Pro and con of golf

Preface

GOLF is the one outdoor game that appeals alike to young and old, to men, women, and children. It is an activity at once healthfiil, genial, and satisfying.

Many there are who like to ride a horse, steer a car, row a boat, or tighten their muscles on the mainsheet when the breeze is fresh. Then there are the woods, with gun and ever-faithful dog. All these, and more, are good. There is a place reserved, however, for this splendid game of golf, — combining as it does bodily exertion, mental ease and recuperation, real pleasure and exhilaration — whether played alone or enhanced by agreeable companionship and spirited competition.

To-day the world of gentle sport takes great interest in golf. Each little hamlet has a nineoi an eighteen-hole course, and every large community has from five to fifty courses.

May it not be well, therefore, to have some straight drives in the literature of golf, by different drivers; a few brassies in the field of criticism; several approaches to the green of golfing comment ; and many straight putts for par in a score in which the writer and compiler has found much pleasure, making a record of the game in many respects different from any other?

The thought has been to make a book from the viewpoint of an amateur, to be approached not vi PRO AND CON OF GOLF

at all in the spirit of the schoolboy toward his grammar. It is hoped that one may give to its contents ten minutes or an hour with equal interest, returning again and again for another game and a different point of view. For example, in reading, the chapter on "Clubs" one should read only enough to satisfy him — not all viewpoints, if one does not feel so incUned.

Golfers should benefit by the English poet's admonition, "Lest we forget." Words written in other days by those who love the sport can still help us to "the allure of the game," as well as to its science. The best advice of the past need not impair the new teachings ready and at hand.

The Pro and Con of Golf may help to impart a higher regard for the game, and urge toward a better standard. It may help make one glad, not sad, when one's handicap is reduced, and foster in the field of sport the spirit of the gentleman or gentlewoman, for which spirit this game, above all others, is preeminent.

AN APPRECIATION

TO those whose work and advice the author and compiler has used in this volume he desires to extend sincere thanks.

Golf is peculiarly a game in which all who play, or who \\Tite about it, feel an interest in helping others to improve. The entente cordial is nowhere foimd working to better advantage than among the golf enthusiasts of the world. Writers and players partake of the same spirit. Spreading the gospel of good form, correct etiquette, and gentle courtesy, on the links or in the clubhouse, to players, professionals, caddies, and club help, is part of the thoughtful golfer's pleasure.

Not being in the "scratch class" myself, but an average player, for such golf knowledge as I have acquired I feel genuine gratitude to certain professionals with whom I have played or from whom I have had lessons, and to many amateiurs who have given advice.

Among the professionals I especially recall Messrs. Alexander Smith, Harry Vardon, George Duncan, J. J. McDermott, the two Andersons, David FouUs, William Marshall, Andrew Kirkcaldy, Stewart Gardner, Arthur Fenn, and Alexander and Jim Herd. Among amateurs I make acknowledgments also to Messrs. H. H. Hilton, Norman Himter, Walter J. Travis, Charles Evans, Jr., and Warren Wood.

Alexander H. Revell

Contents

PAGE

Preface v

An Appreciation vii

Chapter I Commencing Right

WHO hungers for golfing counsel more than the man who has had a few lessons from his club professional and suddenly finds that he is unable to continue these lessons? An ordinaryestablished golfer is busy with his own game, and very rarely gives advice to the man who is hardly over the "beginning stage." Desultory advice seldom benefits the new player.

Friendly help, after some progress has been achieved, is a big factor in golf. This will not be denied anywhere. When I had passed the "beginning stage," I found in making progress that not a few inaccuracies, personal eccentricities, foibles, or whatever you will, were corrected by the bit of advice courteously given, now and then, by a successful amateur or a friendly professional..

However, one should start right.

At the start, one day a week is all that busy men can give the game; seldom more than two days a week. These may be reduced to half days. It is not easy, though it is possible, to get an interesting game started in that time. If the game has been indulged in somewhat, it can be sustained with a little care, but where it is possible for a beginner to give it considerable time in the first instance, it will save time afterward. A vacation period would be an ideal time to put one's mind on the game to start with.

Pick out the course that may furnish the best opportunity that you can pay for, without being burdensome. Then be sure to talk over all your golf plans with the professional of that club. Make a friend of him and he will help you, aside from the value to him of the perquisite he receives.

