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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSE 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/successatgolfOObost 
 

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 , ^a 
 
 FKANCIS OTJIMET, "UNITED STATES OPEN CHAMPION, 1913. 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
Success at Golf 
 
 •i 
 
 BY 
 
 HARRY VARDON, ALEXANDER HERD 
 
 GEORGE DUNCAN, WILFRID REID 
 
 LAWRENCE AYTON 
 
 AND 
 
 FRANCIS OUIMET 
 
 U. S. Open Champion, 1913 
 
 With an Introduction by 
 JOHN G. ANDERSON 
 
 Runner-up National Championship, 1913 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 BOSTON 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
 
 1914 
 

 Copyright, 1914, 
 By Little, Brown, and Company,, 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 Published, February, 1914 
 
 THE COLONIAL PRESS 
 C. H. SIMONDS & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. 
 
 FEB 16 1914 
 
 ©CI. A 36*9 00 2 
 / 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 I 
 
 "^HERE is no game in which inher- 
 ent ability counts for more than 
 it does in golf; yet there is no 
 game which, in the long run, demands a 
 more intimate knowledge of cause and 
 effect. The youth goes out on the links 
 and, through elasticity of muscles, a keen 
 eye, inborn adaptability and the favors 
 of fortune, he triumphs over a veteran 
 golfer of the first rank, or over a field 
 involving a number of veteran experts. 
 He is hailed as a golfing "phenom"; a 
 great future is predicted for him on the 
 links and it is forecasted that in time he 
 is more than likely to become a national 
 champion. 
 
 For a time his play seems to promise 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 fulfillment of these rosy prognostications ; 
 but there comes a day when things begin 
 to go wrong. The drive no longer fol- 
 lows a straight line down the course, but 
 takes a fancy toward the rough on the 
 right or left; the iron shots are not hit 
 in the old crisp and decisive manner; it 
 seems impossible to get the old distance 
 with the old absence of effort. Some- 
 thing undeniably is wrong; but what? 
 
 There is the rub for the purely natural 
 golfer who has not studied cause and 
 effect in golf. He knows something has 
 gone wrong with his game, but what it is, 
 he has not the remotest idea. He does 
 not realize, perhaps, that he uncon- 
 sciously has altered his stance or that his 
 original methods of hitting the ball were 
 so unorthodox as to depend for their 
 success upon the supreme suppleness and 
 keen eye of youth. He has days when 
 things go right and he thinks he is back 
 vi 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 on his game; whenlo! the very next day 
 his play is woefully bad and he comes to 
 think of himself as irremediably erratic, 
 whereupon he loses that confidence in his 
 own abilities which spells success. 
 
 The above is far from being an isolated 
 case, especially in America. Neverthe- 
 less, in America the general standard of 
 play is progressing by leaps and bounds, 
 and the chief reason is that golfers, as a 
 class, are giving more and more study to 
 the science of the game. They are grow- 
 ing more observant of the methods of 
 the leading golfers, both amateur and 
 professional, and they are more ready 
 to read what the experts have to say 
 about how different shots should be 
 played. 
 
 To my mind there could be nothing 
 more timely and beneficial for golf in 
 the United States than the accompany- 
 ing expressions of world-famous golfers 
 vii 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 on the proper method of playing strokes 
 in which they are known to excel. The 
 success of Mr. Francis Ouimet (who has 
 contributed a chapter) in winning the 
 national open championship of 1913 has 
 fired the ambitions of American golfers 
 and makes them doubly receptive of 
 ideas which are bound to help them mas- 
 ter the finer points of the game. 
 
 That the ensuing chapters are con- 
 tributed almost exclusively by British 
 golfers is not surprising, considering what 
 such names as Harry Vardon, George 
 Duncan, Alexander Herd et al. stand for 
 in the world of golf. It will be a long 
 time before even the highest standard of 
 golf will advance beyond the point al- 
 ready reached by a man like Vardon, 
 for the simple reason that for years his 
 skill has been ahead of the age in which 
 his triumphs have been so many, just as 
 Tom Morris, Jr., and " Freddie " Tait 
 viii 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 knew no peers in their day. But study 
 of the game and continual striving un- 
 deniably is bridging the chasm between a 
 player like Vardon and the next order 
 of golfers, and one of the potent reasons 
 for this improvement in the general 
 standard unquestionably lies in the ability 
 of men like Vardon to not only play the 
 game superbly but to be able to analyze 
 and tell in print the secret of their suc- 
 cess. 
 
 All except one of the chapters in " Suc- 
 cess in Golf " are contributed by British 
 experts, yet the opinions set forth are by 
 no means confined to golfers who are 
 known to Americans solely through rep- 
 utations. Harry Vardon, George Dun- 
 can, Alexander Herd and Wilfrid Reid 
 are four contributors who have played 
 in the United States and are known to 
 hosts of golfers this side of the Atlantic. 
 And when I say known, I mean known 
 ix 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 not only personally, but known to be 
 masters of the shots which they describe 
 how to play. 
 
 When a man like Harry Vardon sets 
 out to explain how to get the best results 
 in driving, for example, every one knows 
 that there is no golfer more skilled in that 
 department of play. Not alone does he 
 get the best results; he gets them through 
 methods which embody skill, grace and 
 total absence of palpable effort. I know 
 of no book or treatise where the beauties 
 and advantages of spoon play are more 
 instructively or clearly set forth than in 
 this little volume. And when you have 
 read all other articles about the " push 
 shot," you will come back to George 
 Duncan's explanation as given in these 
 pages and know once and forever what 
 it is and how to play it. 
 
 If you wish to excel in that most deli- 
 cate part of the game, putting, heed the 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 advice of the young champion, Mr. 
 Francis Ouimet, whose views on what 
 he thinks are the best methods to employ 
 undoubtedly will help a host of golfers. 
 I commend this book to all golfers 
 who would improve their game. 
 
 John G. Anderson. 
 
 XI 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Intboductton V 
 
 By John G. Anderson 
 
 The Art of Driving 1 
 
 By Harry Vardon 
 
 On Spoon and Iron Shots 19 
 
 By Alexander Herd 
 
 The " Push " Shot 43 
 
 By George Duncan 
 
 The Use of the Mashie 65 
 
 By Wilfrid Reicl 
 
 Recoveries — The Art of Bunker Plat . 83 
 By Lawrence Ayton 
 
 Suggestions for Putting 103 
 
 By Francis Ouimet 
 
 xm 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Francis Ouimet, United States Open Cham- 
 pion, 1913 Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 Harry Vardon 4 ^ 
 
 Stance for the Drive 12 
 
 Beginning of the Up Swing .... 12 
 
 Top of the Swing for the Drive . . . 18 
 
 Finish of the Swing 18 
 
 Top of Swing with Spoon 28 
 
 Finish of Swing with Spoon . . . . 28 ^- 
 Stance for Cut Shot with Spoon . . .32 
 
 Finish of Cut Shot with Spoon ... 32 
 
 Stance for the Iron 36 
 
 Top of Swing with the Iron . . . . 36 ! 
 
 Finish of Iron Shot 36 
 
 George Duncan 46 
 
 Stance for the Push Shot . . . .52 
 Correct Position of Top of Swing for the 
 
 Push Shot 52 
 
 Correct Finish of a Half Push Shot . . 56 i 
 
 Wrong Finish 56 
 
 Grip for the Pitch and Mashie Shot . . 70 
 xv 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 A Wrong Grip 70 
 
 Stance for Pitch and Run Shot of about 100 
 
 Yards 72 
 
 Stance for Pitch and Run Shot of 35 Yards 72 
 Top of Swing, Pitch and Run Shot of 100 
 
 Yards 74 
 
 Finish of Swing 74 
 
 Wrong Stance, Bunker Plat .... 92 
 Correct Stance for Niblick Shot in Bun- 
 ker 92 
 
 Wrong Finish, Bunker Play .... 96 
 
 Correct Finish 96 
 
 Francis Ouimet Preparing to Putt . . 106 
 
 xvi 
 
THE ART OF DRIVING 
 
 BY 
 
 Harry Vardon 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 THE ART OF DRIVING 
 
 IT has been said that the successful 
 driving of a golf ball is a knack. The 
 statement may be true, but I am 
 certain that the only way to acquire the 
 knack is to study the art, and that mental 
 capacity cannot afford greater assistance 
 to physical strength than by allotting 
 to the latter its proper and rather modest 
 place in the scheme of the tee-shot. 
 
 A long drive is not usually made purely 
 by virtue of hard hitting. There are a 
 few men — veritable golfing goliaths, and 
 good luck to them ! — who depend mainly 
 upon what we may term " brute 
 3 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 strength " for the admirable length of 
 their drives. They slog for all they are 
 worth; they time the shots well; and, as 
 a consequence, they make the ball travel 
 great distances. They are gifted souls. 
 What the average moderate player does 
 not realize (so, at least, it seems to me 
 after many years of experience) is that 
 Nature never intended him to be a slog- 
 ger. He is not endowed for the part. 
 And yet he persists in trying to play it. 
 He seems to make up his mind during 
 the preliminary waggle that the most 
 important matter of all is to give the ball 
 a terrific thump. He tightens all his 
 muscles in his determination to accom- 
 plish a mighty shot. That is just where 
 he fails. I can assure him that this con- 
 stricted condition of the muscles, which 
 is easily cultivated in the case of the man 
 who thinks that physical power and hefty 
 hitting are of supreme importance, is the 
 
••.' 
 
 mm 
 
 HARRY VARDON. 
 
THE ART OF DRIVING 
 
 worst thing imaginable for the purpose 
 of long driving. 
 
