^0^ ^""^ 4 O « A^^ * -^^ %> \ ^^S ^0^ "JL"" "^ 4* "r^Pij!^*' , "^ "'^ J>'\.--* -^ 4 o ^-. .^'/^i-''- ./^>i^^\ oO^^^>o "• '^^ ♦'^ *i^ TRAVERS' GOLF BOOK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON « CHICAGO DALLAS • ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limitbd LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THB MACMILLAN CO. OP CANADA. Ltd. TORONTO Photograph Copyrighted by the American Press Association ^^^^,A^^^-^^^^t(_ //. tA'^i^'CA^^ TRAVERS' GOLF BOOK BY JEROME D. TRAVERS Amateur Champion of the United States, 1907, 1908 and igi2 WITH FORTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1913 GRVq(D5 COPVEIGHT, I913, BV THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and electrotyped. Published May , 1913 Printed by J. J. Little & Ives Co., New York 'CU346808 PREFACE SINCE the day I first won the cham- pionship of the United States, in 1907, I have been asked by scores of golfers to write a book relating my ex- periences and explaining my method of playing the different shots. This I have endeavored to do to the best of my ability in the following pages. I have made it a point to impart the information at my command in the simplest possible manner so that both the novice and the more experienced player may readily un- derstand. I have used carefully posed photographs explaining grip, stance, top of swing and follow through instead of abstruse charts and diagrams that are more apt to puzzle than enlighten the GOLF BOOK golfer. I have laid particular stress upon the points that I consider to be of greatest importance, and have striven to make each golf picture with its accom- panying text a golf lesson in itself. If the experienced player find matter that seems trite and familiar to him, he must remember that this book is written for the novice as well as for the man who is more or less expert. My hope, too, is that even the expert, when he is "ofif his game," may be helped to correct his faults and get back into form again through the instrumentality of these pages. If this book be of genuine assist- ance to those endeavoring to learn the game, and if it be even a small factor in arousing increased interest in the most beneficial and enjoyable of sports, I shall be content. In conclusion, I attribute my own success as an amateur golfer to the vi PREFACE fact that I took up the game at an early age and devoted a great deal of time to it, and to the additional fact that I was in- structed by Alex. Smith, the well-known professional. Also, I wish to thank Mr. Earle Hooker Eaton for the assistance he has given me in the preparation of this book. Jerome D. Travers. April 4, 1913. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. My First Home Course . . . . i II. Alex. Smith Becomes My Tutor III. Douglas and Travis .... IV. The Ball in the Indian's Pocket . V. Winning the Metropolitan VI. My First National Championship . VII. How to Learn to Play Golf . VIII. Practical Points About the Drive . IX. The Drive (Continued) X. How to Play the Brassie . XI. How to Play the Cleek XII. The Golfer's Favorite Club, the Mid Iron XIII. The Usefulness of the Jigger . XIV. Mastering the Difficult Mashie . XV. When and How to Play the Mashie Niblick XVI. Putting, a Test of Nerve . XVII. Bunker Shots and How to Play Them 15 23 29 39 57 70 91 106 124 134 147 157 165 174 186 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XVIII. Psychology of Golf 194 XIX. Why the Business Man Should Play Golf 207 XX. Holes in One and Other Remarkable Shots 218 XXI. The Etiquette of Golf . . . .228 XXII. First Aid to the Golfer "Off His Game " 234 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS JEROME D. TRAVERS Frontispiece, i' PLATE PAGE I. The Havemeyer Cup 44 ' II. Finish of the Evans-Travers Match for the Cham- pionship 56 III. My Grip for the Drive 72 IV. My Grip for the Drive, Second View 74 ^ V. Stance for the Drive 74 • VI. Stance for the Drive, Front View 77 . VII. Top of Swing for the Drive 79 VIII. Follow Through of the Drive 82 IX. Finish of the Drive, Front View 86 X. Address for a Brassie Shot 106 XI. Stance for the Brassie, Side View no XII. Follow Through with the Brassie 114 XIII. Incorrect Top of Swing with the Brassie . . . . 118 XIV. Stance for a Hanging Lie with the Brassie . . . . 122 XV. Address with Cleek 127 XVI. Address with Cleek, Side View 123 XVII. Top of Swing with the Cleek 131 XVIII. Address for a Mid-Iron Shot 134 XIX. Top of Swing of Mid-Iron Shot 136 XX. Finish and Follow Through of Mid-Iron Shot . . 141 XXI. How the Club should Turn Away from the Ball . . 143 XXII. Address for Jigger Shot of about 140 Yards . . 147 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE PAGE XXIII. Top of Swing for Jigger Shot 147 XXIV. Incorrect Top of Swing with Jigger 148 XXV. Finish of a Shot with the Jigger 150 XXVI. Address for Chip Shot with Mid-Iron or Jigger . . 152 XXVII. Top of Swing for Chip Shot 154 XXVIII. Finish of Chip Shot with Jigger 154 XXIX. Grip for the Mashie 157 XXX. Mashie Grip, Back View 159 XXXI. Stance for the Mashie 162 XXXII. Address for a Mashie Shot, Side View 162 XXXIII. Top of Swing with the Mashie 162 XXXIV. Finish of Swing with the Mashie 164 XXXV. Finish of Mashie Shot, Front View 167 XXXVI. Top of Swing with the Niblick 168 XXXVII. Back View oi Top of Swing with the Niblick . . 168 XXXVIII. Finish of Mashie Niblick Shot out of Bunker 170 XXXIX. Finish of Another Mashie Niblick Shot . . . . 173 XL. Putting Grip, Front View 175 XLI. Putting Grip, Showing Interlocked Fingers . . 177 XLII. Stance for Putting 178 XLIII. Finish of Putt, Ball Entering Hole 178 XLIV. Address for Lofting a Stymie with the Mashie . . 180 XLV. Lofting a Stymie 182 XL VI. Lofting a Stymie, Ball Entering Hole 182 DIAGRAM. Three Positions for Driving 77 TRAVERS' GOLF BOOK GOLF BOOK CHAPTER I MY FIRST HOME COURSE I STARTED playing golf on my fa- ther's country estate at Oyster Bay, Long Island, when I was nine years old. My brother had a set of golf clubs and made me a present of a mid-iron and On the some balls. I had watched my brother and my cousins play and the game made a strong appeal to my boyish fancy the very first time I saw them swing their clubs. I was too young to even think of practicing on a real golf links, and I naturally commenced knocking the balls about on the back lawn of my father's place. A windmill stood about one hundred I GOLF BOOK yards from the house, and when I began playing on my first "home course," I was unable to drive a ball from the wind- mill to the house. Day after day I swung my mid-iron with all my might in efforts to cover the full distance, but I was only nine and the old gutta percha ball was by no means as lively as the present day rubber-cored ball, and failure crowned every attempt. I spent the following winter at school My Drive in New York, and I must have gained a mproves gj-g^^ ^je^j jj^ Strength because when spring came I teed up my first ball at the windmill and, much to my own sur- prise as well as that of the family, cov- ered the hundred yards so successfully that I put the ball through one of the dining-room windows. I was naturally much elated over this evidence of pro- gress, but when my father returned home MY FIRST HOME COURSE that night he did not seem as enthusiastic - about the feat as I was. I was punished and told to play on the front lawn where there was more space and where there would be less likelihood of smashed win- dow-panes. On the front lawn I laid out a golf course of my own. John D. Rockefeller has since done the same thing, and I hope he has had as much fun on his private The Oak course as I had on mine. The first hole ^^^ ° ^ of my three-hole course was about 150 yards. I would tee up near a flagpole in front of the house and play to an oak tree which it was necessary for me to hit in order to *'hole out." The tree was guarded by a bank about two feet high and a road, both of which made a very fine hazard. Getting out of trouble with a mid-iron was a sore trial, and many a time I longed to possess a niblick. 3 GOLF BOOK Gdf With- The second hole was from the oak tree to another tree which stood in the right- hand corner of the lawn, about i8o yards away. The trunk of this second tree was very narrow and hitting it with the ball was by no means an easy matter. In fact, it was the longest and most difficult hole on the course. I fear that I played a rather loose game in those days, be- cause when I was guilty of a bad drive I would make a new start and not count the first shot. The third hole was from the narrow tree back to the flagpole, which, as in the case of the two trees, it was necessary to hit with the ball in order to, theoretic- ally, ''hole out." I say theoretically be- cause there was no actual hole into which the ball could drop on the entire course. Even with this grave shortcoming the game fascinated me from the start. I 4 MY FIRST HOME COURSE would get up early and play before breakfast and many a time some mem- ber of the family found it necessary to drive me into the house for luncheon and Driven In dinner. Hour after hour I would make the circuit of my little course, and day after day I would work hard to lower my record for the three holes. If I got a three or a four on the first hole I would walk back and start over again. I remember well the first time I hit the first tree in one shot. Any golfer who has ever made a hole in one stroke of the club can readily imagine exactly how I felt. I became so excited because of the feat that I went all to pieces on the second hole, taking about seven shots. On three different occasions since that day I have had the good fortune to actu- ally hole out in one shot from the tee, but on none of them did my elation equal 5 Mahon Boys GOLF BOOK that which I felt when I hit the tree for the first time at 150 yards. The When I was about thirteen years of age I started playing on the Oyster Bay golf course, nine holes in length, and a good test of the game. Here I came in daily contact with three brothers named Mahon. The eldest one of the three gave lessons, the other boys were caddies. The club had no regular professional. All three of the boys were fine golfers. The eldest, Willie Mahon, was a natural-born player, and I have never seen a better exponent of the game. It was a great pity Willie had to give up the sport, be- cause I feel confident he would have made a name for himself as a profes- sional. I was very fortunate to find good players to go round with when I was a youngster, because I got started right, which is a great advantage. These boys MY FIRST HOME COURSE taught me a great deal about the game, and I also learned much by watching them make the different shots. In those days we played with the old solid ball, and under the tutelage of the brothers my game improved, not rapidly but steadily. CHAPTER II ALEX. SMITH BECOMES MY TUTOR AFTER the Oyster Bay golf club went out of existence, my father joined the Nassau Country Club at Glen Cove, L. I., and I became a junior mem- ber. I was then fifteen years of age and A Junior was playing very good golf for a boy, al- though I had a few serious faults in style. At that time William Hicks was considered to be the best player in the Nassau club, and we arranged a match, Mr. Hicks giving me a handicap. I played better than I knew how, and, greatly to the surprise of Mr. Hicks and myself, I was two or three up after the first nine holes, without the handicap. This unexpected defeat made "Bill" so ALEX. SMITH MY TUTOR angry that he broke two clubs over his knee while we were playing the remain- ing nine holes. During my first two years of play on Changing , 1 r . My Swing an actual golf course my swing, espe- cially with the wooden clubs, was wrong and the fault bothered me not a little. I would make a long, slow, backward swing with my arms stiff and my right hand well over the shaft. Naturally, this method lost me a great deal of power, the lack of which gave me poor distance, and I could not get much snap into the shot. I felt that something was wrong, but did not know wherein lay the fault. Alex. Smith was the professional at Nassau, and my showing against Mr. Hicks and other good players interested him in my game. One day when I was practicing driving, Alex, asked me to try 9 GOLF BOOK his method of putting the right hand under rather than over the shaft. "Shorten your back swing," he said, "and take the club back with the wrists. Swing easily, and keep your eye on the ball." Right Hand I followed his instructions and drove Sh ft ^ lo'^S) ^ow, straight ball. Adopting his method, I speedily discovered that I could drive a longer ball with less exer- tion than with my former swing. Plac- ing the right hand under instead of over the shaft added more power to the stroke, and taking the club back with the wrists, or starting the club head back with them, increased the speed of the club, thus giv- ing me greater distance. It would be impossible for a man of my physique to copy Alex. Smith's swing with a wooden club, because his forearm is about twice the size of mine, but we 10 ALEX. SMITH MY TUTOR play the short iron shots with practically the same swing. Three or four times a week I played with Alex. Smith, and I am glad to state that my success in golf is largely due to the instruction I received from him. If it had not been my good fortune to become his pupil at the for- mative period of my golf career, I doubt The Mak- if I ever would have won a national title, '"f °' f Lhampion From the very first I had no trouble over the change in my swing, and Alex, gave me the highly encouraging assur- ance that I had the making of a cham- pion in me. On July 13, 1907, the day the prophecy of Alex, came true on the links of the Euclid Club, Cleveland, I took pleasure in stating to a reporter, "I feel that my progress in the sport has been entirely due to early instruction from and matches with Alex. Smith." However, there was a five years' in- II GOLF BOOK terval between the prophecy and its ful- fillment, five years of painstaking prac- tice and hard-fought battles on the links. My First I was fifteen years of age when I first Competi- j^ade my debut at match play in a regu- larly scheduled competition. The event was the invitation tournament of the Westbrook Golf Club. I won in the first two rounds of match play and then found myself opposed by Frank O. Rinehart, of Baltusrol, a very clever and experi- enced player who outdrove me and fin- ally put me out of the tournament by the narrow margin of 2 up and i to play. My First Young but ambitious, I lost no time ampion- .