The first question to come up will be that of clubs. A better start will be made with as few clubs as it is reasonably possible to play with. These should be purchased from the professional, or at a first-class shop, and selected, of course, only under the advice of an expert.

Until a man brings his handicap down to sixteen, there shotdd be no additions to the number used, unless he decides to add a niblick. He should first become well acquainted with the brassie, cleek, mid-iron, mashie, and putter, and as expert as possible with all the strokes taken with these five clubs.

Driving may be well done through the greens with the brassie ; the mid-iron and mashie may be utilized for the bunkers.

A new player should engage to take at least eight, or better still, sixteen lessons from the professional, and at least one day should elapse between lessons. A man should not put off starting because he cannot see his way clear to take all these lessons or give the time consecutively, as stated. The average man will not take manylessons to begin with. Some friend will want him to play. The temptation to do so will be great. However, if the tempter can be put off two or three weeks, or even a month, it will be better for the later work. Lessons average about one hour each.

Then, one will get much information and progress from books by expert players, and from magazines on golf. There are many who do not think so, but the more interested you become, the more intensely will yoiir mind fix itself on the game. Much of this comes from absorbing ever5rthing possible about golf.

Try to be as exact, determined, and sincere as possible at the start. A fair idea of the principles, even though the mind grasps them in a hazy way, will help one's game. As improvement comes, one finds the haze will clear away.

If one makes his first effort at some public or seaside coiu-se, he will, on return home, desire to belong to a golf club as convenient to his residence as possible. This is a matter that ought to receive careful attention. One shotdd join an organization that fits his pocketbook, and where he may find congenial company and personal friends. For many who may desire to enter upon this game, the cost is an important matter of consideration. To tell the truth, golf is not a low-cost game. However, it can be played at both a low and a high cost.

It is the same as with automobiles. Many a man running an automobile finds that it costs between three thousand and four thousand dollars a year, if he has one of the finest makes. However, it is well known that one of the very low-priced cars can be run at a wonderfully low cost by those willing to work, to get along without a chauffeur, and to do their own garaging.

As to this matter of costs, it is the same all through life. Thought and care will do wonders. A clerk at a small salary in a sporting-goods establishment was noticed because his trousers were always creased. He looked as well, or better, than a higher salaried employee who paid a tailor for doing the work. Something must be wrong. An investigation developed the fact that the young man carefully folded this article of wearing apparel each night and placed it between two pieces of thick pasteboard beneath the mattress of his bed. He pressed his trousers while he slept.

There are some golf organizations where the average costs are small, and one's standing is not affected because this is so. However, there are others where the costs are hardly considered. Books are preferably not kept. It is the same as in running the high-priced automobile, — the enjoyment is "slightly damaged" if one keep close track of each and every expense. For those who cannot afford the so-called "swell clubs," just as good times are found in the low-priced organizations.

In most American cities the golf-club entrance fee nms from twenty-five dollars to two hundred and fifty dollars; the annual subscription is from about twenty-five dollars to one hundred dollars.

There are a few clubs in this country where the costs are greater, but they should not be considered in deciding the matter we have in hand. There are also many clubs where arrangements can be made to become members for a few weeks, with all privileges; others, where ftdl privileges may be had on all days except Saturdays and Sundays. Then there are the public courses. The larger and more expensive clubs are more particular, and usually confine their links to the use of members only, or of guests playing with members.

I have no doubt that in many country places there is good golf to be had for ten dollars to fifteen dollars a year for club dues, and those who can be encouraged to join such a club would find it one of the best bargains of a lifetime. As a matter of fact, for several years I belonged to Tuscumbia — a nine-hole course — at Green Lake, Wisconsin. The annual dues of this splendid course were fifteen dollars a year. Let me say in passing that it was here that as a boy Warren Wood, the favorably known amateur, as well as I (not a boy) learned to play our first games. And there was a time when I gave Warren a handicap! But times have changed.

As to the five clubs which I have mentioned, the cost for them will be about ten dollars. An ordinary golf bag will cost from two dollars and a half up. Lessons will cost from fifty cents to one dollar and fifty cents each, — and golf balls about sixty cents each. However, it should be remembered that bargains are always obtainable; even used clubs and made-over balls may be obtained where the price is an important consideration.

Most people disgusted with their game seem to get considerable enjoyment in being miserable, and in telling others how it all came about.