 As a rule, it produces a foozle. What 
 happens is easily explained. The player 
 induces such a state of rigidity in his 
 resolve to hit with desperate force that 
 he simply cannot swing the club freely. 
 The muscles of his arms are so contracted 
 in the vehement desire to triumph by 
 means of strength that the victim cannot 
 go through with the shot. What he 
 usually does — unwittingly, but none the 
 less surely — is to begin to stop the club 
 before it reaches the ball. His arms are 
 not sufficiently free to allow the driver 
 to do the work for him. And as he starts 
 involuntarily to check the club, he en- 
 deavors to use all his bodily strength; 
 in a way, he hurls himself at the ball. It 
 is a curious fact that, in spite of the em- 
 ployment of so much energy, one is not 
 likely to send the ball 150 yards when 
 5 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 adopting these methods. It may be 
 struck fairly, cleanly, but there is no real 
 power behind it. One of the most com- 
 mon mistakes of the indifferent golfer is 
 that he makes downright hard work of 
 driving. The practice is not merely use- 
 less; it renders a long shot a rarity except 
 in the case of an exceptionally consti- 
 tuted individual. 
 
 In saying this, I do not mean to sug- 
 gest that there is no necessity to invest 
 the stroke with any strength at all. The 
 power must be there, but it must be in- 
 veigled into exercising its influence at 
 the right instant. What I wish to indi- 
 cate is that it is not likely to be brought 
 into profitable operation by mere violence 
 on the part of the player; that is to say, 
 by a desperate tightening of the muscles 
 and a mere lunging of the body at the 
 ball. A first-class golfer who executes a 
 long tee-shot uses in the process most, if 
 
THE ART OF DRIVING 
 
 not all, of the strength that Nature has 
 given him, — but he uses it in such a way 
 that he scarcely realizes that he is hitting 
 hard, and, indeed, the strain for him is 
 not so great as for the man who is fiercely 
 workmanlike. This, then, is the knack 
 of successful driving, and the only way 
 to master it is to study the swing, which 
 is the art of golf. And I venture to say 
 that there is no reason why anybody 
 should be incapable of learning sufficient 
 about that art to enable him to drive 
 tolerably well. People vary in their apt- 
 itude for games, but the main principles 
 of the golf swing are so clear that their 
 assimilation is largely a matter of perse- 
 verance. 
 
 For the man who is endeavoring to 
 acquire a knowledge of how to drive I al- 
 ways recommend the use of the brassie. 
 Its stiffer shaft renders it easier to con- 
 trol than the driver and the slight loft 
 7 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 on its face imparts confidence. The 
 simpler the task can be made at the out- 
 set, or when one is off one's driving and 
 practising in the hope of remedying the 
 defect, the more rapid is likely to be the 
 progress. Having secured satisfactory 
 results with the brassie, there ought to be 
 no difficulty in doing equally well with 
 the driver, since the two clubs are (or, at 
 any rate, most certainly should be) of the 
 same length and the same " lie." 
 
 As to the stance, let it be as natural 
 and unconstrained as possible. The toes 
 should point outwards, and it is best, I 
 think, to have the right foot a few inches 
 in front of the left. Certainly it is bad 
 to have the left foot in front of the right, 
 although I have seen people stand in 
 that manner. It almost precludes the 
 possibility of a proper finish. There 
 are golfers, too, who stand exceedingly 
 straddle-legged, and others who have 
 8 
 
THE ART OF DRIVING 
 
 their feet too close together. All these 
 points are worthy of consideration; there 
 is a kind of " happy medium " about the 
 character of the correct stance, the idea 
 of which can be conveyed better by illus- 
 tration than by the written word. 
 
 I daresay that every student of the 
 game has heard that the main secret of 
 the successful up-swing is to screw the 
 body from the hips and keep the head 
 still instead of allowing the body to sway. 
 All the same, I feel that this point can- 
 not be emphasized too frequently or too 
 strongly, for it is certain that there are 
 thousands of golfers who, even though 
 they have been told that it is the principle 
 of ninety-nine good players in every hun- 
 dred, do not give to it the attention it 
 deserves. Probably the explanation is 
 that they think they are performing the 
 correct thing when, all the while, they 
 are swaying in a way which completely 
 9 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 upsets their balance and renders a good 
 shot practically impossible unless they 
 chance to be so fortunate as to recover 
 the proper position at the proper moment 
 — a pleasant dispensation which comes 
 to few people. 
 
 It is an important matter always to let 
 the club-head lead. I have pointed out 
 the danger of allowing the body to lead 
 by the act of lurching away from the ball 
 at the beginning of the up-swing; simi- 
 larly would I lay stress on the mistake 
 of snatching the club-head away by a 
 hasty movement with rigid wrists. As 
 the club starts to go back, allow the left 
 wrist to turn slightly inwards toward the 
 body. That small operation will help 
 very considerably to secure the correct 
 position of the wrist and club-head at the 
 top of the swing. Then, if you determine 
 to wind up the body at the hips and keep 
 your head steady, so that the screwing 
 10 
 
THE ART OF DRIVING 
 
 operation ceases, so to speak, at the neck, 
 you ought to be able to learn the knack 
 of driving. As the club goes up the right 
 leg will stiffen, the left leg will bend in- 
 wards at the knee, and the left heel will 
 rise from the ground. All these happen- 
 ings are the natural outcome of the wind- 
 ing up of the body ; they do not occur — 
 at any rate, in the same degree — when 
 the player sways. Resolve that the left 
 heel shall not turn outwards more than 
 an inch or so (less if possible) and, at the 
 top of the swing, you will be correctly 
 poised. The pivoting will have been 
 done on the inside of the left foot (on that 
 portion of the member in question which 
 extends from the big toe to the big joint) 
 and the right foot will be resting firmly 
 on the ground. 
 
 When you are practising it is instruct- 
 ive to inspect your left wrist at the top 
 of the swing in order to ascertain whether 
 11 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 it is in the proper position. That it 
 should be so is important, and inasmuch 
 as you are in no great hurry during these 
 purely personal proceedings, it is as well 
 to turn your head and examine the left 
 wrist. If it is bent outwards, the club- 
 head is necessarily in the wrong position. 
 This highly important left wrist should 
 be bent inwards so that it constitutes the 
 base of a curve of which the hand and the 
 arm are the continuations. That being 
 so, the club-head will be pointing to the 
 ground, as it should be. 
 
 In coming down, it is highly important 
 to let the club-head lead. Do not throw 
 your arms forward as though you were 
 trying to mow grass. Just give the club 
 a start, and in the first stage of the down- 
 ward swing — a stage which lasts for 
 only a brief instant, but which is of vast 
 importance to the ultimate issue — let 
 the left hip go forward a trifle. Then 
 12 
 
STANCE FOR THE DRIVE. 
 
 BEGINNING OF THE UP SWING. 
 
THE ART OF DRIVING 
 
 bring the club round with rhythmic vim, 
 its pace increasing until it is traveling 
 at its fastest when it reaches the ball, and 
 go right through with the shot so that 
 the hands finish high and the chest faces 
 the line of play at the end of the stroke. 
 Beware, above all things, of hurling the 
 arms forward at the beginning of the 
 downward swing. It is one of the most 
 frequent of errors, and it nearly always 
 produces a shot which flies in any but the 
 straight path. 
 
 There is much to be said for the aphor- 
 ism " slow back "; but it is not desirable 
 to perform the upward movement at 
 funereal pace. It is necessary to remem- 
 ber that you are going to play a free and 
 full shot; you are not attempting merely 
 to flick a fly five yards. Consequently, 
 excessive slowness during the backward 
 swing is apt to do more harm than good. 
 The slight inward turn of the left wrist; 
 13 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 the winding-up of the body from the hips 
 to the neck; and the resolve to let the 
 club-head lead instead of allowing the 
 arms to throw it forward at the begin- 
 ning of the downward swing — these are 
 golden principles. And keep your own 
 head down until you have struck the 
 ball; keep smelling at the ball, as it were, 
 until you have despatched it on its jour- 
 ney. 
 
 The grip is a matter of fancy. I should 
 be something less (or, perhaps more) than 
 human if I advocated any but the over- 
 lapping grip. It may not suit all golfers, 
 but I have no hesitation in saying that 
 is the ideal manner of holding the club. 
 It is agreed by all students of the game 
 that the two hands should work as a 
 whole. That was one of the first floods 
 of light that came to us in the old days in 
 Jersey. When I became a professional, 
 about the earliest thing that I did was to 
 14 
 
THE ART OF DRIVING 
 
 consider the question of the grip. For a 
 full year I tried various ways of holding 
 the club, until at length I decided in 
 favor of the method which I now em- 
 ploy. It seems to me to weld the two 
 hands into one; the beauty of it is that 
 neither hand works against the other. 
 That, I am sure, is just what is wanted. 
 For the man who has practised the old- 
 fashioned palm grip for a long while the 
 system which I advocate may be difficult 
 at the outset, but familiarity breeds 
 friendliness with it. It is a matter of 
 placing the little finger of the right hand 
 over the forefinger of the left, with the 
 thumbs and forefingers forming V's down 
 the handle of the club. It produces a 
 confederacy of the kind which is not 
 easily secured in any other way. 
 
 As regards general details, I would 
 suggest a low tee for the drive, because, 
 if you have a high one, you are likely to 
 15 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 see difficulties (which do not actually 
 exist) in the brassie shot, and, indeed, 
 every other shot through the green. 
 You start with the ball poised high above 
 the ground, and you are not altogether 
 prepared for the shock of having to play 
 it when it is sitting down on the turf. 
 Another useful hint is to be sure of se- 
 curing a comfortable stance on the teeing 
 ground. It is the only place at which 
 you have the right to choose a stance, 
 and you may as well make the most of it. 
 So hunt for a favorable spot on which 
 to tee the ball. And, when there is an 
 out-of-bounds area to be taken into con- 
 sideration, tee the ball as far from it as 
 the limits of the teeing ground will allow. 
 These are matters which at times count 
 heavily. 
 
 16 
 
HINTS IN BRIEF 
 
 THE DRIVE 
 
 Stance. — Toes pointing outwards; 
 right foot preferably a few inches in 
 front of the left — not, in any case, be- 
 hind the left. Ball a little nearer to 
 left heel than right. 
 