^ going after national honors. In Sep- tember, 1903, the amateur championship of the United States was held upon the links of my home club, and my name was included among the 140 entries. The event was an all match play affair in 12 ALEX. SMITH MY TUTOR which 128 players participated, and they were divided into two halves, each half containing 64 players. I was in the first half and won the first round 2 up and I to play against Dr. S. Carr of Hunting- don Valley, but was beaten 4 to 2 in the second round by P. H. Jennings of St. Andrews, Walter J. Travis, with whom Travis the I was later to have so many gruelling matches, was the finalist in my 64 and E. M. Byers of the Allegheny Country Club captured the same honor in the sec- ond 64. In the final for the champion- ship Travis defeated Byers by a score of 5 up and 4 to play, thus demonstrating for the third time that he was the premier amateur golfer of the United States. My failure to make a more creditable showing was not particularly dishearten- ing, because I realized that a sixteen- year-old player could hardly expect to 13 GOLF BOOK make any great headway in a field of 128 of the country's best golfers, and the fol- lowing year I went after my second championship. This time the company A School- was not so fast, the event in question be- oy am- j^^ ^^^ interscholastic golf champion- ship. The tournament was held at Nas- sau, every foot of which I knew well by this time, and I had also had the benefit of about a year of Alex. Smith's instruc- tion. I worked my way into the final and defeated H. G. Hartwell by 4 up and 3 to play. •14 CHAPTER III DOUGLAS AND TRAVIS THE 1904 amateur championship was held at the Baltusrol Golf Club and I was an aspirant for the sec- ond time but made a poor showing. D. P. Fredericks of Oil City defeated me i up in the first round of match play. Des- pite these defeats, however, I was slowly 4 ^^al but steadily improving, and a few weeks ^'^,r ^" later I had the good fortune to participate in a somewhat sensational tournament, the result of which increased my confidence in myself and caused me to be regarded for the first time as a real factor in na- tional golf circles. The Nassau Country Club held an open tournament in which many prominent players took part and I GOLF BOOK succeeded in winning enough victories to place me in the semi-final. In this match, which was i8 holes, I found myself pitted against Findlay S. Douglas, a sea- soned veteran who had to his credit many golf laurels including the 1898 Defeat of amateur championship of the United oug as States. The match was a closely con- tested one and, much to my surprise as well as that of the other players, resulted in the defeat of Douglas by 2 up and i to play. The semi-final was played in the morning and my opponent for the final in the afternoon was Walter J. Travis, who had won the amateur championship of the United States three times, and who was then British amateur champion. The prospect was not encouraging to an am- bitious young golfer of seventeen. After luncheon, and shortly before the eventful match was to start, I sought my 16 DOUGLAS AND TRAVIS guide, philosopher and friend, Alex. Smith, and found him in his shop. "Don't pay any attention to the 'Old Man,' " he said. "You know how you can play this course — day after day you turn in cards between 75 and 80 — so just go ahead and play your game." With these words ringing in my ears I joined Travis at the first tee near which First had gathered quite a gallery, including ^ my father and my tutor, Alex. Driving off, we halved the first hole in 4 and Travis won the second by holing for a 4 from the edge of the green. Attempting to halve I overran the hole and got the only 6 made during the match. This rattled me a bit and I topped my drive from the third tee, Travis winning 4 to 5. Turning the tables on the fourth where Travis was in the cop bunker on his second shot, I won in 4 and we halved 17 GOLF BOOK the fifth in 5. I won the sixth by holing in 4 from the extreme right of the green. Travis took a 5 and the match was all square. By this time the gallery in general, not to mention father and Alex., was breath- less in its display of interest. Travis had always been invincible at Nassau and the supposition had been that he would excel me in the long game. In this the gallery was mistaken, for I held my own in the driving and on at least two holes secured the greater distance. After reciting these facts, a newspaper account written at the time says : "Putting really was the deci- sive factor in the match. It was a most sensational match on the greens." A 2 for The seventh hole added to the interest. My drive landed in the grass to the left of the green and a well played mashie shot gave me a 2 for the hole. Travis 18 the Hole DOUGLAS AND TRAVIS got a 3 and for the first time I was i up. We halved the eighth in 4 and both reached the ninth green in the second shot. In trying for a 3, I overran the hole and Travis won with a 4 to my 5. Two 5's marked the tenth and the veteran won the eleventh 3 to 4. We halved the twelfth, but Travis holed out from the edge of the green for a 3 on the thir- teenth, as against my 4, and he was now 2 up. Things looked a bit dark, but I gritted my teeth, reached the fourteenth green in my second shot while my oppo- nent was not quite up, and won the hole 4 to 5. The fifteenth and sixteenth holes were halved amid growing excitement in All Square the ranks of the gallery, 5's and 4's being the figures registered, and again I squared the match with a 3 to Travis's 4 on the seventeenth. We tied the eighteenth hole in 4 and then started to play extra holes, 19 GOLF BOOK the winning of one of which meant vic- tory for either Travis or myself. At the conclusion of the thirteenth when Travis was 2 up, I had been strongly of the opinion that I was prac- tically beaten. Evidently Travis was of Defeat the same view, for on the fourteenth his ny third shot to the green was carelessly played as if he thought the match were so well in hand that he did not need to extend himself. This nettled me, caused me to set my jaw with renewed determin- ation, and no doubt had quite an impor- tant bearing on the final result of the contest. Now that we were all square at the finish of 18 holes I went to the first tee with restored confidence, not only because I had held my own very well, but be- cause even if fortune went against me on the extra holes the tie at 18 would be 20 DOUGLAS AND TRAVIS glory enough. On the nineteenth we rimmed the cup for 3's and halved in 4's. On the twentieth each rimmed the cup for a 4 and halved with a 5, the two holes being played in par. We both reached the twenty-first green in two shots, Travis twenty feet from the hole and my ball ten feet distant. Travis went dead to the hole on his third and I ran down my ten-foot putt for a 3, one under par, and won the match. There was a great demonstration on the part of the gallery. All the caddies threw up their hats, cheers and yells rent the air, Alex. Smith's face bore an ex- Father pression like that of the cat that had swal- \^^^. , Excited lowed the canary, and father was so happy and rattled that when I asked him for two dollars to pay my caddie he handed me a twenty dollar bill, instead of a two, and never noticed his mistake, the 21 GOLF BOOK figures being quite similar. Also, he took the first train home to show my prize to the family, and I kept the change. Only Sane Quite naturally the home player was the favorite and his victory was a popu- lar one. The only sane people around the green were Travis and myself. "There is no aftermath of bitterness in such a defeat," said Travis. "It is a match I shall always recall with pleas- ure." 22 CHAPTER IV THE BALL IN THE INDIAN'S POCKET WHEN the 1905 golf season opened I got to work early, full of hope that the ensuing year would see further demonstrations indicating progress on my part. My game showed improvement My Third and, generally speaking, the season was a ,-^ °"' satisfactory one. The amateur cham- pionship was held at the Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, 111., in August and there were 146 entries and 129 starters. I was one of the 32 who qualified for match play in the 36 holes' medal play round. My score was 170, the best score, 155 being made by Dr. D. P. Fredericks of Oil City, the player who had eliminated me the previous year. In the first round 23 Travers GOLF BOOK of match play I was paired with E. M. Byers of the Allegheny Country Club and he put me out with ease, the score being 6 up and 5 to play in his favor. D. E. Sawyer of Wheaton and H. C. Egan of Exmoor were the finalists, Egan winning the championship by 6 up and 5 to play. Travis and Earlier in the year I competed in the Metropolitan championship at Fox Hills, defeating Travis 7 up and 6 to play but failing to win the event. By this time there was a strong friendly rivalry between Travis and myself, and it has continued to the present time. Not long after the Fox Hills tourna- ment Travis and I met again at the Westbrook Golf Club and he very clev- erly turned the tables by beating me 8 up and 7 to play. An odd incident oc- curred in the locker room after the game. 24 IN THE INDIAN'S POCKET In discussing the match with a bystander, Travis said: "I do not expect that the boy will ever beat me again." As he spoke I appeared in the bath- room doorway and overheard the re- mark, but realizing that it was not in- tended for my ears, I paid no attention to it. In July, Travis and I met in the final The Lost of the invitation tournament of the Shin- necock Hills Golf Club, and the match went to the twenty-first green where he holed a ten-foot putt for a three after I had missed a similar putt, and won the game i up. We were all even playing the home hole when a remarkable inci- dent occurred. I drove a long ball from the eighteenth tee and as it hooked to- wards the rough at the left we distinctly saw it strike an Indian caddie, one of the Shinnecock lads, in the back. Travis 25 GOLF BOOK drove a straight ball and then all hands set out to search the stubble for my ball. The gallery came to our aid and two or three hundred people hunted in vain for the ball. Under the rules a ball lost for five minutes means the loss of the hole, and in this particular instance it meant the loss of the match. "Time's up," announced W. A. Put- nam of the greens committee, as he looked at his watch. Travis cast a sharp glance in his direction which meant that he did not wish to claim the hole on a techni- cality. When questioned, the Indian Ward caddie stoutly declared that the ball had D 1 not touched him, although we all knew that this was not true. Finally John M. Ward, one time captain of the New York "Giants" and since then a very talented golfer, saw a bulge in the Indian's hip pocket and when the cause of the bulge 26 IN THE INDIAN'S POCKET was removed it proved to be my golf ball. There was no doubt about this be- cause I had been playing with a red dot ball, from both ends of which I had cut the dots, and that identical ball was taken from the Indian's pocket. As Travis very generously had refrained from claiming the hole under the five minute rule, the incident merely passed as a "rub o' the green" and I dropped the ball without penalty and halved the hole in 4, missing a putt of about three and one- half feet for the hole and the match. As I have already stated, however, Travis won the match on the twenty-first green. But how did the ball get into the In- The dian's pocket? That is a mystery un- ^y^^^^'y Solved? solved to this day, but I have a theory of my own concerning it. The Indian wore no coat and there were several rents in the back of his shirt. The ball doubt- 27 GOLF BOOK less struck one of these and dropped in- side his shirt. Feeling the ball there, and believing that he would get into trouble because he had interfered with a notable match, he drew the ball from his shirt and slipped it into his hip pocket. In September came the annual open tournament at Nassau, and as in the pre- Again the vious year Travis and I were again the Finalists g^alists. The match ended on the six- teenth green 4 up and 2 to play in my favor. Travis ranked as the greatest amateur golfer in America and I have devoted considerable space to my matches with him because they throw light upon the progress I had made in the game at the age of eighteen. 28 CHAPTER V WINNING THE METROPOLITAN WHEN the golf season of 1906 opened I was nineteen years of age and a schoolboy, but golf was such an attractive sport that I found time to com- pete in the principal events of the year. One of these was the championship of the Metropolitan Golf Association at St. Andrews. In this tournament E. M. Defeat of Byers and I were the finalists and I won _" Byers the championship for the first time by 3 up and I to play. A newspaper in com- menting on the match had the following: "The feature of the winner's game was the length of his full shots and their perfect direction. W. J. Travis in his palmiest days was not truer on the line. 29 GOLF BOOK Then, again, the youngster has a versa- tility in playing various iron and ap- proach shots which few veterans could surpass, and what slight weakness there may have been in his game was an occa- sional lack of strength in his approach putts. "Mr. Byers played with his usual ease and grace, and his apparently effortless swing, in which there isn't the faintest suspicion of force, was in strong contrast to that of his opponent. The latter, though short in stature, is wiry, lithe and — — strong as a young Kerry bull, and, taking more than a full swing, he puts every ounce of power and muscle he possesses into his shots." "A Kid The newspaper quoted characterized Champion" ^^ ^^ u^ ^^^ champion," and the "kid" was very fortunate to win as he did, be- cause in July Byers was playing in such 30 WINNING METROPOLITAN form that he won the national champion- ship. This event was held on the links of the Englewood Golf Club and there were 141 entries and 131 starters. Thirty-six holes of medal play qualified 32 players for match play. Walter J. Travis, with 152, made the best medal score and I came second with 155. George S. Lyon Nearer of Toronto had 161, E. M. Byers 162 and H. Chandler Egan of Exmoor 159. I defeated Percy R. Pyne, 2d, of Prince- ton 7 and 5 in the first round of match play and Archibald Graham of North Jersey 4 and 3 in the second round. There were now but eight of us left in this, my fourth attempt to win the championship, and I was nearer the goal than ever before. In the third round which was to decide whether I was to be one of four sur- 31 GOLF BOOK vivors or out of it altogether, I found my- self again facing Walter J. Travis. In practice rounds I had lowered the ama- teur record of the course twice with a 74 and a 71, and the match with Travis was progressing very satisfactorily when a photographer snapped his camera at me quite unexpectedly, so far as I was concerned, and I made a bad shot. Un- der ordinary circumstances I am by no means camera-shy, but when a golfer is under high pressure the slightest unusual distraction will cause him to take his eye off the ball. There is no reason why one bad shot should lose a match, but in this Lost Tern- case I foolishly lost my temper with the per, ost j.gg^i|. |-j^^|. Travis took hole after hole Match and finally won by 3 to 2. The lesson was a severe one and I have not forgotten it to this day. I do not mean to be un- derstood as claiming that but for the 32 WINNING METROPOLITAN camera man I would have beaten Travis, and I am not relating this incident as an excuse for my defeat. Always, to the No Excuse victor belongs the full credit, and a poor '°^ ^'^^* loser in golf is a pitiable object. Travis played the better golf and v^on the match, but I handicapped myself by losing my temper. MORAL: Never lose your temper! In mentioning this incident the New York Evening Telegram of July i6, 1906, said: "In his temperament, if not carefully self-guarded, he (Travers) fails. It was then he lost to Travis. He lost temper over the clicking of a camera and the failure of one or two succeeding shots to come off." I have had similar provocation since then, but one lesson of this kind was enough. I make it a point to hold my temper as firmly as I grip my clubs. 