Chapter II Use Of Various Clubs

NOW for a consideration of the play for all clubs. It has always been my impression that professionals were wrong in method, in so far as the order of teaching various clubs is concerned. I have never known a professional, either in book or on field, who did not start the beginner with the driver. I wonder if this habit or tendency had its origin in the lack of practiceputting greens or from the rules not permitting beginners to practice putting on the regular greens. Even at the present time there are many clubs where such rules exist and where there are no practice greens.

It would hardly be right to say that the driver is the most difficult club to use correctly. Some find it easy, while others come to use one of the other clubs with more ease and accuracy. I think, however, it is generally conceded that the easiest clubs to play with are the shorter ones, the putter coming first. This is not saying that it is easier to make a difficult putt than to use an iron or a wooden club on any part of the fair-green. To change the expression, putting is the least active and the easiest part of the game to learn.

I thinlc the other clubs require more work and study. Therefore I believe the following to be the correct order of study for a beginner, Including only the clubs carried in an average bag: putter, mashie, mid-iron, driving iron or cleek, brassie, driver, and niblick. This is assuming you include a driver and niblick.

In addition there are the driving iron, driving mashie, mashie niblick, spoon, left-hand approaching iron, and others.

As a believer in a few rather than in many clubs, I shall discuss only those mentioned in the first list.

Let me repeat that we have here the opinion of an average amateur. He offers these opinions with due humility and in the presence of many able books on golf by more expert players. He would not offer them but for the fact that they have already been a help to some who were struggling to improve their game.

By simplicity in terms and teaching rather than the usual lengthy and more serious efforts of the average golf authority, it is my hope to gain and hold your attention for the short period necessary. My hope is that this book may encourage you to take up the more technical books for a wider and more serious study.

I therefore proceed to place the putter first in advising the beginner, and will ask him to make his starting play with that club.

THE PUTTER

There are two kinds of putters in general use in this country. One is the ordinary steel-blade putter, and the other is the wood or the flat metal-head putter. It is my belief that the best putting is accomplished with the metal-trimmed wood, or the metal-head putter. The general model of all, except the steel-blade putter, is something on the lines of the old Schenectady putter. A large number of the metal-head putters, shaped something like a driver, are in use. I prefer the latter because they are not in conflict with St. Andrews' rules.

Putters made on the lines of the Schenectady have been barred in England by the rules above referred to, and are barred on the continent. The United States Golf Association permits the use of all such putters in this country. It would be better for the game if the United States Golf Association on this particular feature would endorse the judgment of those interested in golf across the water. It would place all players here more on an equality as to the use of certain shapes of club heads in putting. As is well known, many players think they cannot use the flat wood or metal-head putters. Others have had very little success with the blade or cleek putter.

Then suppose you take yotir favorite putter and start on the easiest shot possible, namely, with three or four balls, located about a foot from the hole. This may be termed the easiest shot, although many a professional and scratch amateur has been known to miss an important eight-inch putt.

An excellent way to stand in putting is to have lo PRO AND CON OF GOLF

the heels aknost close together, toes apart, V-shape, standing well over the ball and with the hands about one-third down the grip, the right hand below the left hand, interlocked, using only the wrists.

An imaginary line should be established between the ball and the hole. After making up your mind to hit the ball, you should pay no attention to the imaginary Hne or to the hole, but keep your eye and mind riveted on the ball alone.

Place club on ground just ahead of ball, swing club once or twice on line of putt but above ball, to get poise and direction, then bring it in position behind ball, ready for stroke. The ball should be struck low and compact, near the center of the blade. The hands should be slightly ahead of a straight line between your eye and the ball, but very slightly: that is, let club blade lie naturally on the ground, shaft extending straight toward the body, — then push hands an inch toward hole, and you are ready for shot, using wrists only.^

Let weight of club come back slowly and close to the ground. Reverse action should be slow, but hit the ball firmly, following with the club toward the hole. Jerking movements should be avoided in all golf plays. They are fatal to accuracy. The weight or force you use in making the stroke shoiild be according to the distance of ball from the hole.

'In this connection "Moonlight Golf," explained farther on in this book (p. 132), is valuable.

PRO AND CON OF GOLF ii

After practicing the twelve-inch shot as long as you feel interested, try some two-foot putts, then foiu'-foot, eight-foot, twenty-foot, and so continue.