 Up- Swing. — Begin by turning the 
 left wrist slightly inwards towards the 
 body. As the club goes up, let the body 
 screw at the hips and keep the head still. 
 The body should be wound up as though 
 it turned on wheels at the waist and the 
 neck. The right leg stiffens as club as- 
 cends and the pivoting is done on the 
 inside of the left foot from the big toe 
 to the big joint. 
 
 17 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 Down- Swing. — Beware of throwing 
 the arms forward at the beginning of 
 the down -swing. At the outset, just 
 give the club a start so as to recover 
 it from the back of the head and, at 
 the same time, let the left hip go a trifle 
 forward. Then bring the club round, 
 and go right through with the shot so 
 as to finish with the chest facing the 
 line of play. Keep the head as steady 
 as possible all the while. 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 BY 
 
 Alexander Herd 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 F^OR the playing of fairly long shots 
 up to the hole (shots, that is, of 
 rather less than the length which 
 one can obtain with a brassie) no club 
 is so dependable and so easy to use as a 
 good spoon. On that point I feel cer- 
 tain, and to me it is a matter of great 
 surprise that the spoon is not found in 
 the bag of every golfer. 
 
 It takes the place of the cleek or dri- 
 ving iron. Now, either of these latter 
 instruments is, by common consent, 
 difficult to manage to perfection. Es- 
 pecially is this the case where the player 
 of moderate ability is concerned. The 
 club has a face which is not far from 
 21 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 being straight, which means that, to 
 secure a satisfactory result, the ball 
 must be struck with absolute precision. 
 Another danger of the cleek or the dri- 
 ving iron (at least, to the average golfer) 
 arises from the narrowness of its sole. 
 That narrowness, combined with the 
 sharpness of the edge, means that when 
 the player takes the turf the very slight- 
 est fraction of an inch too deeply in the 
 act of striking, the club digs into the 
 ground for an instant and receives a 
 jar which causes it to turn in the hands. 
 And, as everybody knows (or ought to 
 know), the circumstance of the club 
 turning in the hands as it hits the ball 
 generally produces an atrociously bad 
 stroke. 
 
 The advantage of the spoon is that 
 it has a broad sole which, even when the 
 shot is not accomplished in quite ideal 
 manner, grazes the turf instead of cut- 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 ting into it and enables the shot to be 
 completed without the club having 
 turned in the hands. Moreover, its 
 face is laid back and shaped in such a 
 manner that it lifts the ball into the 
 air when a similarly executed shot with 
 a cleek would result in nothing better 
 than a foozle. I do not think that a 
 golfer ought to expect good effects from 
 bad attempts, and I can assure him 
 that if he plays a spoon shot badly he 
 will suffer for it; but what I do believe 
 is that the cleek is a treacherous club 
 and an unprofitable one for the mod- 
 erate golfer to use, because it accentu- 
 ates so very severely the smallest error 
 in the method of its manipulation. And 
 no matter how diligently you study 
 the matter, it is sometimes very diffi- 
 cult to discover the reason. The spoon 
 is an instrument that never turns against 
 you. That is why it is ideal for the in- 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 different player. For banging the ball 
 up to the hole from a distance of, say, 
 160 or 180 yards (or even greater if you 
 are a strong hitter), it is all that a club 
 could be. The ball is picked up cleanly 
 and it does not run far when it alights, 
 whereas, with the cleek, there is first 
 the risk of spoiling the shot by hitting 
 the ground and then the danger of the 
 ball running over the green as a con- 
 sequence of its lower flight. 
 
 It is, however, a matter of the great- 
 est importance to obtain a good spoon. 
 The " lie " should be governed by the 
 stance of the player; that is to say, by 
 the distance which he stands from the 
 ball when addressing it. The weight 
 of the club-head should be from 6% 
 ounces to 7 34 ounces (a golfer with a 
 half swing might have a slightly heavier 
 club): the shaft should measure from 
 40 to 41 inches from the heel; and care- 
 24 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 ful attention should be paid to the 
 shape of the face. I have made a spe- 
 cial study of the spoon, and there is no 
 need for me here to mention all that 
 I have discovered, but I am sure that 
 it is a matter of great moment to have 
 the face fashioned with the utmost re- 
 gard for detail. There should be a dis- 
 tinct bulge at the bottom of the face, 
 a bulge that projects in just the right 
 degree for getting under the ball, and 
 making it rise quickly. It is a splendid 
 club for use on heavy ground, owing 
 to the cleanness with which it picks 
 up the ball, and the only time when I 
 do not favor its employment is in a 
 gale. It produces high shots which 
 are apt to be caught and blown any- 
 where by the wind, and, in such cir- 
 cumstances, its place should be taken 
 by the cleek or the straight-faced iron. 
 On all other occasions, however, it is 
 25 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 a valuable friend, especially to the player 
 of moderate ability. 
 
 What a first-class golfer can do with 
 it has been shown on many occasions. 
 I should never tire of watching Mr. 
 H. H. Hilton at his best playing his 
 spoon. Harry Vardon used to have 
 such a club, which, in his hands, would 
 do almost anything except walk and 
 talk; at least, it would do anything 
 that he wanted it to do. George Dun- 
 can and Jack White are others who 
 occur to me on the spur of the moment 
 as being brilliant exponents of spoon 
 shots. Personally, I always have had 
 a great affection for the club. I used 
 to take it out, together with half-a- 
 dozen balls, and practise stroke after 
 stroke with it. And here let me say 
 that, when you are practising, it trebles 
 the value of the work if you aim at a 
 certain spot. It is not a lot of use sim- 
 26 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 ply to hit ball after ball without hav- 
 ing a target. Many golfers do this, 
 and I cannot help thinking that they 
 are employing their time to poor ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 I have never regretted my early de- 
 votion to the spoon. It helped me very 
 considerably when, in 1902, I won the 
 Open Championship at Hoylake, and 
 I used it constantly in 1895 and 1896, 
 when I was lucky enough to capture 
 the majority of the tournaments in 
 which I competed. I had begun to 
 compliment it on having assisted me 
 to secure my first Open Champion- 
 ship, when, at St. Andrews in 1895, I 
 started the last round with a lead of 
 three strokes from my nearest oppo- 
 nent, but unfortunately on that occa- 
 sion I had reckoned without the weather. 
 I began the second round very satis- 
 factorily with three 4's and a 5. Then 
 27 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 down came a shower of hailstones that 
 were nearly as big as pigeons' eggs. 
 The visitation soon passed off, but while 
 it lasted it rendered putting a farce 
 (the ball simply cannoned from hail- 
 stone to hailstone), and I think I am 
 justified in saying that it was during 
 that period that I lost the Champion- 
 ship. Still, the fault was not that of 
 the spoon, which was again about the 
 most effective club, when in the Cham- 
 pionship at Muirfield in 1896 I set up 
 a record score of 72 — a record which 
 stood for many years. That was the 
 best round of my life with a gutty ball, 
 and my partner, Mr. J. E. Laidley, 
 was good enough to remark at the fin- 
 ish that it was the hottest he had ever 
 seen. I doubt whether I should have 
 done these things without my spoon. 
 Most first-class golfers play for a 
 slight " heel " or slice with the spoon, 
 28 
 
TOP OF SWING WITH SPOON. 
 
 FINISH OF SWING WITH SPOON. 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 which is a club admirably adapted to 
 that purpose. It helps to make the 
 ball drop dead, but I would not rec- 
 ommend the average player to attempt 
 these fancy shots, which require nearly 
 a lifetime to master. A straight-away 
 shot will serve the average amateur 
 very well, and he will find nothing eas- 
 ier with which to accomplish it than 
 the spoon, which, of all clubs, is the 
 one least likely to lead to unmitigated 
 foozles. I have seen many men who 
 would have been good golfers if they 
 had not concerned themselves so deeply 
 about accomplishing intentional slices 
 and pulls. 
 
 Very well, then, let us consider the 
 straight shot with the spoon. I think 
 that an open stance is best for the stroke, 
 because it is the natural cutting stance 
 and the club of its own accord imparts 
 a little cut to the shot without the 
 29 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 player trying for it. That feature is 
 worthy of encouragement since it helps 
 to make the ball stop close to the place 
 at which it pitches, which is a consid- 
 eration when you are aiming to make 
 it stop by the hole-side. However, if 
 the player prefers the square stance, 
 there is no reason why he should deny 
 himself the privilege of adopting it. 
 The main point is to stand easily and 
 comfortably and to have the ball about 
 six inches inside the left heel. 
 
 During the upward movement the 
 left arm and the club-head should swing 
 well out behind the ball, but the arm 
 should not stray far from the body. 
 Indeed, it should be kept fairly close 
 in all the way up. As the club ascends, 
 let the left shoulder move down slightly 
 towards the ball, the hips screwing round 
 the while and the left knee knuckling 
 down a little towards the right big toe, 
 30 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 so as to accommodate the twisting of 
 the body. It is one of the worst of golf- 
 ing faults to keep the left knee rigid 
 during the upward swing; it is bound 
 to result in the body being pushed away 
 from the ball. What usually follows 
 is either a top or a slice. 
 
 When the hands are level with the 
 right ear you are at the top of the swing 
 for the spoon. It is worse than useless 
 to strain to go back any further. At 
 the beginning of the downward swing 
 the action may consist simply of re- 
 covering the club from behind the head; 
 anything to avoid snatching it ex- 
 citedly from that position. Then, having 
 started it on its downward journey, 
 let it gather pace. In fact, I always 
 say: " Throw the club-head at the ball." 
 Bring it behind the ball with a fairly 
 flat swing, and give it a little flick with 
 the wrists so as to introduce plenty of 
 31 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 vim. Do not in any circumstances 
 check the club. Let it have free play 
 for the follow-through; let the arms go 
 through without a suspicion of hesita- 
 tion. Fling them through in a line 
 with the flag. I believe that these 
 words are worth remembering. I am 
 certain that many players would make 
 greater progress if only they would 
 let the arm and the club do the work. 
 