33 GOLF BOOK Byers the In the fourth round Travis encoun- Champion i x> t% /r t^ t • • ^ • i tered b. M. Byers and joined me in the discard. Byers defeated him 4 up and 3 to play and then met George S. Lyon in the final, winning the championship by 2 up. In April, 1907, Travis and I played a very close match at the Garden City Golf Club in the final for the chief cup. There had been a snow storm the pre- vious day and a violent wintry gale was blowing to add to the difficulties. We each turned in 164 for 36 holes and the match was all square on the thirty-sixth green. Two extra holes were played, the thirty-seventh being halved in 4's and Travis won on the thirty-eighth green with a 3 to my 4. As the following comments from a newspaper indicate, the match was a gruelling one: 34 WINNING METROPOLITAN "Walter J. Travis was forced to go 38 holes yesterday to win the chief prize A Long in the Garden City Golf Club's tourna- ^""^^ ment from Jerome D. Travers. It was probably the longest fight ever put up by the man who has won more honors in the royal and ancient sport than any other American. Only once in the two rounds was there as much as three holes differ- ence between the two players and then at the end of the fifth hole in the afternoon when Travers was 3 up. "Whether Travis became scared at that point and let himself out will never be known, but his reserve power was cer- tainly drawn upon at that point, and he made a spurt that within four holes had squared the match. Travis, as always, excelled in judgment and straightness. Travers seemed to disdain trouble for the sake of getting out of it, where most 35 GOLF BOOK golfers would be helpless. The wind, always bothersome over the course, was the worst on record yesterday and played as great havoc with putting as with driv- ing. ''The match should have gone to Trav- ers, but he almost deliberately threw away his opportunity by slipping up on a putt on the thirteenth and again on the seventeenth where he followed a poor ap- proach with a wretched putt. Even Travis had a fit of overconfidence that prolonged the struggle several holes. Nervousness in putting by Travers on the second extra hole brought the match to an end." Nothing The Statement that I "almost deliber- . ately threw away my opportunity is amusingly absurd. A contestant in a match of such a strenuous character is doing his level best to win, and I was WINNING METROPOLITAN not deliberately throwing anything away to an opponent of the calibre of Travis. Under the nervous tension produced by a 38 hole match of this importance, a player at times will miss absurdly easy shots — shots that ordinarily would not bother him in the least. Let the New York Sun describe the two concluding holes : "Next a half on the first extra hole in 4, where Travers putted past a stymie. Playing for the thirty-eighth hole Travis was trapped back of the green and Trav- ers within ten feet of the hole. It was even betting Travers would get a 3 and Pitched Trptf 1 11 Dead to ravis a 4. 1 he reverse happened and , „ determined the issue. Travis pitched up dead to the hole from the hazard, while Travers tried to 'gobble' a two and then missed a two-foot putt for a 3. ... In the sustained brilliancy of the golf in 37 GOLF BOOK stress of wind, in its many fluctuations and in its duration, the match will not be equaled in a long time." Yes, it was a grand golf game — even if Travis did take home the cup. 38 CHAPTER VI MY FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MY father moved to Montclair, N. J., and the golf season of 1907 found me representing the Montclair Golf Club. The first important tourna- ment of the year was the Metropolitan championship which was held on the links of my old club, Nassau, and thither I went to defend my title of Metropoli- Travers tan champion. For the second time I ^''^"^ Douglas fought my way through to the final in which I met the veteran, Findlay S. Douglas. At the conclusion of the morn- ing round I was 4 up and in the afternoon I increased the lead and won the 1907 championship by 8 up and 7 to play. Being a Jerseyman, I was now able to compete in the championship of the New 39 GOLF BOOK Jersey State Golf Association for the first time. The tournament was held on the links of the Baltusrol Golf Club and Max Behr of Baltusrol and I faced each other in the 36 holes final. I had a 79 as against an 80 for Behr in the morning round and finished 3 up. The home coming nine holes in the morning and the outgoing nine holes in the afternoon were each done in 36 strokes, giving me a 72 for 18 consecutive holes. The record for the course at that time, 71, was held by George Low, the club's professional. Champion The match ended on the twelfth green in , ^^ the afternoon, and I had added the New Jersey Jersey State championship to the Metro- politan by a score of 7 up and 6 to play. When the national championship tour- nament opened on the links of the Eu- clid Club, Cleveland, Ohio, July 9, I entered the contest for the fifth successive 40 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP time feeling hopeful but by no means sanguine. After the battle a newspaper quoted me as having said : "I came to Cleveland intending and expecting to win. It seemed to me that it was my turn to cap- ture the title." I made no such statement. Like the ^y Match WithByers other players, I went to Cleveland m- tending to win if I could, but not ex- pecting to do so. I had been outplayed in four national championships already and I knew how hard the game was and how fast the company. One of my friends, a famous golfer and a contestant in the tournament, had more confidence in me than I had myself. He bet con- siderable money at odds of one to ten that I would carry off the championship medal. When he told me what he had done I called him a fool. 41 GOLF BOOK "You'll lose your money, man," I said. Then I thought the matter over a few minutes, hunted up the Pittsburgh mil- lionaire who was offering ten to one against me, and made a small wager on myself at the same odds. There were ii8 entries and 102 starters with the usual 36 holes of medal play to qualify 32 contestants for match play. Travis Low Score won the medal for the lowest score, 146, jor ravis ^^^ scorc was 1 53, Champion Byers had 162, and the highest medal score to qualify was 165. My first opponent at match play was W. A. Stickney, St. Louis Country Club, whom I defeated by 3 and i. My second round was with Frederick Herreshoff and ended in my favor 3 and 2, and in the third round I defeated Warren K. Wood of Homewood in a close match, being i up at the finish. In the fourth round I found myself 42 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP matched against E. M. Byers of Alle- gheny, the holder of the national cham- pionship title. He was not in his best form, for he went out in 43 as against my 36 and at the end of the first nine holes I was 4 up. I won the ninth with a 35-foot putt for a 3 which was two under bogey, and on the thirteenth I laid a 185 yards' cleek shot dead to the hole — two feet from it, to be exact — ran down the putt in 3 to his 4 and won the match 6 up and 5 to play. I was now in the final for the cham- Graham - . •If ^ against pionship Itself and my opponent was y^ ^ ^ Archibald Graham, North Jersey Coun- try Club. Travis had been beaten in the third round by W. C. Fownes, Jr., of Oakmont by i up in a twenty-hole match, and Fownes had succumbed to Graham. About 1,200 people composed the gallery in the morning round and double that 43 GOLF BOOK number followed the match in the after- noon. One of the best accounts of the championship final was written by the New York Tribune correspondent and I hope I shall be pardoned for quoting it in full: "Jerome D. Travers of Montclair, N. J., won the national amateur golf cham- pionship title on the links of the Euclid Club here to-day, defeating Archibald Graham of the North Jersey Country Club by 6 up and 5 to play in the thirty- six hole final round. "Save for a brief period early in the day Travers was never down. He Two Holes reached the turn 2 up, and, although ° / Graham drew level later on, Travers Good ' again shook ofif his opponent, and ended the morning round two holes to the good. At the turn in the afternoon the Mont- clair crack had increased his advantage 44 Photo Copyrlghl by American Press Association PLATE I— THE HAVEMEYER CUP Held by the champion's club while he is champion. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP to 4 up, and after that the ultimate re- sult was never in doubt in the minds of the gallery. "In brief, it may be said that Travers "Vnbeat- won because he played the same unbeat- ^ ^ ° ' able golf that has marked his work ever since the match play began on Thursday morning. The achievement of this young man, who is only twenty years old, is regarded as the more remarkable from the fact that this makes him a triple champion. To hold the national. Metro- politan and New Jersey titles all at the same time is something hitherto un- heard of. "Travers's medal score for the eighteen holes play in the morning was 75; for the first nine holes of the afternoon, 36, and he was one under bogey on the last four holes played. Graham took 78 in the morning, 38 for the first nine holes 45 GOLF BOOK in the afternoon and was one over bogey on the last four holes. "Graham played a plucky game, but was simply outclassed by a golfer who, to quote the language of President Chauncey of the United States Golf As- sociation, gave the finest exhibition of golf that has ever been seen since the amateur championship tournament was first played. " 'Travers is the logical winner of this tournament and deserves the champion- ship,' said the veteran Walter J. Travis, after watching the New Jersey golfer Logical hole out the putt that brought him na- ff^ inner tional honors. 'He had the hard side of the draw and waded through a lot of high-class players to the finish of the tournament.' "Travers played brilliant golf to-day, almost as perfect, in fact, as that shown 46 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in yesterday's sensational matcli with Warren K. Wood. He was in trouble occasionally, but his iron shots several times won him holes which apparently he had lost. Only once did he display poor judgment. That was at the seventh hole in the afternoon round. The dis- tance to this hole is 462 yards, with a big bunker guarding the green thirty yards from the cup. Graham took a chance after his long drive to carry the bunker, and got off a low ball that carried more than 200 yards. "Travers tried the same shot, but could ^nto the Bunker not get the distance, although he made a perfect stroke, and his ball plumped into the bunker, this shot losing him the hole. Travers, however, generally out- drove Graham, his iron shots were al- most invariably better placed, and his work on the greens, the most delicate 47 GOLF BOOK stroke of golf, was far superior to that of the North Jersey man. "There was a southwest wind blow- ing when the pair left the first tee, but it did not have sufficient strength to inter- fere with the contestants. A tremendous gallery followed the pair. "That both men were likely to engage in a long driving competition was ap- parent at the outset, when their tee shots Two Long almost reached the bunker. The drives rivers were good for 260 yards. Both ap- proached to the edge of the green and halved in 4. The same even division was recorded at the next hole, although Graham had the luck to have his half- topped drive jump the ditch. "Travers reached the third green, a distance of 205 yards, with his cleek, but his approach putt was too strong by seven feet, and as he failed to get down the 48 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP next Graham won in 3 to 4. This made the Paterson man i up, but his advantage was brief, as Travers won the 414-yard fourth in a capital 4. Graham penalized himself by a sliced drive. They were then all square. "From the fifth tee Travers got the longer ball by twenty yards, while Graham's second shot was sliced and his third fell green shy. Travers was past the pin on his second and won in 4 to 6, making him i up. A slice to the woods A. Slice to cost the Montclair man the next hole, Graham winning in 4 to 5, thereby squaring the match again. "Although the seventh hole is 462 yards, both men got home in 2. A weak approach putt on Graham's part enabled the other to win in 4 to 5. This made Travers again i up. His tee shot to the short eighth hole came within an ace of 49 GOLF BOOK being bunkered, but a