, or downward. A good drive is undercut 
 only, and as there are three chances to one against our 
 putting on the right kind of spin, it is not so remarkable 
 that the bad drives should outnumber the good ones. It is 
 rotation, then, that produces deflection from the true line of 
 flight, and that this is often considerable may be shown by 
 watching the course of a badly sliced ball. Professor Tait 
 has calculated that a ball driven off an elevation of one in 
 four, with such speed as to carry 136 yards /'/" not rotating, 
 would carry 180 yards if, other things being equal, it had 
 underspin of only half the rapidity of that due to ordinary 
 slicing. "Hence," concludes the Professor, "the problem 
 of long carry is much more a question of underspin than of 
 anything else. It is the 'raking' drive that gives the longest 
 carry." 
 
 Professor Tait subsequently confirmed the truth of his 
 theories by a series of practical experiments. A ball attached 
 to a long piece of untwisted tape was repeatedly driven into a 
 
1 74 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 mass of clay at a short measured distance, and as a result 
 the tape was invariably found to be twisted, and in such a 
 manner as to indicate vmderspin. It was also shown that 
 clubs with rough striking surfaces gave a perceptible in- 
 crease of rotation to the ball ; and indeed every player knows 
 by experience that his driver heads must occasionally be 
 roughened up in order that they may get a grip upon the 
 "gutty." 
 
 The mathematical problems entering into the flight of the 
 golf ball are really very complicated, but we can at least 
 understand that the ball rotates in the air, and that this 
 rotation is set up by the impingement of the club head upon 
 the surface of the ball. Here comes in the efficacy of the 
 lines, or mouldings. The ordinary idea seems to be that it is 
 the resistance of the air, acting upon these lines, that causes 
 the sphere to revolve. This is entirely erroneous ; the spin 
 is imparted by the club alone, and the markings simply assist 
 it in getting hold of the ball. 
 
 The practical deduction from all this seems to be that 
 underspin is necessary in good driving, and that to put it 
 on the ball must be struck a trifle below the belt and with a 
 free follow-on, after the fashion of the draw-shot at billiards. 
 If the cue is checked from going freely through, the amount 
 of "draw" is perceptibly reduced, and the same is true of 
 golf ball and play club. Finally, the run of a topped ball is 
 long, as compared with its carry, and this is due to its 
 overspin, which takes marked effect at the instant of impact 
 with the ground. Conversely, a ball with underspin will be 
 retarded upon reaching the ground, but the loss is very 
 slight, and carry is much more important than roll. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 ^he Rubber Cored Ball. The Pneu?natic Ball 
 
 It was in the late nineties that Air. Haskell, an enthusi- 
 astic amateur of Cleveland, Ohio, conceived the idea of im- 
 proving upon the "gutty," by making a radical change in 
 construction. The familiar baseball was built up from a 
 small solid core upon which yarn was wound, and then a 
 cover over all. Why not the same with a golf ball, using 
 rubber thread under tension, instead of yarn in order to get 
 the extra resiliency required. At all events the idea was 
 worth trying, and as Mr. Haskell had an intimate friend in 
 the manufacturing rubber business, the opportunity for 
 experimenting was at hand. 
 
 Pretty soon reports began to come out of the West con- 
 cerning a new kind of golf ball. It could be driven to an 
 incredible distance — three or four hundred yards, and, by 
 its aid, the veriest tyro could leave the best "gutty" player 
 hopelessly in the rear. It was something wonderful, mar- 
 velous, superhuman. 
 
 But the new ball had one marked disadvantage — it soon 
 wore out under the impact of the club, and would crack and 
 go to pieces. After a while the inventor succeeded in over- 
 coming this fault, at least for practical purposes, and the 
 ball was placed on the market. Curious persons, who cut 
 one open to see how it was made, found a small bullet-like 
 core of rubber, wound with tightly stretched rubber thread 
 and covered by two shells of gutta percha. The balls pre- 
 sented an attractive appearance, and when dropped on a 
 hard pavement they would rebound to an amazing height, 
 and certainly they drove farther than any gutta ball ever did. 
 
 But in practice it was quickly discovered that the ball's 
 flight could not be depended on. It would start all right and 
 
176 
 
 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 then suddenly swoop down to earth in the most disappointing 
 manner. Apparently this weakness was irremediable, and 
 the few players who had been experimenting with the "Has- 
 kell" quickly dropped it; the new idea seemed a failure. 
 The ball was still on the market, but nobodv would buv it. 
 
THE GOLF BALL 
 
 177 
 
 This was in the late summer of 1900, Afr. TTaskell having- 
 taken out his first patent in 1898. 
 