 Personally, I always play for " cut " 
 with the spoon. For this shot one needs 
 to stand well behind the ball, and take 
 the club up a little straighter than for 
 the ordinary shot. One gets the slice 
 mainly, however, by pulling in the left 
 arm a little at the instant of impact. 
 In that way the face of the club is 
 drawn across the ball, but there must be 
 no checking of the swing. The finish 
 will be rather different from that asso- 
 ciated with the straight shot (the head 
 32 
 
STANCE FOR CUT SHOT WITH SPOON. 
 
 FINISH OF CUT SHOT WITH SPOON. 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 of the club will stop higher in the air), 
 but the slightest attempt to check the 
 instrument at the time of hitting it is 
 almost sure to be disastrous. In all 
 probability it will result in a slice of 
 twice the magnitude of that desired. 
 I generally aim at a spot about twenty 
 yards to the left of the hole, and so 
 play for a slice of that extent. It comes 
 off if one practises the shot from early 
 youth, but I would not recommend 
 other than the fairly proficient golfer 
 to bother about it. 
 
 I cannot help thinking that it is a 
 pity that there is not more wooden 
 club play. Very many golfers carry 
 what almost amounts to a portable 
 foundry. With the exception of a 
 driver, and possibly a brassie, they 
 have nothing but iron in the bag. For 
 this condition of affairs the introduc- 
 tion of the rubber-cored ball is largely 
 33 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 responsible. On hard ground the tee- 
 shot travels so far that often one goes 
 round the links without having to use 
 the brassie for the second shot on a 
 solitary occasion. The spoon, however, 
 is well worth carrying; in some circum- 
 stances, as, for instance, when the ground 
 is heavy and there is little wind, it is 
 just about the most serviceable of all 
 clubs. In the ordinary way you can- 
 not make so many bad strokes with it 
 as with a cleek or a driving iron. 
 
 In regard to full iron shots up to the 
 hole, I think that a three-quarter swing 
 (or, at any rate, something less than a 
 full swing) is sufficient for the average 
 golfer to take. The club needs to be 
 kept absolutely under control, and a 
 three-quarter swing renders the opera- 
 tion more compact and permits greater 
 command over the club than when one 
 swings to the full, as with a driver. At 
 34 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 the beginning the left arm should be 
 carried well out past the body. The 
 right elbow should be kept close to the 
 body all the way up. If you order your 
 two arms simultaneously in this way 
 you are likely to secure the correct 
 swing for an iron. The wrists should 
 be fairly taut. You need to grip firmly 
 so as to avoid the catastrophe of the 
 club turning in the hands. My own 
 manner of hitting is to give the ball 
 the back of the left hand and a flick of 
 the right wrist. When the club is about 
 eighteen inches from the ball I hit with 
 the back of the left hand and, at the 
 same time, put in that right-wrist flick 
 which counts for so much. The right 
 hand is an important one for iron shots; 
 you want to hit with it. The right 
 shoulder and right hip should come well 
 through, the head of the iron following 
 straight out as far as possible in the 
 35 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 line of play. A cause of many bad shots 
 is the premature movement of the head. 
 Keep that necessary nuisance down as 
 long as you can as though you had it 
 in a vice. If you have the habit of mov- 
 ing your head throughout the swing, it 
 is a good thing to try, from the moment 
 that you start to take the club back, to 
 keep pushing your nose towards the 
 ball. Imagine that you are endeavor- 
 ing to get your nose down to the ball. 
 And keep it down for half a second after 
 you have hit. Many players are look- 
 ing up while they are in the act of stri- 
 king the ball. 
 
 I would advise the average golfer 
 when purchasing a cleek or a driving 
 iron to see that it has sufficient loft on 
 it. It is one of the most difficult things 
 in the game to play a long shot per- 
 fectly with a straight-faced club. Have 
 an instrument that will lift the ball. 
 36 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 Frequently golfers come to me and ask 
 why it is that they cannot use their 
 cleeks or driving irons. The reason is 
 usually the straightness of the face. 
 
 During the last year or so there has 
 been much talk concerning the " push " 
 shot with iron clubs. I am sorry to 
 add confusion to the distraction which 
 seems to have arisen from this subject, 
 but I should like to say that what is 
 called the " push " shot to-day is a 
 stroke with a different purpose from 
 that of the " push " shot which we 
 used to practise at St. Andrews. That 
 was essentially a St. Andrews shot; it 
 suited the course down to the ground. 
 It was made with a low, flat back swing. 
 The right wrist was kept rigid and the 
 left arm had to bend very little in the 
 back swing. The game was to push the 
 arms back and then push them straight 
 through at the ball, the right arm being 
 37 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 stiff during the process of hitting and 
 so keeping the club low. The ball rose 
 only two or three yards into the air, 
 and ran twenty or thirty yards. Mr. 
 S. Mure Fergusson and Andrew Kirkaldy 
 were masters of this original " push s ' 
 shot. It was a most valuable stroke 
 in my younger days at St. Andrews. 
 
 It may seem a topsy-turvy arrange- 
 ment to discuss last of all the matter 
 of the grip, which comes first in the 
 preparation for a shot, but I think that 
 nearly every golfer has made up his 
 mind which manner of holding the club 
 — the overlapping or the palm grip — 
 he likes best, and I do not see any rea- 
 son why, in this respect, he should aban- 
 don his favorite principle. Once upon 
 a time I tried the overlapping method. 
 It rubbed nearly all the skin off my 
 left thumb, and so I gave it up in de- 
 spair and some pain. Personally, I find 
 38 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 the old-fashioned palm grip eminently 
 satisfactory. I grip tightest with the 
 second, third, and little fingers; you 
 can obtain such a firm hold with those 
 members that there is not a lot of dan- 
 ger of the club slipping. It seems to me 
 to be the easiest way of holding the 
 club, and that is something. 
 
HINTS IN BRIEF 
 
 THE SPOON SHOT 
 
 Stance. — Open for choice, although 
 the player who regularly adopts a square 
 stance need not abandon it for this shot. 
 Ball about six inches inside the left heel. 
 
 Up-Siving. — Let the left arm and 
 club-head swing well out behind the 
 ball. The wrists must begin to turn 
 directly the up-swing starts. At the 
 top of the swing— i.e., when the hands 
 are in a line with the right ear — the 
 player should be looking over his left 
 shoulder. This is important. 
 
 Down-Swing. — Bring the club down 
 with a fairly flat swing and follow- 
 through; let the right shoulder and 
 right hip go well through for the finish. 
 40 
 
ON SPOON AND IRON SHOTS 
 
 THE FULL IRON SHOT 
 
 A three-quarter swing is sufficient; 
 tight grip; keep the right elbow close 
 to the body all the way up; and, at the 
 impact, give the ball the back of the 
 left hand and hit with the right wrist. 
 
 41 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 BY 
 
 George Duncan 
 
THE " PUSH " SHOT 
 
 IF you were to ask a dozen of the lead- 
 ing professional golfers to name the 
 stroke which they found the greatest 
 joy in playing in the course of the round, 
 I believe that three out of every four 
 would declare in favor of the half or 
 three-quarter shot with an iron club by 
 which the ball is made to fly in a low 
 trajectory and stop within a few yards 
 of its pitch. 
 
 It is usually called the " push " shot. 
 I do not know who gave it that title. In 
 a way, it is misleading. It is even im- 
 pertinent to the golfing law of the land, 
 which says that the ball must not be 
 pushed. However, the Rules Committee 
 have not found us guilty on our own ad- 
 45 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 mission of executing an illegal stroke, 
 and the reason is to be found in the fact 
 that, where this shot is concerned, the 
 element of " push " is no stronger than 
 in the case of other approved modes of 
 hitting the ball. It is simply a shot 
 struck forcibly with an iron club, but in 
 a special manner which communicates 
 back-spin to the ball. By no means is it 
 a latter-day development. At least, it 
 has been practised as long as I can re- 
 member, and as it has been known all 
 the while as a " push " shot, custom, I 
 suppose, has made the name correct. It 
 does not matter much what we call a 
 stroke so long as it is real golf. 
 
 It is not solely because of the pleasure 
 which they derive from accomplishing it 
 that the professionals have such an affec- 
 tion for the " push " shot. Certainly 
 it gives immense satisfaction, but its 
 chief recommendation lies in the advan- 
 46 
 
■•-^. 
 