deadly approach enabled him to halve in 3. Although Graham topped his second shot going to the ninth, he recovered so well that all he needed was to bring off a two-foot putt for a halve in 5. He failed, how- Two Up ever, and Travers turned for home 2 up. His card at that point showed 27 strokes. Graham needed an even 40. "A beautiful drive of 225 yards by Graham reached the tenth green, and, as Travers was a trifle short, the Paterson man won in 3 to 4. After a half-topped drive from the eleventh tee, Travers re- covered well and got a halve in 4. Luck favored the Montclair player at the short twelfth, where his indifferent iron shot landed on top of the bunker. But Graham, who made no mistake, won in 3 to 4, and they were again all square. "They halved the thirteenth in 5, after 50 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Graham had pulled his drive. He also pulled to the rough going to the four- teenth, but recovered well and got a halve in 4. Graham was short of the next green on his third shot, but a deadly ap- i proach enabled him to halve in 5. From the sixteenth tee Graham drove fully 240 yards, but as neither man made any mis- takes they halved in 4. Travers won the seventeenth because Graham sliced his second to the woods. The same mistake was repeated by Graham going to the home hole, and Travers won again in an- other par 4, thus enabling the Montclair Two Up at player to retire for luncheon with an ad- ^ ° ^^ vantage of 2 up. He had made the round in 75 to 78 for Graham. "Starting out in the afternoon, Travers went so fast that his card showed one un- der fours for the first six holes. Against such a pace as that the Paterson man did 51 GOLF BOOK well to win one hole, the second, where he brought off a tricky putt for a 3. "To offset this Travers won the third, fourth, fifth and sixth holes in rapid suc- cession, making him 5 up. He won the third because Graham topped his drive, while at the next the Paterson player never had a chance for Travers after driving 250 yards laid his second within five yards of the pin and won in 4 to 5. The hole is 414 yards. At the next Gra- Missed a ham missed a two-foot putt for a halve p^^^ and followed this by pulling his drive to the rough from the next tee. "Now 5 up, Travers seemed to become a trifle careless and at the next hole made the error in judgment previously men- tioned, and at all events it was Graham's hole in 4 to 6, and he followed this up by laying his iron shot within five feet of the pin at the short eighth and brought 52 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP off the putt for a 2. This left Graham 3 down. "The accurate long game of Travers then began to tell again, as his second shot reached the far edge of the ninth green and the hole was his in 4 to 5. That made him 4 up. Although the tenth hole is 235 yards, Travers drove clear across to the far edge, and, laying his approach putt stone dead, won in 3 to 4, making him 5 up. Graham won the next because his opponent fell short on the approach. To the short twelfth Trav- ers laid his tee shot within fifteen feet Stymie for of the cup, and then further disconcerted his man by laying him a stymie. Under the circumstances it was a simple matter to win in 3 to 4. "Now 5 up once more and with only six holes to go, Travers proceeded to settle matters at the thirteenth. Graham 53 GOLF BOOK handicapped himself by hooking his brassie, so that Travers, who made no mistakes, won in 4 to 5. The bye holes were not played. The cards follow: Travers, out 4 4444543 S— 37 Graham, out 4 4356453 6 — 40 Travers, in 4 4 4 5 4 5 4 4 4 — 38 — 75 Graham, in 3 4 3 5 4 5 4 5 5—38—78 Travers, out 4 4444363 4 — 36 Graham, out 4 3 5 5 S S 4 2 S" 38 Travers, in 3 534 Graham, in 4 4 4 5 " Champion \ was now not only champion of the United States, but Metropolitan cham- pion and New Jersey State champion as well. Fortune was certainly very kind to me in 1907. In 1908 I won the national champion- ship a second time. The tournament was held at the Garden City Golf Club and I defeated Max Behr in the final by 8 up and 7 to play. Earlier in the year I reached the final in the Metropolitan 54 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP championship but was beaten in by C. H. Seeley of Wee Burn on the thirty- eighth hole. In the spring of 1909 I competed in Beaten in the British amateur championship at '^° ^" Muirfield, Scotland, but was beaten in the first round. That year I did not compete in any of the principal championship events in the United States. In 1910 I was beaten by Frederick Herreshoff of Ekwanok 4 up and 3 to play in the Metropolitan and did not compete in the national championship. I joined the Upper Montclair Coun- try Club of Montclair in 1910, and the following spring devoted considerable time to getting "on my game." I won the Metropolitan and New Jersey State championships, and was defeated by Harold H. Hilton, Royal Liverpool, in the third round of the national cham- SS GOLF BOOK pionship. The match was held at Apa- wamis and was followed by a gallery of two thousand people. Hilton and Fred- erick Herreshoff, of Ekwanok, met in the final, and Hilton carried the cham- pionship trophy back to England. Thrice In 1912 I won the Metropolitan and National • t 1 • 1 • 1 1 Champion ^^^lonal championships, but was beaten in the final of the New Jersey State cham- pionship by Oswald Kirkby, of Engle- wood. The national championship was held at the Chicago Golf Club, and my opponent in the final was Charles Evans, Jr. It is with a feeling of genuine relief that I "hole out," metaphorically speak- ing, on the eighteenth green of this au- tobiographical course, and I desire to tender the reader my heartfelt apologies for having said so much about myself. 56 CHAPTER VII HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY GOLF GET started right. That is doubtless the most important bit of advice an expert can give the man who is ambi- tious to learn to play golf and play it well. Too many beginners are taught by golfers who know practically nothing about the game themselves. This is a plain case of the blind leading the blind. How shall the beginner, groping about Bunkered in the darkness of ignorance, ever find «" . , the putting green ahead and hole out in a reasonable and respectable number of strokes? In golf parlance he is bunkered the moment he leaves the tee, and stymied as soon as his ball reaches the green. 57 GOLF BOOK Good Get started right. Employ a compe- >j J J tent professional the first day you take up the game and obey his instructions im- plicitly. Make them your golf religion. Don't listen a minute to Tom, Dick or Harry. Too many instructors are like too many cooks. They will spoil the Scotch golf broth. Get started young, if you can, the younger the better. I know a boy three years old who swings his tiny driver with unerring aim and has a beautiful follow through. I know an- other boy, twelve years of age, who plays better golf than two hundred and fifty of the three hundred members of his club. In golf, as in other sports, youth is a great helper, but if you cannot start at three, or twelve, or even thirty-five, start at forty-five or fifty. Remember that 'tis better to have golfed and foozled than never golfed at all. 58 HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY Six clubs are all a beginner needs, driver, brassie, cleek, mid-iron, mashie, and putter. After he learns how to use Six Clubs these he can add a mashie niblick for the ("Z" ^^'^ Novice task of getting out of bunkers and sand traps, and a jigger for running up short approaches. I carry but nine clubs my- self, a driver, two brassies, driving iron, mid-iron, jigger, mashie, mashie niblick and putter. The extra brassie is held in reserve to protect me against the loss through breakage of the services of a valuable club. There are putters of many kinds, but I prefer the center shafted type, or Schenectady putter. In 1904 when I was seventeen years of age I was matched for the first time against Walter J. Travis. On the eve of the game a friend loaned me a putter of this sort. I practiced a short time with it, used it throughout the entire match without 59 GOLF BOOK missing a single putt and my friend gave it to me after the game. For nine years, in victory and in defeat, that identical center shafted putter and I have been in- separable companions. Learn If I were a golf instructor it would be Sei>arateh ^^"^^ little time before my pupil were al- lowed to go round the links. Starting with the wooden clubs, driver and bras- sie, I would have him learn each club separately. I would place him on the tee with a peck of golf balls beside him and a caddie on the fair green ahead to chase them. For an hour at a time I would instruct him in the art of driving alone, striving to correct his mistakes be- fore they became habit, showing him how to grip his club, how to address the ball, how to follow through properly. At the end of an hour, if he were an apt pupil, he would know something about driving 60 HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY whereas, if he had devoted the time to play over the links with six different clubs, he would have learned nothing of value about any one of them. Then I would take him out on the fair green, place a brassie in his hand and have him put in another hour learning how to use this club. I would explain to him the difference between a good bras- sie lie and a poor one, laying particular stress upon the fact that a poor lie usually means a poor shot and that one of the first things to learn about this club is when not to use it. If, after an hour of driving and an- An Hour other hour of brassie play, the novice felt the need of something less strenuous, I would then have him devote another hour to putting. I would show him the proper stance and how to grip the club and at the end of his first long lesson he would 6i GOLF BOOK know more about putting than the aver- age beginner knows after he has played the entire course a dozen times with all the clubs. In the same manner I would instruct him in the use of the cleek, mid-iron and , mashie, assigning from half an hour to an hour to each club, and when he had gained a fair working knowledge con- cerning the manipulation of these clubs and the driver, brassie and putter, I would turn him loose upon the links for an entire round of the eighteen holes. When, in response to different needs, he Each Club was Compelled to play one club after an- ^I! . , other, each club would not be a compara- rnend tive stranger but an old friend with which he was already familiar through hours of practice. I do not carry a cleek my- self because I get better results with a driving iron, but I would not advise a 62 HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY novice to follow this example. Also, un- like many players, I do not use a spoon because I found that it shortened my game and that I was playing it when I should have relied upon the mid-iron. I have laid particular stress upon the necessity for long practice with each club because it is difficult for a beginner to Necessity learn the game if he only plays eighteen °; °y holes once or twice a week and contents himself with that. Walter J. Travis, who learned to play golf after he was 35, is probably the most remarkable ex- ample of what can be accomplished by constant, patient, untiring practice. No man in America ever worked so hard to become a great golfer as he did, and as his reward he has won the amateur cham- pionship of the United States three times and the British amateur championship once. Furthermore, he is the only Ameri- 63 GOLF BOOK can amateur who ever succeeded in win- ning the British championship. One Club When Travis is "ofif his game" and is for Hours not driving, approaching or putting as he should, he goes out on the links alone and plays with one club or another for hours, practicing the same shot over and over until he has recovered his very best form. I have done the same thing myself on many occasions. I have played the same shot fifty times. I have putted for two hours at a stretch, placing my ball at varying distances from the hole, trying for short putts, long putts, up hill and down hill putts and putts across a side hill green where the ball must follow a crescent-like course if it is to be holed out or go "dead to the hole." During the afternoon round of my match against Harold H. Hilton, the British champion, 64 HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY at the national amateur championship on the Apawamis links in 191 1, I had before me what my own club's champion de- clared was an "impossible" putt. Of the two thousand people following the match, most of those near the green no doubt shared his opinion. I was not very hope- ful myself. My ball was at least twenty feet from the hole, the green was of the undulating, billowy type and it was a down hill putt. Remembering the old adage, "Never "t^ever Up, up, never in," I struck the ball a bit too hard, but it raced down the green as if drawn by a magnet, struck the opposite side of the cup, leaped into the air an inch or two and dropped safely into the hole. "If you hadn't hit the hole exactly square, Travers, you would have been out of bounds," was Oswald Kirkby's hu- 65 GOLF BOOK morous description of the shot after the game. A putt of this sort is usually called a "lucky" putt, and no doubt there is a cer- tain element of luck about it. Yet hours and hours of practice produced the skill and judgment that sank that "impossible" putt. When I was playing for the champion- ship at Wheaton in 191 2, I got into a very high and formidable bunker on an approach shot. The ball was at the very base of the bunker, close up, and the situation was such a difficult one that I had little hope of getting over with one shot. However, I took my mashie nib- The Ball lick, got Well under the ball with it and raw e ^jjjuch to my gratification the ball crawled up the steep side of the bunker, moved slowly across its top, struck the putting green and rolled up dead to the hole. A 66 HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY putt gave me a four and captured the hole. Many a time I have thrown a dozen balls into a bunker and practiced for an hour endeavoring to discover the most successful method of getting out of this difficult hazard. As in the case of the "impossible" putt, the Chicago bunker shot was successful because hours of faith- ful study had been devoted to learning