 Nearly a year later the Onwentsia Club of Chicago gave 
 an open tournament, and among the contestants was Mr. 
 William Waller, a well-known amateur of the clay. He had 
 been making some experiments with the "Haskell,"' and the 
 thought occurred to him to score the "Silvertown" marking 
 
 THE ANATOMY OF THE HASKELL BALL 
 
 with a file, so as to make the lines deeper. He tried it, and 
 the balls flew perfectly. It was the story of the "gutty'' 
 over again, and the whole trouble was that the surface of 
 the sphere was too smooth ; the lines not deep enough to 
 let the club grip the ball and put on the underspin necessary 
 to regular and sustained flight, and that even when projected 
 with underspin the spin w^ent for nothing. 
 
 THE ANATOMY UF THE HASKELL BALL 
 
1 78 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 ]\Ir. Waller confided his discovery to a few of his friends, 
 and they procured a box of "Haskells" and a file and set 
 to work. It was the night before the tournament, and there 
 was no time to repaint the file-marked balls. They had to 
 be used as they were, with most of their original painting- 
 rubbed off, and were promptly dubbed "nigger" balls. But 
 how they did fiy ! Alen who were known to be short drivers 
 with the solid ball performed prodigies with the rubber-cored 
 article, and before the tournament was over the "nigger" 
 ball had created a profound and enduring impression. The 
 Western golfers took it up to a man and confidently expected 
 that by the aid of the new ball the amateur championship, 
 to be played in September, 1901, at Atlantic City, would 
 be won by a Western man. 
 
 But the fame of the "nigger" ball had traveled eastward 
 and reached the ears of Air. Devereux Emmet, a member of 
 the Garden City Club and a close friend of Mr. Walter 
 Travis. j\Ir. Emmet, who was taking a week of golf on the 
 Ekwanok links in Vermont, bought some "Haskells" and 
 tried the file treatment. Finding that it worked, he imme- 
 diately sent some of the balls to Mr. Travis at Atlantic 
 City, with a letter begging him to give them a fair trial. 
 Mr. Travis did so and found that the new ball not only drove 
 well, but was admirably suited to his particular style of put- 
 ting. This was the day before the tournament began, but 
 once convinced, Mr. Travis had the courage to use the new 
 ball in his play. As everybody knows, he won his second 
 championship, and the cup did not go across the Alleghenies. 
 although a Chicago man, Mr. W. E. Egan, also playing with 
 a "Haskell," was the runner-up. ( )f course, this brilliant 
 triumph made the success of the rubber-cored ball, and the 
 next season all American golfers were using it. 
 
 The British players affected to sneer at the Yankee inno- 
 vation, but the new ball would not be denied. Mr. Charles 
 hlutchings won the British amateur championship of 1902 
 with a "Haskell," and even English prejudice could not 
 
THE COLF BALL 179 
 
 stand up before such a demonstration. \\'ithin a couple of 
 seasons the "gutty" took its place in golfing museums along 
 with the "feather" ball, and the triumph of the "Haskell" 
 was complete. 
 
 Of course the inventors on both sides of the Atlantic now 
 went to work to improve on the new idea. One American 
 inventor took out no less than seventy-odd patents — varia- 
 tions upon the original principle. There were rumors of 
 suits and counter-suits for patent infringements, and finally 
 a coalition of interests — the so-called golf ball trust. 
 
 A rubber thread wound under tension was the basic 
 feature of the "Haskell" patent, and the validity was upheld, 
 at least by the American courts. So inventors tried their 
 hand in other directions. Strange freaks were produced — 
 balls made of celluloid or even of steel, but none proved 
 successful. 
 
 About four years ago the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Com- 
 pany, of Akron, Ohio, appeared in the field with what they 
 called the "Pneumatic," patented by Addison T. Saunders. 
 Its construction w'as beautifully simple. It consisted of a 
 hollow retaining chamber of gelatine and india rubber, sur- 
 rounded by a wall of wound cotton thread and covered by a 
 shell of rubber compound. Into this air was forced up to a 
 pressure of several hundred pounds, and the ball was 
 finished. 
 
 It looked like a good thing, and the ball had a fair trial. 
 But it was quickly demonstrated that while it was an admir- 
 able ball for approaching and putting, and virtually inde- 
 structible, yet it did not fly so far as the "Haskell," when 
 used by an average player. A really hard-hitting "pro" 
 could get the distance out of it, and machine tests proved it 
 theoretically equal to the rubber-cored ball in point of flight. 
 But in actual work, the ordinary amateur had to play the odd 
 and, of course, he dropped it like a hot stove plate. Xo 
 golfer lives who can bear to see even a yard taken ofif his 
 ordinary drive. 
 
180 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 The "Pneumatic" had failed to catch on, but the principle 
 was sound, and the Goodyear company continued its experi- 
 ments. Finally, in 1906, they solved the problem with the 
 "Silk Pneumatic." In this model the ordinary thread was 
 replaced by silk winding, enabling the internal air pressure 
 to be brought up to 1,200 pounds. This increased resiliency 
 added to the driving power of the ball, while preserving its 
 •admirable qualities for the short game. 
 