If you have a down-hill putt, grip the club loosely. This will have a tendency to hold the ball back somewhat.

If, on the contrary, the ball is uphill, the grip should be firmer. At all times the stance should be easy and comfortable. The ball should be hit firmly, almost recklessly, remembering that you are far better off with your ball three feet over the hole than three feet short. Three feet over means that you give the hole a chance with firm confidence. This confidence is liable to continue for the next shot, while confidence is probably lost if the ball is three or four feet short of the hole.

MASHIE

The writer believes the mashie is the most important club in the bag. Where the ball Hes on the fair-green or on an average distance in the rough this is the club needed for the shot to a fixed place, — a target, — about four inches in diameter. The hope is to place the ball dead to the hole. If you use one of the longer clubs, when there is hope and desire to land on or near the green, it is always the unexpected when the ball lies for one putt.

The stance for the mashie shot should be an open one. The left foot should be ahead of and away from the ball, the right foot nearer the ball than the left, with the body turned slightly toward the hole. This makes it easier for the arms to come through straight to the hole. The club should be held in the two hands about a third or halfway down the grip, according to distance, the club blade laid well back rather than straight. In this shot the wrists should be flexible, the arms somewhat rigid. There is very little use for the shoulders or body. The club should be taken back slowly. The reverse should be slow, but should gather speed on the down stroke, the club head striking the ball clean but taking a little earth after the club hits the ball. The club head should go through straight toward the hole.

It would be a profitable thing for a thoughtful student of the game to take a dozen balls and practice this shot from the fair-green and from the rough. Commence with a short approach. Follow the putting program. Try one htmdred to one hundred and fifty shots. If you can secure a professional to coach you, so much the better. Don't stop at one himdred and fifty shots. Take up the play at another time and try it again. It is wonderful how much of interest and pleasant exercise there is in such practice.

Keeping the head still and the eye on the ball is even more important in this shot than it is with the putter. With the putter you are going to hit the ball and send it somewhere nearer the hole, even though it may go off the line. Should the eye be taken off the mashie shot, your hands and wrists are liable to get ahead of the shot (a phrase understood by golfers), the blade of the club will shoot in the ground, and your ball pop up in the air for a few feet; or it may shoot on an angle of forty-five degrees away from the hole. Or you may do just the reverse, top the ball, which sometimes will send it quite a way toward or beyond the hole, with little or no accuracy as to line or distance. One need not be surprised if such a topped ball is sent to a bunker guarding the approach to the green, or to another bunker at the far side of the green.

The extreme length of shot for a mashie is fixed by your ability and experience in playing that club. Some never use it for a shot of more than one hundred yards ; others can make one himdred and sixty yards with excellent results.

MID-IRON

The mid-iron is next in order.

The stance is much the same as for a mashie shot, although one should stand a little farther from the ball. The club should be drawn back slowly and easily. For the long shot, at least, following contact with ball, hold the body toward the hole, the right leg turning, and come up on the right toes. Do not come up on side of shoe. This gives a less accurate follow-through.

Under average circumstances the distance for the ordinary mid-iron shot is a hundred and forty to a hundred and sixty yards. Many professionals use a mashie for this distance, but this book is intended for beginners and for average amateurs.

The club should be drawn well up, but not exactly aroimd the neck. The long shot with a mid-iron should be between three quarters and a full stroke. - For a shorter distance, the carry-back of the club should be judged accordingly, but no shot should be made with a mid-iron with a carry-back of less than half a stroke.

The ball may be hit clear and clean of earth, although it would be better to take a little earth on a direct line with the hole after the club hits the ball. This gives good direction to the ball. Taking this earth makes a good strong follow-through absolutely necessary.

DRIVING IRON OR CLEEK

This shot is much the same as with the mid-iron. When played well it will give from ten to twenty-five yards greater distance than will the other iron. In addition, the roll of the ball after it strikes the ground will be better.

If the shot is one that calls for accuracy in direction, I prefer to use the cleek or driving iron rather than the brassie. Many times it will give as good a distance as the brassie, with more certainty of direction than the latter club. However, this should not tempt one to cut out either of the wooden clubs. "Play the club that fits the shot," is a good slogan.