the way to do it. Many beginners do a great deal of un- Whippy necessary fussing about their clubs, dis- * , , Valueless carding this one or that one as of no value when lack of skill and proper prac- tice are more responsible for bad play than lack of merit in the clubs. A novice should buy good clubs and should be largely guided in their selection by a cap- able professional or amateur. Clubs with whippy shafts are to be avoided and the 67 GOLF BOOK purchase of every new freak club that is placed on the market is a foolish expen- diture of money. In taking up the game the beginner should familiarize himself thoroughly with the etiquette and the rules. Play- ing the wrong ball, failing to let the pair behind go through when his ball is lost, playing into the pair ahead, or upon the putting green before they have holed out, talking or moving about when an oppo- nent is making a shot, cutting across the course and endeavoring to get in ahead of other players who are going round the entire links — these and other simple in- fractions of rules and etiquette make the careless beginner unpopular and are the cause of many unpleasant experiences. A Golf Not long ago I heard of a very promi- Convert ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ made all sorts of fun of golf and for years refused to try to play. 68 HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY It was a simple, foolish, easy game, he said, and he knew it would not interest him. Finally a friend dragged him to the links, teed a ball for him and told him to drive. When he had struck four times at the ball without even touching it, he became so exasperated that he bought a set of clubs that very day and To Conquer started with determination to conquer r^, . „ ,. the little white ball. A month later the friend who had dragged him to the links met him hurry- ing toward the golf club although his left arm was in a sling. "What are you going to do?" asked the friend. "Oh, I broke my arm," was the enthu- siastic reply, "but I'm going down to play with one hand!" 69 CHAPTER VIII PRACTICAL POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE IN the articles that follow, dealing with the various clubs, I shall en- deavor to impart information that shall be of value both to the novice and to the player who has already acquired some knowledge of the game but who, possibly, has developed some annoying fault he is anxious to correct. Even the best of players are "off their game" at times and "Any Fool if I can help them solve their problems Can Drive" i • , , • i • < t and give the begmner the right start, I shall consider that the time and effort ex- pended upon this book was not expended in vain. I have heard it stated that "any fool can drive," but steady, consistent, meri- 70 POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE torlous driving is not an art that is easily acquired nor, once acquired, easily re- tained. How often one hears this or that player say: ''Yesterday I was driving like a fiend, but to-day I cannot hit one right to save my life!" The main trouble with golfers of this Getting type is that they actually know very little /) • d t about the science of driving. While they are lining them out well from the tee the feeling of confidence thus inspired keeps them going from one good drive to an- other, but let them miss one or two and they promptly commence pressing or blindly experimenting and they go all to pieces. Confidence once lost, it is a dif- ficult task to get one's drive back. On the other hand, the golfer who knows just what he is doing and how he is doing it, is speedily able to discover where the fault lies and correct it. 71 GOLF BOOK Beyond doubt the drive is the most spectacular and interesting incident of the royal and ancient game, yet compara- tively few ever learn to drive in proper style or to feel the pleasant and fascinat- ing sensation of sweeping the little white ball away for upwards of two hundred yards straight down the course. Careful observation of the work done by the ma- jority of players who, by their interest in the game and the support they give it, make possible the many fine golf courses, shows that they hit the ball rather than swing at it and sweep it away. Avoid While I recognize the fact that there ressmff ^^^ many golfers who, on account of their build or other physical peculiarities, can never acquire the true golfing stroke, I believe that they can materially improve their play by endeavoring to fashion their swing more in accordance with the ac- 72 Photo Copyright by American Press Association PLATE III— MY GRIP FOR THE DRIVE I grip the club in the palm of my left hand and the fingers of my right. The left hand grips the club firmly throughout the swing. The right hand loosens slightly at the top of the swing, but tightens just before the ball is struck. POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE cepted principles of the stroke as set down by experts. First of all, I desire to say as emphatically as I can, "Avoid pressing!" For the benefit of the novice, pressing is the effort to hit every full shot with every pound of strength he can transmit Pressing to the ball through the instrumentality of the club. Many golfers who play a very fair game wonder at their occasional lapses from best form when all that is wrong is an involuntary desire to get just a little more distance than they are able to secure with safety. Shortly before the amateur cham- pionship of 1907, I had a spell of press- ing and found myself topping or half topping many tee shots and brassies through the green. I had previously been playing very good golf and prob- ably became overconfident of getting the 73 GOLF BOOK ball away sweetly every time. I could not find out where the fault was for some weeks, then suddenly I discovered that I was carrying the club too far back on the up swing and losing control of it as a natural consequence. I gradually tamed down my swing and stroke and got back to my best game in time for the cham- pionship at Cleveland which I won. The Steady There are a few good players who press Driver every tee shot and drive some very long Wins balls, but what they gain in distance is generally secured at a sacrifice in accur- acy regarding direction that makes the transaction a bad bargain. Mere dis- tance in driving only plays a small part in the game of golf, so it is absurd to try to be a long player until one has ac- quired sufficient efficiency at medium distances to justify the effort. I prefer the short and steady driver to the long 74 Photo Copyright by American Press Association PLATE IV— MY GRIP FOR THE DRIVE, SECOND VIEW Relaxing the index fingers of both hands gives more freedom to the wrists. Photo Copyright iy American Press Association PLATE V— STANCE FOR THE DRIVE Showing the ball played off the right foot which is about three inches in advance of the left. POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE and unsteady one. The steady driver is not so interesting to the gallery, but he will always have the advantage over the inaccurate slugger and win the majority of matches. The first phase of the drive to be taken up is the tee — the bit of sand upon which the ball is placed before it is driven. I am a firm believer in a low tee. Any A Low Tee tee over a quarter of an inch high is ^ ^' j mistake, for it cannot help but cause trouble at other stages of the game. A small amount of damp sand rolled into a little ball and pressed down upon the teeing ground should be all the true golfer needs to steady his ball and get it away far and true. In order to get increased confidence with the driver and to acquire ability to use it from good lies through the fair green, I advise practice with the club 75 GOLF BOOK without any tee at all. This may be a little difficult at the start, but can be mas- tered, and when you have learned to get a nice long ball from a good lie on the turf, the luxury of a bit of sand to steady the ball will be more appreciated and give added confidence on your drives. Low Tee, Another distinct advantage of the low °"^ ^ tee is greater distance. Most players who can use the driver through the green have discovered that they get a longer ball than from a tee. This is because the ball, being hit cleanly and fairly just below the center, flies lower and rolls farther. I always try to limit my tee to just enough sand to give me as perfect a lie as I can make, in other words, to duplicate an ideal lie on the turf. In taking the position to drive the ball from the tee, the very first step in the game of golf, it is necessary to under- 76 Photo Copi/righl by American Press Association PLATE VI— STANCE FOR THE DRIVE, FRONT VIEW The ball should be opposite the left heel, the weight of the body resting equally upon both feet. POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE stand that the simple act of placing the feet properly on the ground in relation to the location of the ball on the tee in front of the player has a very important Three 1 . , 1 1 • 1 • -I Primary bearmg on the result obtamed m strik- Positions ing the ball. There are three primary positions assumed by golfers in addressing o o o 1 Off left foot \ 2. Standing open 3. Off right foot the ball, with slight modifications to suit the peculiarities of the swing of different individuals. In each of these positions it is assumed that the feet are placed on the ground at about right angles to the line of play — the imaginary line from the ball to the point it is to be driven. Some players 77 GOLF BOOK put the right foot further forward than the left, and others keep it well back. Off the Although it is possible to obtain greater distance from a ball played ofif the left foot on account of the longer sweep of the club to the ball, I prefer to play off the right. Many of the longest drivers prefer the former and even advocate play- ing the ball from a point a few inches to the left of the left foot. I find that by playing off the right foot, I possess much better control over the ball, which is a great advantage in giving confidence in the stroke that is to follow. I can see the line of play better and with less effort. In addition thereto, and even more important than all else, I find it easier to keep my eye on the ball. In ad- dressing the ball the right foot is about three inches in advance of the left. If you will place a ball opposite the 78 Photo Copyriqht by American Press Association PLATE VII— TOP OF SWING FOR THE DRIVE The weight is resting on the right foot, and the club is nearly parallel with the ground. POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE right foot, keep your eye on the ball and take the club back to the top of the swing and then do the same with the ball op- posite the left, you will appreciate the point I wish to make clear. In one case The Ball you can keep the ball plainly in view ^^ y^^^ without stretching the neck, while in the other there is quite an effort. When one's mind is apt to be more concerned about the state of the score and the ever-present desire to reach the maximum distance down the course, or a certain definite spot to be reached on the shot, every sim- plifying process that you can devise to keep the eye on the ball without effort is valuable. The only possible objection that may be urged against playing off the right foot is the natural tendency of some play- ers thereby to slice the ball. If this can- not be overcome by the grip, which I 79 GOLF BOOK shall explain later, I should advise that the ball be played a few inches more to the left. Distance Another important consideration in re- ^^^ ^ gard to the stance is the matter of dis- tance between the player and his ball. In practice the experienced golfer learns to feel this distance intuitively, though the very best players occasionally make some slight error and get a ball off the toe or heel of their club. For beginners I may state that when my club head is back of the ball, ready for the drive, the end of the shaft when lowered strikes against my right leg just above the knee. This is an old rule, but a safe one in most cases. As many players seem to be of the opin- ion that it is the club, not the man who swings it, that gets the results, I may be pardoned for briefly describing my 80 POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE driver. It is forty-four inches long, and I prefer a tough, steely shaft with just enough give in it so that I can feel the head of the club. The leather grip on the club is, if anything, a shade smaller than the average, as I like to get my fin- gers well around it. My club weighs thirteen ounces. The face has very little loft, with a hitting surface two inches long by one and a quarter inches deep. The lead in the back of the club head is a shade toward the toe. I grip the shaft Grip for firmly in the palm of my left hand and in the fingers of the right with both first fingers loose and the others very tight. The first fingers are almost entirely free from the shaft, with the tips resting on the leather, curled inside the thumbs. Both thumbs are pressed firmly against the sides of first joints of the second fin- gers, forming a locking device which GOLF BOOK prevents any possible turning of the shaft. My Grip My theory regarding this grip is that ^^"^ it permits greater freedom of the wrists and enables me to get greater power into the stroke without deflecting the club head from its proper sweep in the swing to the ball. As a matter of fact, I could not play my game if I grasped the club with all the fingers around the shaft as most players do. My whole left fore- arm and wrist would be so stiffened and rigid that I could not get any kind of a satisfactory snap into the stroke or a proper carry through. If you will take a club in your two hands and hold it firmly with all the fin- gers around the shaft and take a practice swing, and then try it with the first fin- gers relaxed as I have endeavored to describe, you will see how much more flexibility there is in the latter grip. 82 Photo Copyright bij American Press Association PLATE VIII— FOLLOW THROUGH OF THE DRIVE Showing how the weight has been shifted from the right foot to the left. POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE Various forms of grips have been em- ployed by prominent players, but so far as distance is concerned, I do not believe Grip versus one grip has much advantage over an- Distance other, provided both hands work in uni- son and permit a proper snap of the wrists. Some experts grip the club en- tirely with their fingers, while others overlap the little finger of the right hand and the first finger of the left, and other- wise produce a close relationship between the two hands. In my own case I am satisfied that by holding the shaft in the palm of my left hand and the fingers of the right I get a longer ball. I grip the club tightly with both hands. The right hand loosens slightly at the top of the swing and tightens in the downward swing when the club head is about two , feet from the ball. The overlapping of the fingers makes 83 GOLF BOOK Overlap- both hands work automatically as one and ing le undoubtedly yields better direction, but ringers •' -' ' at the sacrifice of power and distance. Many players who cannot apparently learn to make both hands work in unison and have no confidence in keeping their ball on the course, could probably im- prove their game by resorting to the over- lapping grip. The relative position of the hands around the club is always an important factor as controlling direction. If you allow the right hand to turn under more than the left, a pull will result, and if the left is under more than the right, a sliced ball will surely follow. The rea- son is that in both instances the club head fails to meet the ball at right angles and a rotary or side motion is imparted to the ball, which meeting the resistance of the air, goes to one side or the other. 