 s 
 
 GEORGE DUNCAN. 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 tage which it gives to the golfer who is 
 master of it. With the gutta-percha ball 
 it was useful, but it was not indispensable 
 to a first-class player. Even with top- 
 spin, the " gutty " never ran far. The 
 difficulty with the rubber-cored ball is 
 not so much to make it go as to make it 
 stop, and here it is that this particular 
 shot is invaluable. The very resiliency 
 which makes the rubber-cored ball scam- 
 per so far when top-spin has been applied 
 to it also operates in the case of back- 
 spin. The object is very susceptible to 
 any kind of spin, and, for that reason, 
 approaching of the present-day is as high 
 an art as one can find in sport. It de- 
 mands a lot of skill. Almost anybody 
 can make the ball revolve in the direction 
 in which it is traveling, but for ap- 
 proaches with the mashie or iron, that 
 kind of spin is seldom other than dan- 
 gerous. There is not much telling where 
 47 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 the ball will come to rest. The quality 
 which the average golfer needs to culti- 
 vate is the ability to impart back-spin. 
 If he can play a half -shot with the feeling 
 that, when the ball reaches the green, it 
 will not scoot into the bunker or the 
 rough beyond, he is on the road to a high 
 position in his club. All the best golfers, 
 amateurs and professionals, have this 
 shot in their bag, and it is so faithful in 
 its effect, so certain to produce the 
 desired result when properly executed, 
 that they seldom play a shot with cleek 
 or iron in any other way, no matter 
 what the circumstances. Even with the 
 mashie they adopt the same principle, 
 although they also apply some cut to 
 the ball by urging the club slightly away 
 from the body at the beginning of the 
 upward swing, and so securing a down- 
 ward swing which draws the face of the 
 club across the back of the ball at the 
 48 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 instant of impact. Still, the fact remains 
 that they also introduce a degree of the 
 "push" shot. The mashie play of the man 
 who is master of that club usually results 
 in the production of a whirling motion 
 of the ball, which is something between 
 side-spin from left to right and back-spin. 
 However, this shot can be left for the 
 delectation of the skilful golfer, for whom 
 few worlds remain to be conquered. The 
 ordinary player, who has obtained a 
 thorough knowledge of the rudiments of 
 the game and qualified for a handicap 
 which enables him to go on to the links 
 in any company with the knowledge that 
 he ought not to disgrace himself, may be 
 advised to set about the task of making 
 himself proficient at the " push." It is 
 the first step to greatness after the trials 
 and tribulations of learning the purely 
 elementary points, and turning his learn- 
 ing to good account by practising what 
 49 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 has been preached to him. It takes 
 varying periods of time to impregnate 
 the system with the right ideas in the 
 matter of the execution of commonplace 
 shots, and each individual knows by his 
 success, or lack of it, whether he would 
 be justified in trying advanced strokes. 
 If, however, he can perform the simple 
 shots with a fair measure of satisfaction 
 to himself, then by all means let him 
 aspire to a higher ideal in the shape of 
 the push, which, once understood and 
 accomplished skilfully, will mark the 
 real beginning of his progress as a golfer. 
 The secret of success in playing the 
 shot may be summed up in one word — 
 ' Forward." Everything — the hands, 
 the stance, the weight during the execu- 
 tion of the stroke, and the follow-through 
 after the impact — should be forward in 
 the direction in which it is proposed to 
 send the ball. We are not going to try 
 50 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 and get under the ball and lift it high 
 into the air. Naturally, if we wanted to 
 do that, we should get behind it, and put 
 our weight on the right leg. We desire 
 to keep the ball low and at the same time 
 impart back-spin. The two require- 
 ments will be obtained by a religious 
 observance of that watchword — " For- 
 ward." However, we cannot leave the 
 golfer muttering to himself this maxim, 
 and wondering all the while what it 
 means. It conveys an idea of the prin- 
 ciple, and may be borne in mind when- 
 ever the experimentalist attacks the shot, 
 but rather fuller details are necessary 
 for his assistance in the days of trial. 
 
 Personally I would recommend a be- 
 ginning at a distance of 80 or 100 yards 
 from the green or other goal at which 
 the player proposes to aim. It is best 
 to study the shot in a comparatively 
 small way; the ability to accomplish it 
 51 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 at a distance of 160 yards will come in 
 due course if the student possesses a 
 certain degree of aptitude for it, and — 
 what is even more important — the per- 
 severance to go on practising it in spite 
 of early failures and possibly a few 
 smashed shafts. It is rather disappoint- 
 ing to find one's ambition rewarded on 
 the first day with a broken club, but 
 there are many things hard to bear in 
 the golfing life. For a shot of 80 or 100 
 yards an iron or a jigger is a good im- 
 plement to employ. If you like a jigger, 
 it is, perhaps, the better to use; of the 
 two clubs, it is the more suited to the 
 purpose because of its shallow face. 
 
 As regards the stance, the player should 
 be fairly near to the ball. He is not 
 going to " sweep " the object off the 
 turf by means of a nice, easy swing; he 
 is not going to coax the ball in any way. 
 He is going to hit it exceedingly hard. 
 52 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 Consequently he needs to be in close 
 touch with it. If he has it only a trifle 
 too much out of his reach, the effect is 
 almost sure to be spoiled. In the address 
 the hands should be a little in front of 
 the ball — not even in a line with it, 
 but in front of it. This is all-important. 
 It is the primary constituent of that 
 condition of " forwardness " (in physical, 
 not mental, disposition), which I have 
 already described as the secret of the 
 shot. The right foot should be square 
 to the line of play, the toes of the left 
 foot should be pointing well out, with 
 the ball about two inches inside the left 
 heel. That is to say, if you had a line 
 drawn from the left heel at right angles 
 to the direction which you propose to 
 take, the ball should be about two inches 
 inside that line. The feet must not be 
 spread wide apart; in the ordinary way, 
 a distance of something like fifteen inches 
 53 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 between the heels is sufficient. Hardly 
 can the player devote too much attention 
 to the task of obtaining the correct 
 stance. Without it the shot is well-nigh 
 impossible. As you stand addressing the 
 ball there should be rather more weight 
 on the left leg than on the right. If you 
 have your feet wide apart, it is difficult 
 comfortably to put even slightly the 
 greater part of the weight on to the left. 
 The reason for pointing the toes of the 
 left leg outwards and having the right 
 square to the line of play is that the 
 former is thus put into a position which 
 enables the body to go forward with the 
 blow, while the disposition of the right 
 leg helps to keep the weight on the left. 
 At the range at which we are beginning 
 to practise, a half-swing is sufficient, but 
 in no circumstances should a swing of 
 more than three-quarters be permitted 
 in connection with this stroke. The 
 54 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 reason is that we want to come down on 
 to the back of the ball (not underneath 
 it), and that, therefore, the swing must 
 be an upright one. The left arm should 
 be bent as little as possible in the process 
 of taking the club up; it should be as 
 nearly straight all the way as the player 
 can keep it. By bending the left elbow 
 at the three-quarter point, and so making 
 the swing a full one, with the implement 
 dropping into position behind the head, 
 the whole machinery for the shot is put 
 out of gear. Let the left arm be as 
 straight as you like (you cannot keep it 
 absolutely rigid, but the nearer it ap- 
 proximates to that condition the better), 
 and as the club goes up let the weight 
 steadily move more and more pro- 
 nouncedly on to the left foot. Naturally 
 there must be some pivoting. It is dis- 
 astrous to try to screw on the entire ball 
 of the foot; that only upsets the position 
 55 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 of the body. The pivoting should be 
 accomplished on the left big toe. That 
 is to say, if you had a corn on the ball 
 of that toe and another on the ball of 
 the foot opposite the toe, the turning 
 should be done — it would be horribly 
 painful — on the area limited by the 
 corns, and at the top of the swing prac- 
 tically all the weight should be concen- 
 trated on that area. At the point men- 
 tioned you cannot have too much weight 
 on the left big toe. The right leg merely 
 comes in useful to prevent you from fall- 
 ing over, since it is difficult, after all, to 
 execute a stroke on one leg only. At 
 first I thought of saying that the right 
 leg might be amputated for all the value 
 it possesses. That would be going too 
 far, but I hope it affords an idea as to 
 the place at which the weight should be 
 at the top of the swing. 
 
 There is one danger which must be 
 56 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 rigorously avoided in connection with 
 the downward swing. It is the tempta- 
 tion to bear to the right, and so throw 
 the weight on to the right leg. Remem- 
 ber the watchword — " Forward " — and 
 keep forward all the while. If you can 
 accomplish that simple act of restraint, 
 you are well on the way to mastering 
 the shot. As the club descends the arms 
 should become rigid, so as to give the 
 ball a powerful blow. And the follow- 
 through should be checked directly the 
 club-head has passed the spot where the 
 ball lay. This may sound revolutionary, 
 but I firmly believe that, for the shot 
 under discussion, the sooner you stop 
 the follow-through after striking the ball 
 the better will be the result. I need 
 scarcely say that you must not stop it 
 in the slightest degree before the im- 
 pact; you need to hit hard and then 
 finish. Do not in any circumstances 
 57 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 chop at the ball. This is how shafts 
 are broken. It must be a clean and 
 strong stroke, with an abbreviated fol- 
 low-through. 
 
 It is necessary to aim at the back of 
 the ball; not at the turf behind it. You 
 want to hit down on the ball (if you have 
 kept your weight forward, this must 
 happen) as though you were trying to 
 bang the back out of it. This imparts 
 back-spin, which is considerably helped 
 by the bite of the ball on the turf. The 
 club, instead of getting under the ball, 
 is half over it at the period of impact. 
 The hands are in front of it; the weight 
 is in front of it. You thump it firmly, 
 and off it flies, but it cannot fly high be- 
 cause it has been hit down, so to speak, 
 from the outset. Place a billiard ball 
 on a table, and come down strongly on 
 the back of the ball with the edge of your 
 outstretched hand. Back-spin will be in- 
 58 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 troduced. This is the idea of the "push" 
 shot in golf. When the ball touches 
 the ground it is revolving in the direction 
 opposite to that in which it is running. 
 This conflict of motions — the one oper- 
 ates directly against the other — causes 
 it quickly to lose its strength, and it 
 comes to rest. The beauty of the shot 
 is that it travels far in the air and stops 
 soon when it reaches the earth. 
 
 The method which I have described is 
 that of James Braid, who is probably the 
 finest exponent of the "push" shot in the 
 world. I like his way of doing it, but the 
 up-swing with the weight forward all 
 the while involves a good deal of strain 
 on the body, and there is another way 
 which is equally efficacious in the case 
 of the player who has the knack of re- 
 covering the proper position at top of 
 the swing after having lost it to the ex- 
 tent of an inch or two at the beginning 
 59 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 of the swing. It is by starting with the 
 weight equally distributed, and allowing 
 the right to take slightly the bigger share 
 during the first half of the up-swing. In 
 a sense, the body may follow the club to 
 a very slight degree at the inauguration 
 of the operation, but when the club is 
 half the way up the weight must be 
 transferred to the left big toe, so that it 
 is there at the top of the swing, just as 
 it was under the system described earlier 
 in this article. And there it must re- 
 main; in no circumstances may it be re- 
 shifted to the right leg in even the very 
 remotest measure during the downward 
 swing. There is nothing to be said against 
 this manner of playing the stroke except 
 that, for its perfect accomplishment, one 
 needs a sort of inborn gift in the matter 
 of putting the weight on to the left leg 
 at the right instant and repressing the 
 inclination to take it off again. Always 
 60 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 must you be forward for the impact. 
 I hope that the reader who has studied 
 these remarks may be able to go forward 
 and prosper. 
 