Many play all their long shots with a cleek or driving iron. Their usual explanation is that they cannot play with a wooden club, or that they are "a bit ofif their game." In a very important match this might be excusable, as in such a match it is hardly prudent for a player to use a club in which he has lost confidence for the time being. But constantly playing a club which, according to good form, does not fit the shot, throws a player out of form.

As stated above, a certain club fits a certain shot according to the ability of the player to make the distance. If he is not playing well with the proper club, he should practice by himself, or with a professional, until he plays that club better.

The driving iron or cleek is a handy club and is certainly the means of giving a player considerable satisfaction when he comes to have it right, or nearly so.

I always advocate the use of the wrists, and impress this for all clubs, especially when it is desirable to get distance with ease.

Most players are under the impression that if they do not take the club back from the ball with its face a.t right angles, the shot will go in any direction. But the fact is, that when the club face is turned away from the ball in the back swing the tendency is for the wrists to turn in the downward swing so that the club face will be at right angles to the ball when it is hit. This turning of the wrists gives speed to the swing and is one of the secrets of the splendid distances secured by professionals.

BRASSIE

A brassie is a near-driver. The ground is the only "tee." I must begin with the same admonition as with all other clubs — take back and reverse slowly.

The" stance should be what is termed "an open one"; that is, the left foot should be ahead of the ball and farther from it than the right foot, leaving an opportunity for the body to twm. with the club and the right foot to come up on the toes. The back swing should be only as long as you can make it with comfort; a short swing, rather than one where the left elbow bends around the neck, will seciu-e better control and direction. My swing is a long one, but I often feel I shotild do much better with the short swing back. However, while recommending the short swing for beginners, I Hke the appearance of the long swing better.

The right elbow should hug the side fairly close in coming back. After the reverse, the right arm should go through and after the ball, and the head of club toward the hole. The wrists make the turn with the club, and in the finish the arms, especially the right, circle gracefully and easily aroimd the neck, not around the shoulders.

I endeavor to use my wrists almost recklessly. Where this is done, a larger percentage of my shots are good shots. Extreme care for the shot, or overlooking the wrists, gives me a larger percentage of poor shots and shorter distances. Such might be termed "smothered shots."

The club's downward journey should gather strength and speed all the way. A snap with the wrist when within eight inches of the ball is a wonderful help, but the beginner would do well not to try this. It will come, however, with practice.

Notice your experienced caddie near the first tee, when, to fill up time and be rid of excess energy, he swings at imaginary balls. Practice a little in the same way, without balls. You can do it ; but if you think you cannot, or believe you're too old, the chances are you never will succeed. Let arms, shoulders, and club swing forward and backward easily in this practice, like the pendulum of a clock.

SPOON

The spoon is like the brassie but is used for a shorter distance, a little higher ball, and less roll.

DRIVER

The driver is almost on the same line as the brassie. Of course, the drive is what is termed a "tee shot"; that is, one can use a "pinch of sand," as the Scotchman said, to lift his ball from the ground. The lower the tee the better for the shot. A high tee is very likely to send a ball high, thereby losing distance. The club has an easy chance to get under the ball and very often takes the chance. However, the value in height of the tee depends much on the player.

Some players, in driving, do remarkably well by merely placing the ball on a good spot of grass. Others will tee their balls one-half to one inch. Under any circumstances the wisdom of going above one inch is doubted by all.

I recall, one player who used to tee his ball about two inches. It looked like a miniature walking stick, the ball being the handle. Strange, but true, he acquired a very fair game, but after a while he gave up golf in disgust.

Whatever plan you adopt, do not take a handful of sand and place your ball thereon. It looks badly, and in making contact of club and ball one is likely to frame a cushion of sand. The result is likely to be a ball so short that it will be soon reached.

I shall not attempt to describe a hook, a pull, or a sliced shot. These shots are often played for wind or to get around obstacles. But such work is for professionals and crack amateurs.

NIBLICK

Now for the niblick. In view of the fact that the niblick shot is a very difficult one, it seems to me that the beginner may well let it alone until he has practiced considerably with the clubs intended for the field and green play.

The sand in the ordinary bunker to-day is not kept as level as formerly. In season it was usual to have a man go over the pit or bunker very often with a rake or other handy tool for the purpose of leveling bad places. This has been discontinued to a considerable extent. Players are expected to replace sand in holes, especially in those made by themselves. The bunker shows the effect of use dining the day. It is well for a beginner to practice in a bunker with balls dropped in good and bad lies.