84 POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE The lesson taught by the control of To Correct the grip is that if you are inclined to p^//'^" slice, turn the right hand a shade further under until you are able to get away a straight ball. If you are given to pulling your shots badly, a slight turning of the right hand further over the shaft may correct your trouble. In my own play, I always seek a straight ball, and never play for a slice or a pull, except, possi- bly, when in difficulties. For a slice I bring the right foot about three inches forward of the left and swing the club back, the swing being away from the body instead of around it. For a pull I do exactly the reverse: I bring the right foot back of the left about three inches and swing the club back nearer the body. In the golfing stroke, the swing plays a most important part. The movement must be positive, but not stiff nor too flex- 85 GOLF BOOK ible. I grip the club firmly in both hands and draw it back close to the ground with my wrists and not with the arms as most players do. I do not strive to keep the face of the club at right angles to the ball, but turn the face away from the Turning b^H with my wrists. This turning of the the Tf^fists wrists imparts greater speed to the club head and is the great secret of long driv- ing. To master this turn of the wrists is to add many yards to the long game. In regard to what may be termed the angle of the swing, I take the club head back along the ground and then around rather than up until the shaft is parallel to the ground. In coming down, the club describes the same curve as going up, the club at no time being even ap- proximately perpendicular. There is a gradual turning away of the club face which practically ceases at about the 86 Photo Copyright hy American Press Association' PLATE IX— FINISH OF THE DRIVE, FRONT VIEW The body is directly facing the hole and the full weight has been put into the stroke. POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE height of the right knee, when the club is facing clean in front of me. Many marvel at the great distance ob- Little Force , , 1 , but Great tamed by some players who appear to r^. use very little force on the drive. The reason is simple. The player getting such results has learned the art of knowing how and when to use his wrists. Most players have the idea that if they do not take the club head back with its face at right angles to the line of play, they will make a poor shot, and so, instead of strik- ing the ball clean and sharp, they actually push it, and the stroke is thus robbed of most of its speed and power. In addition to giving power to the stroke, the wrist action I am endeavor- ing to explain imparts grace and beauty to the swing. The turn of the wrists will bring the club back about one half the distance it must cover in the upward 87 GOLF BOOK swing, and then the arms, combined with the wrists, carry it the rest of the way until it reaches the top of the swing, when the knuckles of both hands are lying flat and uppermost, the toe of the club pointing down. The top of my swing is reached when the shaft of the club is hori- zontal to the ground. This limitation is reached by practice until it has become almost automatic with me. The Top of At the top of the swing my weight is the Swing ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^.j^j^^ j^^ ^j^^^^ ^^ ^^^ j^^^ The knuckles of both hands are upper- most and viewed from along the shaft are in a straight line and parallel with the ground, my right hand being slightly relaxed. The stance should be firm, the weight resting evenly on both feet. I do not bend the right leg, but keep it rigid in order to prevent the common fault of bending POINTS ABOUT THE DRIVE to the right. As the club is drawn back, I bend the left knee inward and rise slightly on the left toe, the body turning on the hips. When the top of the swing is reached, without pausing, I start the downward swing, bringing the body and arms sharply around, and strike the ball. My weight is distributed evenly and the club head is at the height of the shoulder and toward the rear when the left heel commences to leave the ground. In the downward swing, much more The Follow power than is realized can be applied „ ^^^F, . without sacrificing accuracy. I throw my shoulders around and put them into the stroke. After my arms have been allowed to follow through a reasonable distance, I turn my wrists and finish the stroke over my left shoulder. In the downward swing the stroke is quickened when the club head is about opposite the shoulders 89 GOLF BOOK and the left hand commences to turn. At the instant of impact with the ball the hands are gripping the club as firmly and evenly as possible. 90 CHAPTER IX THE DRIVE— Continued A SUPREME COURT justice known to fame once stepped upon a tee for the first time, teed up and drove his first ball and holed out on his first shot. When told what he had done and how comparatively rare such a feat was, he promptly dropped his driver into Teeing Up the bag and went back to the clubhouse. ^^^ *'No more golf for me," he said. "If I should try for years I could never equal that shot. No more, I say; I shall rest on my laurels." In writing about the drive I found that I could not hole out in one chapter, and as the subject is very important and well worth the space, I shall tee up another 91 GOLF BOOK ball, metaphorically speaking, and drive a second time. Cause of A very important thing to remember is to keep your eye fixed on the ball throughout the swing and not to move the head. It is a well-known fact that more bad shots are produced by taking the eye off the ball than in any other way. Keep the If the head is kept perfectly still it is almost impossible to take the eye off the ball. It is quite natural for the player to look up for a final peep at the spot to which he hopes to send the ball, and by so doing miss the shot. When I am play- ing in any important match, I always keep saying to myself, "Keep your eye on the ball!" and if players generally would only do the same thing, many a match that has been lost might have resulted differently. I always keep my eye on the back center of the ball. 92 THE DRIVE CONTINUED A proper timing of the swing is essen- Timing of t 1 • • Ti- 1 '^^ Swing tial to consistent long driving, if the hands are in advance of the club head at the instant of contact with the ball, a slice is sure to come ofif and the reverse, if the club head meets the ball ahead of the hands, a pull will result. Do not be over- anxious and hurry the swing. Hitting too quickly is a great fault, especially in the long game. The beginner should not strive for distance until he has cultivated a good swing. Greater distance may eas- ily be acquired after one has learned to time his swing accurately to get the ball away cleanly. Many strokes are missed by pressing, or, in other words, trying to hit too hard. Long driving depends upon the speed of the club head when it is about two feet from the ball. It is a mistake to attempt to put power into the stroke from the top 93 GOLF BOOK of the swing. The time to put on power is about half-way down, so that the great- est speed is acquired just before and at the instant of contact with the ball. Power applied at this point is less apt to spoil the perfect sweep of the stroke. Most players get a slice on their drives. This is a difficult fault to correct and in most cases it comes from the way in which they swing their clubs back, and their failure to turn the face of the club away from the ball as previously indi- cated. To Correct An excellent method for overcoming the tendency to slice is to grip the club very tightly with the right hand, allow- ing the knuckles of the right hand to turn more under and keeping the left elbow close to the body. This will assist in getting the club head around before the hands. 94 THE DRIVE CONTINUED To drive far and true through strong Using the Pf^inds winds from different directions and to take advantage of the wind when it can be used to secure greater distance than would be possible under ordinary condi- tions is an art in itself and well worthy of the careful study of those ambitious of improving their game. Some players utilize a slice as well as a pull in their play in high winds, but I never use a slice except in the case of a ball which I wish to drop dead on a long shot to a green between which and my- self, possibly, lies a hazard. I consider a slice a dangerous stroke to cultivate, for often it is a fault very difficult to correct, and if you seek to use it, the practice of doing so may at a critical moment lead you to misfortune. A sliced ball is very much intensified by the wind, and when it gets through its 95 GOLF BOOK forward motion often goes surprisingly Playing far off to the right. On the other hand, a pulled ball is always under better con- trol and may be counted on to gain greater distance under nearly all condi- tions. I play nearly all my full shots with a suggestion of pull on them to hold the ball low and get the roll. My treatment of the shot through a cross-wind from the right is to play for a pull, with an allowance for the wind. In other words, I am at a point more or less to the right of the line according to the strength of the wind. The wind and the pull will bring the ball back to the center of the course, and when it reaches the ground it will roll forward for a long dis- tance, assisted by the rotation toward the hole imparted by the pull and aided by the wind. Under similar conditions many players 96 THE DRIVE CONTINUED seek a slice to neutralize the effect of the Pulled and . , , , ,, . . n- 1 f 1 Sliced Balls Wind on the ball in its flight, but by so doing lose much distance, as the ball re- sists the wind all the way and when it drops will stop dead. The principle in- volved should be easy for anyone to un- derstand. A pulled ball rotates from right to left in flight and consequently slides gracefully through a wind from the right and is assisted by it, while a sliced ball rotates from left to right and is constantly resisting the wind all the way, losing carrying power and force thereby. To meet conditions where a strong wind is coming from the left, I play for a perfectly straight shot aimed a shade to the left of the line, so that the wind will bring it back to the center of the course. A straight ball will carry farthest through such a wind and when it reaches 97 GOLF BOOK the ground will roll some distance, as- sisted by the wind. Many players try for a pulled ball under similar conditions to hold the ball true to the line. This is open to objections, for the reason that such a ball rotating from right to left is resisting the wind all the way and loses power and distance. Sometimes when playing in a very strong gale, when dis- tance is not so much of a factor as safety in the play of a hole, I play for a pull. Any inclination to slice with the wind from the left will be so accentuated that the ball will probably go beyond the right-hand edge of the fair green. As I have stated before, a straight ball is best for safety and distance, and one with a shade of hook is easiest to hold the fair green. Against Playing against the wind, it is neces- the Jf^ ind sary to get a low ball to gain any satis- 98 THE DRIVE CONTINUED factory distance. I play it well off my right foot, seeking a low, slightly hooked ball, commonly known as a "wind- cheater." A hooked ball always flies low and may be safely counted on to avoid the real force of the wind found over twenty feet above the ground. In this stroke the distribution of the weight is a very important factor. The weight should be more on the left foot than the right, and the club should be swung back low to the ground, with the arms taking it around the body. This flat swing back of the club also tends to keep the ball To Keep 1 rr^i 1 • 1 .,,.,.. ihe Ball low. 1 he thmg to be avoided m drivmg ^^^ into the wind is the dropping of the right shoulder, which will always result in a badly skied ball which will ride high on the breeze and when its forward power is finished will drop back of the point it reached on the carry. The wind must be 99 GOLF BOOK pierced by the ball at the point of least resistance to secure distance, and this is as low down to the ground as you can possibly manage to get it and be sure of hitting it well. Down the Strange as it may seem, many players Wind find it extremely difficult to take advan- tage of a strong following wind. This is chiefly owing to the fact that they seek to hit the ball too hard and consequently press. Then, again, there is some resist- ance of the wind on the club head in the back swing that deflects the head from the true line when it meets the ball. In playing down the wind, I tee the ball a shade higher than usual, and, taking things easy, try to get the ball away cleanly. For this stroke the swing back should be more vertical than for the or- dinary drive, in order to be sure of get- ting the ball up. If it be hit cleanly and 100 THE