 During the season of 1906, Alex Smith, professional of 
 the Nassau Country Club at Glen Cove, Long Island, ac- 
 complished the brilliant feat of winning in succession the 
 
 SILK PNEUMATIC ]!ALL 
 
 Western Open Championship, the National Open, and two 
 Eastern professional events, using the Silk Pneumatic ex- 
 clusively. A more conclusive proof of the playing quality 
 of the new ball it would be impossible to offer. 
 
 In considering the virtues of the "Silk Pneumatic," it is 
 certain that in driving power it is fully equal and even a 
 shade better than any of the rubber-cored variety. This 
 refers, of course, to play by the average amateur who does 
 not hit so hard, as a rule, as does the professional player. 
 Moreover, the "seating quality" of the ball keeps it an 
 appreciably longer time in contact with the club head, and 
 this means increased underspin and more accuracy in direc- 
 
THE GOLF BALL 181 
 
 tion. In mashie shots it must be struck a little harder, in 
 proportion, than the rubber-cored ball. This is a distinct 
 advantage, as it favors the putting on of "stop" or "cut." The 
 same thing holds true on the greens. It can and must be hit 
 a trifle harder, and in tliis respect it more nearly approaches 
 the old gutta percha balls. Now every golfer knows that 
 the harder you hit a putt, the straighter it will run. On a 
 keen green, or a rough one, this advantage is ecjually incon- 
 testable. On a keen green the rubber-cored has to be hit 
 with a delicate precision well nigh impossible to attain ; on a 
 
 CROSS SECTION OF PNELniATIC P.ALL 
 
 A — Gelatine Film. B — Soft Rubber Jacket. C— Wall of 
 
 Wound Thread. 1) — Cover. 
 
 rough or frozen one it is apt to "bobble." Players who take 
 up the "Silk Pneumatic," after using the rubber-cored, 
 naturally find some difficulty in getting used to the new stvle 
 of putting demanded, but all that is necessary is a little 
 practice. A slightly heavier putter is of assistance. It is 
 easier to go from the rubber-cored to the "Silk Pneumatic" 
 than vice •versa. Of course, one cannot, consistentlv, plav 
 with both interchangeabl}-. 
 
 The construction of the "Silk Pneumatic" is an interesting 
 subject. There is a little bag of gelatine film which fills the 
 office of the air retaining chamber. This is enclosed in two 
 
182 LESSONS IN GOLF 
 
 hemispheres of soft rubber, and then wound with the finest 
 quaHty of silk thread until it presents the appearance of A. 
 Upon this is placed the cover of india rubber, the shells being 
 thoroughly cemented at their point of juncture. A hollow 
 needle is then inserted into the center of the sphere, and 
 the air pressure of 1,200 pounds is introduced. This 
 enormous pressure consolidates the several parts of the ball, 
 amalgamating the gelatine film with the soft rubber casing, 
 the rubber with the silk winding, and the whole core with the 
 shell. Cut open, the ball presents the appearance shown in 
 
 THK GREAT STRENGTH OF PUREST FINE SPUN SILK IS REQUIRED 
 TO RETAIN THE 1 ,200 LBS. AIR PRESSURE 
 
 the cross section — a perfectly consolidated and almost homo- 
 geneous mass. 
 
 It follows that the ball must be always perfectly centered 
 and that the wall is of the same thickness throughout. The 
 gelatine being impervious to air, it is impossible for the 
 pressure to fall. The cover cannot be cut or ga.shed nor 
 pounded out of shape ; under the hardest and longest of 
 usage it retains its perfect sphericity. The ball ma}- be 
 played with until the paint is completely knocked off, when 
 it should be cleaned and repainted, and is then as good as 
 new. In time, of course, it may be literally worn out, when it 
 collapses harmlessly. Needless to say, its ordinary life is at 
 
 I 
 
THE GOLF BALL 183 
 
 least six times longer than that of any of the rubber-cored 
 variety. 
 
 From an entirely unprejudiced standpoint (and moreover 
 that of an amateur) the "Silk Pneumatic," in both theory and 
 practice, would seem to be the last possible word in golf ball 
 construction. The best and the cheapest; can more be said? 
 
 The 1907 ball is a highly livelier ball than the model of 
 1906, and will consec[uently drive farther when used by a 
 comparatively easy hitter. It is one of the advantages of 
 the pneumatic system of construction that the playing 
 qualities of the ball may be varied to suit individual require- 
 ments. The extra lively, the regular and the old style 
 "Pneumatic" (if one prefers a comparatively dead ball) — 
 within these extremes every golfer may find the ball to his 
 liking. 
 
 Prophecy is cheap, but it looks as though the "Silk Pneu- 
 matic" is destined to remain a permanent success. It is the 
 survival of the fittest. 
 
34.77-2