 61 
 
HINTS IN BRIEF 
 
 THE " PUSH " SHOT 
 
 Stance. — Toes of the left foot point- 
 ing well outwards; ball about two inches 
 inside the left heel. Hands slightly in 
 front of ball during address; rather more 
 weight on left leg than right. 
 
 Up-Swing. — Remember that this is 
 no ordinary iron shot. There should 
 be no pivoting. Let the weight go well 
 forward on to the left leg during the up- 
 swing, and keep it forward until the 
 finish. The left arm must be as nearly 
 rigid as possible. 
 
 Down-Swing. — Aim as though you 
 were trying to bang the back out of the 
 ball; come down forcibly on it, and let 
 62 
 
THE "PUSH" SHOT 
 
 the body go forward as you hit. Check 
 the follow-through after the impact. 
 
 Once you have obtained the correct 
 position at the top of the swing, there is 
 nothing to do but hit and hit firmly. 
 
 63 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 BY 
 
 Wilfrid Reid 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 F 
 
 AOR the purpose of a course of prac- 
 tice, I venture to say that there is 
 no club in the golfer's equipment 
 which is so fascinating to use as the 
 mashie. There is something alluring, 
 something which generates constant hope, 
 about the scheme of trying to pitch ball 
 after ball on to a spot no bigger than a 
 five-shilling piece and seeing how close to 
 the hole each shot can be laid. Certainly 
 there is no club which, properly handled, 
 secures richer reward for its owner in 
 match or medal round. 
 
 Until recent years, the study of the 
 mashie was, I think, rather badly neg- 
 lected by all save the leading players. 
 There seemed to be an idea that almost 
 67 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 any kind of grip and stance and swing 
 would do so long as they resulted in the 
 ball being raised into the air. In recent 
 times the club has secured proper recog- 
 nition as one requiring special and ex- 
 ceptionally careful management, but to 
 this day there are to be seen thousands 
 of players who adopt such methods as 
 practically preclude all chance of con- 
 sistent success. Personally, I have been 
 enthralled by the mashie since my boy- 
 hood, and have endeavored to under- 
 stand it even more diligently than I have 
 tried to grasp the peculiarities of other 
 parts of the golfing armament, although 
 a professional dare neglect none, and 
 I gladly accede to the request that I 
 should lay bare some of the lessons which 
 I have learned. 
 
 One matter which is often overlooked 
 is the desirability of always playing a 
 mashie shot with deliberation. Never 
 68 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 hurry over it. There is no need for 
 express speed. In the ordinary way you 
 are not going to attempt anything in 
 the nature of a neck-or-nothing swipe at 
 the ball. Many golfers ruin their mashie 
 shots by setting about them altogether 
 too quickly. They fall into position in 
 an instant, whip the club back with a 
 kind of excited snatch, and finish any- 
 how. Downright slowness is to be rec- 
 ommended when using the mashie — 
 slowness in settling into the stance, slow- 
 ness in the up-swing, and even slowness 
 in bringing the club down again. The 
 correct shot is made by accurate timing, 
 and there is no necessity for a rapid 
 down -swing, for the simple reason that 
 there is no necessity for hard hitting. The 
 swing must be smooth and unchecked 
 at the instant of impact (beware of try- 
 ing to poke the face of the implement 
 under the ball in a specific endeavor to 
 69 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 raise that object; the loft of the club 
 will do all the lifting), but do not in any 
 circumstances hurry over the shot. By 
 this I do not mean to advise funereal 
 creepiness, but just deliberation — em- 
 phatic deliberation. 
 
 This, however, is a generality. Let us 
 consider details. First as to the grip. 
 For the mashie more than anything else I 
 recommend the interlocked grip. It is im- 
 portant to have absolute control over the 
 club-head, so that you can guide it, and 
 the old-fashioned grip is apt to result in 
 a certain amount of slackness which 
 enables the club-head to turn out of 
 position. Grip tightest with the thumbs 
 and forefingers of both hands, and have 
 the wrist of the left hand so much over 
 the handle of the club that the knuckles 
 of the first and second fingers of that hand 
 can be seen during the address. The 
 fleshy part of the left hand which is op- 
 70 
 
GHIP FOR THE PITCH AND MASHIE SHOT. 
 
 A WRONG GRIP. 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 posite the little finger should press very 
 firmly on the handle of the club — so 
 firmly as to be indented. Have the 
 thumb and forefinger of each hand as 
 close together as possible; hold tightly 
 with them; strengthen the grip by let- 
 ting the club rest very firmly in the 
 fleshy part of the left hand already men- 
 tioned, and there is not much danger of 
 the head of the instrument getting out 
 of control. 
 
 Now as to the stance. For a shot of 
 about 100 yards the player should have 
 the ball practically under his nose. His 
 eyes should be looking straight down on 
 to it. The stance should be open. The 
 right foot should be about square with 
 the line of play, and the left foot pointing 
 in a direction almost parallel with that 
 line. The idea of the open stance is to 
 enable the shot to be executed without 
 much body movement; for the stroke, 
 71 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 when made properly, is accomplished 
 mainly with the arms, and the less the 
 body moves the better. Stand close to 
 the ball, with the weight about equally 
 divided. If you stand too far away, 
 there is danger of pulling the club around 
 when striking. And it is worthy of 
 special recollection that the opener the 
 stance the easier is the shot. Naturally 
 this is a matter which must be governed 
 in a large degree by the build of the 
 player, but the point is an important 
 one. 
 
 The club-head is taken back with the 
 left hand. It has been mentioned that, 
 during the address, the knuckles of the 
 first and second fingers of that hand 
 should be visible. The inaugural move- 
 ment should be to turn the left wrist 
 inwards a little so that the knuckle of 
 the third finger comes into view. The 
 fourth will follow; the main point at 
 72 
 
H 
 
 O 
 
 a 
 
 Is 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 the moment is gently to screw this left 
 wrist in the manner described. Keep 
 the left forearm taut. There should 
 be quite a tenseness in it. If there be 
 any slackness, the shot will not be timed 
 accurately. Take the club up without 
 lifting any part of either foot from the 
 ground. There may be some movement 
 at the knees, but the feet should be fix- 
 tures, with the pressure (I will not say 
 the weight) greater on the left foot than 
 on the right. 
 
 At the beginning of the downward 
 swing, the right hand, through the me- 
 dium of the thumb and forefinger, which 
 are gripping tightly, becomes the master 
 hand. The left arm remains taut, but 
 the right hand is doing the now all- 
 important work of guiding the club- 
 head. At the instant of impact, try to 
 send the club-head straight through in 
 the direction of the flag. As you do so, 
 73 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 let the weight go on to the left leg; that 
 will help to facilitate a straight follow- 
 through. And remember not to be in a 
 violent hurry during the swing; undue 
 haste often causes an undue tightening 
 of the wrists, which should have their 
 natural working powers even though the 
 grip is tight and the left forearm is taut. 
 So much for the long pitch-and-run 
 shot. For the short one, it is desirable 
 even to increase the openness of the 
 stance since, in this case, virtually no 
 body movement at all should be per- 
 mitted. Have the ball opposite the 
 instep of the left foot, which should be 
 pointing straight down the line. This 
 will necessitate the right foot being 
 brought round a little nearer to the ball 
 than for the longer stroke. Most of the 
 weight should be on the left foot through- 
 out the swing (keep it forward all the 
 while); that will help to prevent the 
 74 
 
. 
 
 a . 
 
 'A m 
 
 < a 
 
 ? < 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 body from moving. The swing may be 
 a trifle more upright than for the stroke 
 previously described; otherwise there 
 will be no difference except, naturally, 
 in the length of the back-swing. That is 
 governed by the length of shot required. 
 It is again important to follow through 
 in a line straight with the flag; if you 
 can keep the club-head in that line for a 
 full yard after striking the ball, so much 
 the better. With the feet close together, 
 most of the weight on the left foot, the 
 stance open, and the body kept steady, 
 accurate striking is rendered compara- 
 tively simple. 
 
 For the longer shot, as I have already 
 said, the weight should be evenly divided 
 during the address, and only transferred 
 to the left foot if or the purpose of the 
 finish. For any length of shot, I think 
 that it is best to raise the right heel from 
 the ground, as the follow-through begins, 
 75 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 so as to assist in the cause of keeping that 
 follow-through as long as possible in the 
 intended line of flight. In a general way, 
 I would say that the shorter the shot the 
 more open should be the stance, and that 
 the body should be almost stable save for 
 the fact that the right hip, which moved 
 very little during the up-swing, should 
 come well round for the finish. And 
 remember to control the direction taken 
 by the club-head with the thumb and 
 forefinger of the right hand, these two 
 members being placed close together, 
 with the thumb pointing down the shaft. 
 One of the most beautiful shots in the 
 game is the cut stroke with the mashie. 
 There are times when its employment is 
 imperative if the hole or a stroke is to be 
 saved, as, for instance, when the pin is 
 only just beyond a hazard which has to 
 be carried, and there is no reason why 
 any golfer of ordinary ability should not 
 76 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 attempt to master this valuable shot. It 
 is best to begin at fairly long distances, 
 which call for little judgment as regards 
 the length of stroke. At the outset the 
 player will find it quite trying enough to 
 obtain the cut properly, and if he con- 
 fuses his mind by endeavoring to judge 
 distance to within a yard, he is not likely 
 to make rapid progress. To play a short 
 mashie shot with cut requires a mixture 
 of delicacy and firmness of touch which 
 might perplex the average golfer; the 
 long cut stroke is easier in the sense that 
 while it demands perfect accuracy as 
 regards the manner of striking the ball, 
 the regulation of distance is a less delicate 
 matter than in the case of the short shot. 
 The player should stand well behind 
 the ball, which should be just about 
 opposite to the left big toe. Begin the 
 up-swing with the left hand, the wrist 
 of that hand screwing gently inwards 
 77 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 as previously described, but instead of 
 taking the club round, push the arms 
 away from the body as they ascend. Let 
 them become positively refractory, so 
 to speak; let them exhibit a tendency 
 to get away from the body while the 
 latter remains still. In this shot only 
 is it that the arm-pits open as the club 
 rises; in all other shots they remain 
 closed. Most of the weight should be 
 on the left foot; that naturally renders 
 it easy to push the club away from the 
 body during the up-swing. 
 