DRIVE CONTINUED accurately the wind will assist it both in its flight and roll. A slight hook on the shot is advantageous in increasing the roll. Above all things, do not press be- fore the wind unless you are absolutely sure of getting the ball up. Great feats in the way of distance have been accom- plished playing before the wind, and there is wonderful fascination in trying to reach spots further out than ever be- fore attained under such conditions, but except for the sport of the thing it is not safe or winning golf. Topping the drive is caused in most Topped cases by failure to keep the eye on the ball. Then, again, some players top their drives by pulling their arms up just be- fore the instant of contact by the club head with the ball. This upward move- ment causes the club head to strike the top quarter of the ball and not its back lOI GOLF BOOK center. Players who press their tee shots frequently get a topped ball through hit- ting so hard that the eye is momentarily taken off the ball. The best cure for a spell of topping is to moderate the force of the swing, and to look underneath or immediately back of the ball. Seek to get the ball accur- ately on the center of the face of the club, regardless of distance, until you have re- gained confidence in the stroke. An aid to this is to chalk the face of your club, which will plainly indicate where the ball is met by the club. When it is re- membered that in the drive the player has everything to his liking, a teed ball and a comfortable stance of his own se- lection, it must be conceded that it should be the easiest shot of the game. Sclajfed As in topped drives, most sclaffed shots Drives ^j.g c^used by taking the eye off the ball. 102 THE DRIVE CONTINUED A dropping of the right shoulder during the swing also brings the club to the turf before the ball is reached. Still another cause for sclaffing is standing too near the ball, when the club head is dug into the ground back of the ball, owing to the lack of room between the player and the ball. The best cure for sclaffing is to moderate the stroke and to keep the eye on the front center of the ball, or even an inch or two in advance of it, if neces- sary. By holding the left elbow fairly close in toward the body in the address, and by keeping the right shoulder in its proper place during the swing, this fault can be readily corrected. In further explanation of what is "The Snap known as the turn of the wrists, I may °:J^^ . ^ „ add that the first movement is to swing the club head just above the ground as far as the left forearm will go without 103 GOLF BOOK rising. In this movement there is no turning of the wrists as the term is gen- erally understood, but the movement is one in which the forearms, wrists and hands all act together, in a gradual turn- ing over of both hands so that the knuckles of the left hand are more above than in the address. At the same time the right hand turns over so that the palm is uppermost, with a slight backward bending of the wrist. This brings the club head up about to the level of the hip, with its face pointing almost straight in front of me. Then I continue the up- ward movement with the arms, which ends with the shaft of the club being parallel with the ground and its toe point- ing downward. At the top of the swing the right hand is slightly relaxed. In the downward swing, the hands, arms, and wrists automatically, without any con- 104 THE DRIVE CONTINUED scious effort, practically duplicate in re- verse the movement described in going back and up. Some players have a wrong conception of what is known as the "snap of the wrists" and bend their wrists instead of turning them over as described, in a vain effort to impart a snap to the stroke, which is a dangerous performance at best and does not impart any increased power or speed to the stroke. 105 CHAPTER X HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE O N all first-class golf courses it is customary to lay out some holes requiring the use of a wooden club for the second shot in order to reach a distant green, or get in position for a short ap- proach on a very long hole. After the drive it very frequently happens that the ball is found in a lie that precludes the use of the driver, and calls for a club bet- ter adapted to get a quick rise of the ball and cut its way through the turf. Using the When the ball is in a perfect lie you should use your driver, taking the iden- tical stance and swing as in the tee shot. A driver, however, is only recommended when the lie is perfect, or when an effort io6 Driver PUoto Copyright iy American Press Association PLATE X— ADDRESS FOR A BRASSIE SHOT Right foot advanced, ball opposite the left heel. HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE for extra distance must be risked by the state of the score. If it be possible to reach the green or make the required dis- tance by playing either your brassie or driver, by all means use the brassie be- cause it is a safer shot, and you have far better control of the ball. As lies through the fair green depend To Get a largely on chance, it frequently happens that the ball will be found lying very close to the ground, or in some slight cup or depression. In order to get it up sweetly you will be forced to adopt a dif- ferent swing. To assist in imparting a quick rise to the ball, the swing back should be more vertical, the eye being kept, not on the ball itself, but on the ground directly behind it. Stand closer than in driving, with the ball nearer the left foot. If the lie be reasonably good, though near the ground in a slightly 107 GOLF BOOK cuppy spot, it is not necessary to take turf; but if it be poor, you are compelled to dig out a bit of turf behind the ball. It is very important that the shaft of the brassie be strong and stiff to prevent it being deflected when it comes in contact with the ground, which would cause a slice or a pull on the stroke. Playing a In order to provide for emergencies Cuppy Lie against the danger of breaking your bras- sie in playing such lies, it is well to carry an extra one in your bag. The lighter and more whippy your brassie is, the greater the likelihood there is to break it and to find yourself greatly handicapped by being deprived of its use if you have not another at hand. In playing a cuppy lie, select some spot on the ground directly behind the ball and keep your eye on this spot throughout the swing, and not on the ball. Your io8 HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE club head should enter the turf at this spot, and when you feel that it is well under the ball turn your wrists up quickly. It is imperative that both hands Firm Grip should be gripping firmly when the club „ , comes in contact with the ground to avoid any tendency it may have to turn and send the ball flying off to the right or the left. Many beginners find it extremely diffi- cult to learn to use the brassie effectively for the reason that they seem to think it is a radically different club from the driver. The main trouble lies in their failure to keep the eye on the back center of the ball or on the ground just back of the ball throughout the swing. If they would but make up their minds to seek not more than seventy-five yards on the stroke at the start and devote their entire attention to an eflfort to get the ball ac- curately off the center of the club head 109 GOLF BOOK with a perfectly natural and easy stroke, they would rapidly master the brassie shot. Advice for One of the first things for the novice the Novice ^^ learn about the brassie is when not to use it. When the lie is bad, or when the ball lies in fairly long grass, or when the bunker ahead is so near that the ball may not rise quickly enough to clear it, the beginner will be wise if he uses the safer mid-iron instead of the brassie. Another thing to be avoided by the novice, or aver- age player, is the inclination to press, and thus take the eye off the ball or the spot immediately back of it. It is far better to get a straight ball down the center of the course than to press and either top, sclaff, slice or pull. By virtue of plenty of practice he should gradually become certain of getting reasonable distance with accuracy, and he can then afford to apply no Photo Copyright by American Press Association PLATE XI— STANCE FOR THE BRASSIE, SIDE VIEW Keep your eye on the back center of the ball and do not press. HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE more speed to the stroke, and attempt longer shots with chances of bringing them off with consistency sufficient to compensate for the occasional wild one out-of-bounds or into trouble. In the hands of an expert the brassie is The Great a remarkably useful club for accomplish- q^^^ ing brilliant recoveries in the way of long shots out of fairly high grass, out of shal- low sand traps and for long shots sliced or pulled around clumps of trees. It is a club upon which the player may almost uniformly depend for getting the ball quickly up from the ground, as easily as with a mid-iron; but for longer distances and with less physical exertion. All golf- ers ambitious of improving their game should devote hours and days to practice with the brassie until they get absolute confidence in handling it. When the player has once mastered it he may feel III L tes GOLF BOOK sure of cutting many strokes off his aver- age card for the round. Hanging Great difficulty is experienced by every golfer in learning how to play hanging and side hill lies with the brassie, but the player who through diligent and pains- taking practice has successfully solved these problems, should have every reason to feel proud of his proficiency, for he has mastered one of the most difficult shots of the game. The brassie is a most valuable club, saving more strokes for the player than any other club. It fre- quently happens that at some hole calling for a full second shot with a bunker guarding the way to the green, one man finds it necessary to play short, while his more proficient opponent plays a full brassie, carries the hazard and reaches the green. In playing a hanging lie where the 112 HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE ground slopes toward the point you seek to reach, the chief difficulty is to get the ball up cleanly without digging into the turf back of it. I stand with the ball on The Proper a straight line with my left heel, the right ^/"c^ ^ foot being about three inches in advance of the left. I then allow my right knee to bend slightly and have the weight of my body resting more on the left leg be- cause the slight bending of the right knee tends to equalize the position of the shoul- ders in relation to the pitch of the land, and because the left leg's rigidity pre- vents the tendency to fall forward and top the ball when power is put on the down swing. The swing back should be more vertical than in the tee shot and more out from the body than around it. Just as the club head comes in contact with the ball, draw in your arms and finish out to- ward the left, which will cause the ball 113 GOLF BOOK to slice a bit, but it will rise quickly, which is the chief point desired. It is obvious that an allowance for the slice must be made by aiming toward the left of the line. Holding your wrists well down and getting the ball slightly off the heel of the club will aid it in rising. Keep the eye on a point on the ground behind the ball throughout the swing. If your opponent's play has placed you in a position where in order to save the hole it is necessary to gain extra distance, you are justified in making the effort, but under ordinary conditions it is danger- ous to strive for a long ball from a hang- ing lie. Side Hill The greatest difficulty in properly playing side hill lies where the ball is above or below the player, comes from the tendency to lose one's equilibrium during the swing. This falling backward 114 Lies Photo Copyright by American Press Association PLATE XII— FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THE BRASSIE At the finish of the swing the body is shown turned directly toward the hne of play. HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE or forward, as the case may be, will in- variably cause a slice or a pull. The harder you seek to hit the ball from a side-hill lie, the harder it is to keep your balance and the greater the unlikelihood of getting a cleanly hit straight ball. Until you have learned to properly exe- Faithful cute these difficult side-hill strokes with ,, Necessary reasonable accuracy you are at the mercy of the more proficient player who can do so. When you have a little spare time, instead of playing around the links, take your brassie and a few dozen balls and go forth and diligently practice these dif- ferent lies. Don't be discouraged if im- provement appear well-nigh impossible at first, but stick to your practice until you have mastered the difficulties. You can never learn how to play properly un- til you have learned every stroke in the game by assiduous practice. 