 It is mainly an arm-shot. Keep the 
 left arm rigid and the left wrist taut. 
 Any freedom in it will create ruin. 
 
 The right arm should also be firm, but, 
 in this case, the left hand is the one that 
 does the hitting. Let the arms go up and 
 out without moving the body; it is a 
 simple matter to pull them in again, and, 
 if they come down in the same track as 
 78 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 that which they occupied when going up, 
 the face of the mashie will cut across the 
 ball. And there will be the cut shot. 
 Let the rigid left arm hit the ball; the 
 right will do enough guiding of its own 
 accord. For this stroke, it is well to 
 address the ball with the nose of the 
 club turned very slightly away from the 
 spot to which it is intended to play; the 
 left hand is thus assisted to take its 
 proper place as the master hand. Given 
 perseverance and careful attention to 
 details, I am sure that anybody ought to 
 be able to make himself a good mashie 
 player. 
 
 79 
 
HINTS IN BRIEF 
 
 THE PITCH AND RUN MASHIE SHOT 
 
 Swing. — Moderately slowly or, at any 
 rate, not very rapidly both up and down. 
 
 Grip. — Tightest with thumbs and 
 forefingers of both hands; and let the 
 handle of the mashie press firmly into 
 the fleshy part of the left hand opposite 
 the little finger. 
 
 Stance. — Open — the shorter the shot 
 the more open the stance. Stand close 
 to the ball so as to be looking straight 
 down on to it. 
 
 Up-Swmg. — Take the club up with 
 the left hand ; keep the left forearm taut, 
 and the body as near motionless as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 Down-Swing. — Let the right hand be 
 80 
 
THE USE OF THE MASHIE 
 
 master so as to guide the club; left arm 
 still taut; follow-through in the direction 
 of the flag. 
 
 Weight. — Mostly on left foot all 
 through stroke. Do not move the left 
 heel at all; the swing is regulated easier. 
 
 THE CUT MASHIE SHOT 
 
 Stance. — Well behind the ball, which 
 should be opposite the left big toe. 
 
 Up-Swing. Push the arms away 
 from the body in taking the club up, but 
 do not allow the body to move. Have 
 the left arm rigid and the right firm; 
 most of the weight on the left foot. 
 
 Down-Swing. — Bring the arms in 
 again, the left still rigid. Hit with the 
 left arm; the right acting as a support. 
 
RECOVERIES 
 THE ART OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 BY 
 
 Lawrence Ayton 
 
RECOVERIES 
 
 THE ART OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 N^EXT to the knowledge of how 
 to avoid difficulties on the golf 
 course, no form of practical 
 skill is more valuable, I suppose, than 
 that which enables us to escape from them 
 at the smallest possible cost. We may 
 be earnest and, on the whole, fairly suc- 
 cessful in our efforts to steer and carry 
 clear of trouble, but the fact remains 
 that we do occasionally patronize the 
 bunkers and other distressing places de- 
 signed by nature and the links archi- 
 tects. 
 
 This is a very satisfactory condition of 
 affairs. The greater the intricacy of the 
 85 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 course (at any rate, within reason), and 
 the more often the player finds himself 
 first in doubt and then in difficulty, the 
 better the green as a training ground and 
 the more rapid is likely to be the progress 
 of the golfer in his quest of completeness. 
 There is nothing on earth more dull or 
 retardative to the ambitious player than 
 an easy links. Personally, I had my 
 education in the game at St. Andrews, 
 where there are bunkers and other sources 
 of uneasiness in plenty. I had my full 
 share of practice in these spots (they are 
 not to be missed by the person who, day 
 after day, makes his way round the glori- 
 ous old course in Fifeshire), and, in all 
 humility, I venture to assert that I know 
 something about hazards and the means 
 of getting out of their clutches. Surely 
 the experiences of our family at the 
 seventeenth hole at St. Andrews would 
 have been sufficient in themselves to 
 86 
 
THE ART OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 goad anybody to study the art of recov- 
 ering. 
 
 That seventeenth — the famous 
 " Road hole," and, in my humble esti- 
 mation, the most testing golfing hole in 
 the world — cost my father the open 
 championship of 1885. In the last round 
 he was winning easily. It seemed that 
 nothing could prevent him from finishing 
 at the top of the list. He came to the 
 fateful seventeenth, and found himself 
 in the dreaded bunker to the left close 
 to the green. Even then he had such a 
 long lead that it appeared impossible 
 for him to lose, but he went from the 
 bunker to the road, and from the road 
 back to the bunker, and so on, several 
 times, just as many had done before him 
 and many have done since, until at length 
 he holed out in 11. He finished second, 
 two strokes behind the victor, Bob Mar- 
 tin. My father often talks of that inci- 
 87 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 dent, and never without reminding me 
 of an even more gigantic total which I 
 compiled at that self -same hole, although 
 the occasion was not so important. 
 
 I was accomplishing a really good score 
 in a competition of the St. Andrews Club. 
 Going to the seventeenth, I placed my 
 second shot nicely at the bottom of the 
 slope, short of the green. I played a 
 pitch in a greedy attempt to snatch a 
 4, where a 5 would have been plenty 
 good enough for the occasion. Then 
 began a chapter of accidents which were 
 monotonous in their similarity. How 
 many times I went from road to bunker 
 and from bunker to road I cannot re- 
 member. I know that at length I was 
 safely on the green in 14, and that I 
 holed a putt of about ten yards for a 15! 
 
 The man who failed to learn something 
 from such an experience, and his subse- 
 quent reflections upon it, would be very 
 88 
 
THE ART OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 dull indeed. Two points which are more 
 or less wrapped up in one another present 
 themselves to the mind. The first is 
 that when in a medal round you are doing 
 a satisfactory score, it is not worth the 
 risk of trying to save a stroke near the 
 end by attempting a brilliant shot, re- 
 gardless of the difficulties. It may come 
 off, but, at such a stage, it is generally 
 more profitable to play a safe stroke. 
 The second is that, when you are in 
 trouble, the thing to do is to remember 
 the shots that are to follow and to deter- 
 mine that, no matter how little distance 
 you obtain from the bunker, you will 
 dislodge the ball in one stroke and put 
 it into a satisfactory position for the 
 next shot. Ambition in the matter of 
 length should be sternly governed by 
 these considerations; in most instances, 
 it is best to settle down philosophically 
 to the thought that you are going to lose 
 89 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 a stroke for the sin of getting into the 
 bunker and resolve not to sacrifice two 
 strokes through trying to do something 
 phenomenal. There is always the chance 
 of recovering the one by laying an ap- 
 proach dead or holing a long putt. 
 
 When the ball is lying clean in a bunker 
 and a fairly good distance from the face, 
 obviously the stroke is an ordinary one, 
 except that you are not allowed to ground 
 the club during the address. Conse- 
 quently, nothing special need be said 
 under this head. Now let us consider 
 the process of playing, a real bunker 
 stroke, when the ball is lying half buried 
 or so close to the face of the hazard that 
 there is demanded a shot which makes 
 the ball rise sharply. It is a different 
 shot from any other in the game. This 
 is a circumstance which many players 
 overlook; they simply walk into the 
 bunker and take their stance and swing 
 90 
 
THE ART OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 the niblick just as they might do on the 
 course. There are so many varieties of 
 circumstances that much must be left 
 to the practical sagacity of the golfer 
 himself, but it is a good rule in bunkers 
 that the stance should be emphatically 
 open — a lot more open, for instance, 
 than that which the player concerned 
 adopts for ordinary mashie shots. It 
 is desirable to impart a certain amount 
 of " cut " to the ball so as to induce it 
 to rise sharply, and the open stance will 
 assist in producing that effect. The 
 body should be behind the ball, which 
 should be just about opposite the left 
 toe. 
 
 Now that we are in the bunker and 
 preparing to hit, there is one very use- 
 ful tip which ought to be imparted and 
 digested immediately. As you take up 
 your stance, be sure that you obtain a 
 solid foundation for your left foot to 
 91 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 rest upon. The best way to play the 
 stroke (so, at least, I think) is to push 
 the club up and away from the body 
 with a stiff left arm for the back-swing, 
 and the natural tendency of that action 
 is to cause the left foot to slide out of 
 position unless it be very securely planted 
 on (or in) the soil. The weight is going 
 against it as the club rises, so that, in 
 loose sand, there is grave danger that it 
 may slip. You will notice that, when a 
 first-class golfer takes up his stance in a 
 bunker, he wriggles his left foot about a 
 good deal before proceeding to address 
 the ball in earnest. He is boring into 
 the loose sand of the surface so as to find 
 something solid on which his left foot can 
 exercise a grip. He knows that, if it 
 slips while he is swinging the niblick, the 
 stroke will be ruined. I am sure very 
 many shots are spoiled by failure to 
 observe this precaution. The average 
 92 
 
?¥. • .? •' l -<..s<< 
 
 a cq 
 
THE AET OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 player simply disposes himself in the 
 manner that he fancies and gives the 
 ball a thump. It is certain that, in the 
 ordinary way, there is not the same soli- 
 darity of soil in a bunker as there is on 
 the fairway, consequently, it is impor- 
 tant to go to unusual pains to render the 
 stance secure. That slipping of the left 
 foot is as frequent as it is fatal, and 
 yet, with a little trouble it can be 
 averted. 
 
 I cannot help thinking that many 
 players aim too far behind the ball when 
 they are bunkered. I know that the 
 generally accepted principle for the shot 
 is to aim well behind and bury the head 
 of the niblick forcibly in the sand so 
 that the concussion shall force the ball 
 out and hurl it forward. That is a 
 sound system up to a point, but numer- 
 ous players select a spot altogether too 
 remote from the object of their attack. 
 93 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 Much of the force of the stroke is then 
 thrown away on the soil, and the ball 
 may not even come out at all. On sea- 
 side links, where the sand is generally 
 loose and fine, I might aim an inch be- 
 hind the ball; I would do so at St. An- 
 drews. As a rule, the sand on inland 
 courses is much denser, and I think 
 that half an inch is enough to allow. 
 The idea of aiming behind can be carried 
 to excess. 
 