115 GOLF BOOK With Ball When the stroke must be made along Below You ^ gj^g j^.jj ^j^gj.g ^j^g ^j^jj .g siigt^tiy below where you stand to address it, stand with the ball about opposite the middle of the body, with the right foot on the line and the left foot about two inches back. In other words, the left foot is about two inches back of the right. When I wrote the above I had in mind the position of my feet on a whitewashed line on the ground parallel to the line of play as shown in the illustrations. By the use of this line one may accurately ascertain the relative positions of the feet. The main thing to avoid is the tendency of the body to fall forward or down hill, or toward the ball, thereby causing it to slice when the heel of the club comes in contact with it. Therefore, get a firm stance and endeavor to keep the body, shoulders, arms and hands in the proper ii6 HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE plane throughout the swing. By plane I The Proper mean the sweep of the club to the ball, ^^pi^i^^^ and this sweep should be an exact dupli- cation of the backward swing. When putting power into the stroke on the for- ward swing one is apt to slightly lose his balance and thereby distort the perfect movement of the club through the plane of its swing. The golfer must seek to keep his hands in exactly the same plane coming down as going up, but even more so than when playing on level ground. In playing a ball that is lying below you there is a tendency on the back swing to throw the arms out from the body, and in the down swing the club will come across the ball, causing a slice. Any effort toward pressing on this stroke will intensify the likelihood to lose the balance and get a sliced shot. In order to equalize the tendency to slice, it 117 Above You GOLF BOOK is well to make a slight allowance for it and aim a shade to the left of the line of play. With Ball Just the reverse of the foregoing, where the ball is above you, you are inclined to fall back from it in the stroke, and by so doing hit the ball with the toe of the club resulting in a pull. It is difficult to swing back away from the body and very natural to swing back close to the body with the result that the ball is pulled. Stand with the ball about opposite the right heel (maybe an inch or two to the left of it) with the left foot four inches back of the right. Stand firm and en- deavor to keep the body, shoulders, arms and hands in the proper plane throughout the stroke, to avoid falling away. Seek to get the ball off the center of the club head and get its heel well down without cut- ting the toe of the club into the ground. ii8 Photo Copyright by American Press Association PLATE XIII— INCORRECT TOP OF SWING WITH THE BRASSIE The club is too vertical. It should be almost parallel with the ground. See Plate VII for correct back swing. HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE As there is the ever-present inclination to pull, it is well to make a slight allow- ance by aiming at a point just a shade to the right of the line of play when at- tempting this stroke. Where the play is uphill and the ball The Uphill must be cleanly picked up at the start, stand with the ball an inch or two to the right of opposite the center of the body, with the right foot about four inches back of the left. The weight is then put more on the right foot than the left and effort made to prevent any falling back that would result in a badly topped ball. Draw the club back close to the ground at the start and take some turf after hit- ting the ball. If the going is very sharply up hill, keep the eye on a point back of the ball and take some turf with the ball. In this stroke the effort should be to get the ball up quickly, but not any 119 GOLF BOOK higher than is necessary to clear the hill and get the carry you desire. To Get a A very useful stroke with the brassie is Dead Ball , -. t ^ - u to use It for a longish carry to a green in a wind from the right, by deliberately playing for a slice. The ball goes for its usual distance through the air, but when it comes to earth it gets very little roll. Play the ball off a point about opposite the left heel, and at the instant of contact draw the hands in a bit. Allowance must be made for the slice partly neutralized by the wind. This shot is particularly effective for a long approach to a green over a hazard just in front of it. Now and then a brassie shot with a proper amount of hook or pull imparted to it is very useful. For example, one of the finest shots of this character I ever made was at Garden City in 1908 in my match against Walter J. Travis in the 120 HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE semi-finals of the national championship. Travis had me 2 down and 4 to play, a very substantial lead, but I captured the next two holes and we were all square. At the next tee I got a good drive and what followed was described by Travis himself in an article in "The American Golfer" for April, 1909. After gener- ously stating that he could testify from personal experience to my "remarkable skill with this club" (the brassie), he wrote : "Just take, for instance, his second shot // Difficult on the seventeenth hole at Garden City in last year's (1908) championship in the semi-final round. The match was all even. He was some 240 yards at least from the hole, which was on the right- hand side of the green, with a row of trees bordering the line of play to the right, directly paralleling it. And trouble to 121 GOLF BOOK the left. The least bit of a mistake meant disaster — the loss of at least a stroke — per- haps the loss of the hole! And how su- perbly he rose to the occasion! His shot was truly magnificent! Played boldly, with a suggestion of hook, it gave him a putt for a 3 — and virtually settled the match." It did settle the match. I finished two up and then defeated Max Behr 8 up and 7 to play in the final round for the cham- pionship itself. The The spoon is a club with many features bpoon q£ j.j^g brassie, generally with a longer face and slightly more lofted. I never use a spoon, because I believe it tends to spoil a man's game by leading him to spare his shots and shorten his game. I prefer to use the right club for the dis- tance I wish to make, hitting the ball squarely and accurately with about the 122 Photo Copyright by American Press Association PLATE XIV— STANCE FOR HANGING LIE WITH THE BRASSIE Showing the right foot well in advance of the left. Keep the eye fixed on the ground immediately back of the ball. HOW TO PLAY THE BRASSIE same effort every time. Some players use spoons for cleek shots and shorter shafted ones more laid back for mid-iron strokes, but I have never found any necessity for learning how to use two clubs to get about the same result. For the player of slight physique, or for older players, the spoon provides a method of getting greater dis- tance with less muscular effort than cleeks and irons, but for the younger player and for men of normal strength, my theory is The Spared that irons are best. I believe in practi- j. , cally playing every full shot for all it is worth, and do not favor three-quarter shots or half shots with a stronger club. Play the right club for the distance and hit every stroke firmly and hard. On short approaches there must be a varia- tion in power, but wooden clubs should be used for their maximum distance safely inside the boundary of pressing. 123 rr\] CHAPTER XI HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK IHE cleek is the most powerful iron in the bag and is a close rival of the wooden ones as a distance gainer. The Most My cleek has a shaft two inches shorter Fowerfu ^^^^ ^^ driver, weighs about sixteen ounces and is heavier than either the driver or brassie. Also, it has an unusu- ally short face. Because of a mistaken idea that the spring of the shaft gives ad- ditional distance, many players use cleeks with whippy shafts. Such shafts, I be- lieve, are responsible for a great deal of bad play with the cleek. As accuracy of direction is more important than mere distance at most stages of the game, it is ridiculous to use whippy shafts in cleeks or any other clubs. 124 HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK The more whippy the shaft the less Evils of chance one has of getting away a per- _,, f^^ Clubs fectly straight ball, because the give of the shaft at different parts of the swing is apt to permit the head of the club to come to the ball at a different angle from the one sought in the address. If you will make a practice swing with a particularly whippy club you will note that both at the top of the swing, and at a point about half-way down to the ball, there is a bend to the shaft sufficient to materially change the angle of the club head as it meets the ball. When the ball is hit, particularly as turf should be taken after contact on all cleek shots, there is a third give of the shaft that is very apt to result in faulty direction. If your hands are in advance of the club when it comes in contact with the ball, it stands to reason that the more 125 GOLF BOOK whip you get from the shaft the more in- tensified will be the inclination to slice. Who ever saw a. player putting with a whippy shaft? To my mind it is as fool- ish to use a whippy shaft in a cleek or any other club as it would be to use it in a putter. Back Swing j^Qj-g In making a cleek stroke, stand closer Vertical j-q ^^q ]^2i\\ than when using the driver, playing it more to the right, with the right foot well advanced and the left foot about five inches back of it. The swing is practically the same as in the drive, ex- cept that the club is not carried back quite so far. The backward swing is more vertical, and while with the drive the effort is to swish the ball away, the cleek stroke is more of a hit or chop. Strike firmly into the ball with a strong effort to follow through and get into the turf after contact with the ball. 126 Photo Copyright by Atnerican Press Association. PLATE XV— ADDRESS WITH CLEEK The grip is exactly the same as that for th^ drive but the right foot is further advanced. HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK The difference between the cleek shot and shots with the driver ,and brassie is that with the former the ball is hit first and then you take turf as you follow through, whereas with the wooden clubs the efifort is to pick the ball off the turf, except in the case of a cuppy lie where the turf is sometimes taken before hitting the ball. When a cleek shot is properly made the ball will go off with great speed, traveling comparatively low, and The Stance , , , , 1 1 1 1 f Should Be may be depended upon to hold the Ime p^^^^ with accuracy. The stance should be very firm and the weight should rest fairly even on both feet. At the start of the backward swing turn the wrists over as with the driver, but do not allow the left foot to rise on the toe off the ground as in the tee shot. Try to keep the left foot well rooted to the ground, for this will overcome the tendency of lifting 127 GOLF BOOK the body in the stroke, a habit which fre- quently leads to a bad shot The left heel rises, but only slightly, and the pressure on the ground is through the inner edge of the ball of the foot, rather than on the toe, as in the tee shot. Turn the body from the waist up, keep- ing the head perfectly still and hold the eye on the back center of the ball. Do not try to pick up the ball as on the drive, but hit at it accurately and take some turf, and then follow through firmly and positively. Hit and Most players use a cleek as if they Take Turf ^gj-g trying to hit a ball off a putting green without injuring the turf. This, I think, accounts for their poor direction and weak strokes regarding distance. Hit the ball, take some turf and follow through, keeping the eye on the back center of the ball. If you play the shot 128 Photo Copyright by American Press Association PLATE XVI— ADDRESS WITH THE CLEEK, SIDE VIEW The ball should be about opposite the center of the body, the right foot well in advance of the left. HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK in this way you will find that the cleek is a very useful and dependable weapon to have in your bag. Most players never get acquainted with the cleek, and when- Useful and , Dependable ever they decide to try a shot with it, do pf/^apon so with fear and trembling and in many instances their over-anxiety leads to mis- fortune. Grip the cleek firmly with both hands to prevent it from turning when it comes in contact with the ground after the ball is struck. The right hand relaxes its grip slightly at the top of the swing, but tightens again in the downward swing as speed is applied and the ball is hit. A common fault with cleek play is dropping the right shoulder, which causes the club head to strike the ground before reaching the ball, and kills the possibilities of the shot. To correct this error, stand an inch or two further away from the ball and 129 GOLF BOOK endeavor to keep the right shoulder in its true plane throughout the swing. In cleek play in the different conditions of wind and for hanging and side-hill lies, the explanations previously given for the driver and brassie under identical condi- tions apply, with the very slight differ- ence in the swing back and hitting of the ball, as indicated. Driving- Personally, I prefer a driving-iron in Iron Versus , r i i t 't'u r ^, place of a regular cleek. Ihe face, in- stead of being long and narrow like the standard cleek, is deep and short and is, perhaps, laid back a shade less. The face is about one-quarter of an inch deeper than the ordinary cleek, and the head is about one-quarter of an inch shorter. A much lower ball can be driven with this driving-iron, and when there is a high wind a low ball is of great assistance. I seem to possess better control over the 130 .-J- Photo Copyright by American Press Association PLATE XVII— TOP OF THE SWING WITH THE CLEEK Showing the weight distributed between b^th feet, the left heel rising but slightly. HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK flight of the ball with my driving-iron than with a regular cleek, and so prefer to use it. In my own game the driving-iron, or cleek, plays a very important part, and Good for I play it with full confidence regarding ^^^^ ^°" direction, which frequently enables me to lay a ball close up to the pin on a very long approach to a green. I get a ball almost as long as with a brassie, but more uniformly straight on the line, with a fine roll. This shot is not a very difficult one, but few players nowadays make it, and in con- sequence it has won many a hole for me. I have devoted much practice to the stroke, and as a demonstration of its all- around ability I may state that I played the entire links of the Montclair Golf Club in 77 strokes, using my driving-iron alone for every shot from the tee, through 131 GOLF BOOK the green, for approaches, out of bunkers and for putting. Driving On many courses there are holes where ron rom -^ -^ ^j^gQiy^gly dangerous to use a driver from the tee, where the player gets into trouble if his ball go too far. For in- stance, at Garden City there are some holes where a long player is heavily pun- ished by a full tee shot. During the championship of 1908 I used my driving- iron from several of the tees with good effect where I wanted a drive of slightly over 200 yards, but where one of 240 would have landed me in a bunker or stretch of long grass, and perhaps, penal- ized me a stroke. In the championship at Wheaton, in 191 2, I was decidedly ofif my game so far as the wooden clubs were concerned. The course was narrow, and in the finals against Charles Evans, Jr., I practically 132 HOW TO PLAY THE CLEEK used my driving-iron from the tees. Both rounds on the tenth hole, which is 240 yards, I reached the green with my driving-iron. 133 CHAPTER XII THE GOLFER'S FAVORITE CLUB, THE MID-IRON T ■, o^ 'bV "^0^ 'oK