 It is necessary to hold the club tightly 
 all the while — as tightly as possible. 
 In this connection, it is a good thing to 
 have the handle of the niblick a trifle 
 thicker than that of any other club. 
 The fact that, when you take the niblick, 
 you have something unusually thick to 
 grip urges you to grip it the more 
 strongly. I always adopt this principle, 
 and it serves me well. 
 
 The question of distribution of weight 
 
THE ART OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 is governed largely by the build and 
 other characteristics of the player. I 
 think my own weight is fairly evenly 
 divided during the address, and that 
 a slight preponderance of it goes on to 
 the right leg during the up-swing. How- 
 ever, that is not a very monientous mat- 
 ter. It is important to remember that, 
 for the up-swing, the club should not be 
 taken round the body. The open stance 
 discourages such a mistake; but the 
 necessity of avoiding it is worthy of 
 recollection. The left arm should gov- 
 ern the stroke all the time. Stiffen the 
 left arm as the niblick rises; that will 
 cause the club to be pushed away from 
 the body and will make the swing an 
 upright one, which is just what is wanted. 
 But beware of what is generally known 
 as " swaying." The temptation to com- 
 mit that fault may be stronger where 
 the shot with the upright swing and 
 95 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 rigid left arm is concerned than in any 
 other case, but it is even more vital to 
 keep your head still and so avoid sway- 
 ing in a bunker than it is when you are 
 playing an ordinary stroke. 
 
 Assuming that you have performed 
 this very necessary act of restraint, and 
 taken the club back with the left arm 
 stiffening all the way, you should ex- 
 perience little difficulty in accomplish- 
 ing the down-swing properly. It is 
 simply a matter of coming down with 
 the left arm rigid. The head of the 
 club enters the soil, say, half anl inch 
 behind the ball, and the rigidity of the 
 member aforementioned prevents a fol- 
 low-through. The niblick cleaves into 
 the sand, and up comes the ball. If 
 you have the left elbow slack going up, 
 there is a considerable likelihood of 
 your pulling in the club coming down 
 and smothering the ball. It should be 
 96 
 
THE ART OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 a sharper, stiffer, and more compact 
 stroke than any other in the game; the 
 object is to cut the ball quickly and 
 neatly and at the same time forcibly 
 out of its retreat. 
 
 Even when you are hard up against 
 the face of a bunker, it is not necessarily 
 advisable to aim a long way behind the 
 ball. In the Sphere and Tatler tourna- 
 ment at Hoy lake, I remember that the 
 opposing side were kind enough to con- 
 gratulate me on recoveries which I made 
 from hazards at three consecutive holes, 
 and, on one occasion, I was right up 
 against the face of a bunker. I played 
 the shot by turning the nose of the club 
 away from the ball (that makes one 
 stand further behind than usual) and 
 cutting it up without aiming more than 
 about half an inch behind it. 
 
 In ditches, the chief point is to ac- 
 commodate oneself to the best stance 
 97 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 that is offered, although the principles 
 of bunker shots apply where the situa- 
 tion is such as to permit of the swinging 
 of the club. For long grass and rough 
 generally a very useful implement is a 
 modified form of the wry -necked club. 
 If the sole can get to the ball and des- 
 patch it on its journey before the neck 
 comes into contact with the long grass, 
 there is a fair prospect of obtaining use- 
 ful distance. Strong arms and fore- 
 arms are exceedingly useful, for tight 
 gripping of the club and hard hitting 
 are essential. 
 
 What is known as the mashie-niblick 
 suits most people well enough in long 
 grass. The stance should be an ordinary 
 one, and a fairly upright half-swing 
 should be practised — with none, how- 
 ever, of that stiff-armed pushing of the 
 club away from the body which has 
 been recommended for the bunker stroke. 
 98 
 
THE ART OF BUNKER PLAY 
 
 The great points are to keep your head 
 down all the while (the importance of 
 this precept cannot be overstated, for 
 the purpose of shots out of bad places), 
 grip very tightly, and hit for all you 
 are worth. 
 
 The niblick is a useful club with 
 which to play pitches off the fairway 
 of any distance from 30 yards down a 
 short chip. I often use it for that pur- 
 pose. I have had my niblick for eight 
 years, and it has only needed one new 
 shaft in that time. It was modeled 
 on that of Mr. John L. Low, for whom 
 I used to carry at St. Andrews, and I 
 would not part with it for its weight in 
 gold. For the ordinary pitch, the ball 
 should be opposite the instep of the 
 left foot during the address; for the 
 rest, the stroke is the same as that 
 which we hope to play when we take 
 a mashie. Still, it is as a rescuer 
 99 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 from bunkers that we make most use 
 of the niblick. In times of need it is 
 a friend indeed, if only we treat it 
 properly. 
 
 100 
 
HINTS IN BRIEF 
 
 BUNKER PLAY 
 
 Grip. — Hold the club as tightly as 
 possible. The handle of the niblick 
 may be slightly thicker than that of 
 other clubs, so as to encourage a firm 
 grip. 
 
 Stance. — Open — a good deal more 
 open than that for the mashie shot. 
 Ball opposite the left big toe. Make 
 sure of obtaining a secure stance with 
 the left foot by burrowing that foot 
 into the sand until it finds something 
 solid on which to exercise a grip. 
 
 Aim. — At a spot half an inch to an 
 inch behind the ball, according to cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 101 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 Up-Swing. — Stiffen the left arm as 
 the club rises, thus causing the swing 
 to be an upright one. Keep the head 
 absolutely still. 
 
 Down-Swing. — With the left arm 
 still as rigid as possible, bring the club 
 down so that it cleaves into the soil 
 just behind the ball. The stiff left arm 
 prevents a follow-through, which is not 
 only unnecessary, but bad for this shot. 
 The head of the club should finish in 
 the sand. 
 
 102 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR PUTTING 
 
 BY 
 
 Francis Ouimet 
 Open Champion, United States, 1913 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR PUTTING 
 
 NOTHING else is so commonly 
 bewailed in golf as inability 
 to putt well. Who has not 
 known the man who could have " bro- 
 ken the record of the course," " de- 
 feated his opponent " or turned in a 
 better score than the winner of the 
 medal play competition had it not been 
 for " my poor putting "? With a great 
 majority, it is the will-o'-the-wisp of 
 the game. To-day it seems possible 
 to hole everything in sight; to-morrow, 
 the cup looks the size of an egg-holder 
 into which must be driven a pumpkin 
 or squash. The worst of it is that " to- 
 morrow" generally is the day of a match 
 or a tournament, the day of all days 
 105 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 when it is desirable to make every stroke 
 count for its greatest value. 
 
 In no other branch of the game are 
 all men born so " nearly free and equal." 
 I can almost fancy that the putting 
 end of golf was the product of an ex- 
 ceedingly fertile and ingenious mind, 
 coming about in this wise: A and B 
 were the original pair to play a game 
 which has developed into the present 
 game of golf. A was a mighty man 
 who, with whatever crude instrument 
 was used at the time, could deal a pro- 
 digious blow that would send the " ball " 
 a comparatively great distance. 
 
 B was of more delicate mould. To 
 A's taunt and laughter over his feeble 
 efforts to propel for any great distance 
 the object hit, I think I can hear B 
 saying: " True, I admit I cannot hit 
 so lustily as you; but I'll lay you a wa- 
 ger I can roll this ball along the ground 
 106 
 
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SUGGESTIONS FOR PUTTING 
 
 and have it stop nearer that brown 
 patch than you can." 
 
 A accepts the wager and B wins it. 
 Thereupon A is determined not to be 
 so triumphed over and he tries again, — 
 with the same result, for up to this time 
 A has thought of nothing other than 
 the distance he could hit. Now being 
 quite humbled, he determines that in 
 secret he will practise that more deli- 
 cate stroke so that thenceforth he may 
 not only triumph over B in the matter 
 of distance, but in the skill of making 
 the ball stop where he wishes, or at 
 least nearer to that spot than can B. 
 Thereafter, in their dual play, they de-. 
 cide that both factors of the game shall 
 be included in their wagering, and even- 
 tually they conclude that the new fea- 
 ture lends an added flavor to their 
 outings. 
 
 To-day I know of many golfers who 
 107 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 are only second or third-rate golfers, 
 but whose skill as putters is all that 
 keeps them in the rank that they do 
 hold. From this there may be two de- 
 ductions: one is that, knowing their de- 
 ficiencies in other branches of the game, 
 they devote themselves assiduously to 
 practice in that department which alone 
 can place them on a par, or near a par, 
 with others who far outclass them in 
 the matter of driving and approaching. 
 The other solution is that some golfers 
 are natural-born putters. My personal 
 opinion, however, is that more men are 
 good putters from practice than be- 
 cause they have any pronounced supe- 
 riority, to begin with, over other men. 
 One of the greatest mistakes com- 
 mon to golfers who are known as in- 
 and-out putters, to my mind, is that 
 they are as flighty over their styles of 
 putting as their putting is erratic. If 
 108 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR PUTTING 
 
 a farmer were to plant a row of vege- 
 table seeds on his land Monday and, 
 becoming dissatisfied over their prog- 
 ress by the end of a week, dig them up 
 and plant something else, his neighbors 
 would look upon him as a little weak 
 mentally. 
 
 That is perhaps a far-fetched simile; 
 nevertheless, it is hard to understand 
 how a golfer can try one style of putting 
 to-day, another to-morrow and a third 
 the day following and hope to improve 
 that important department of his game. 
 The trouble with him, as a rule, is that 
 every time he sees another golfer get 
 first-class results with a style of putting 
 dissimilar to that which he most re- 
 cently has adopted, he either consciously 
 or unconsciously adopts that new style. 
 Or, he sees one golfer do exceptionally 
 well with a style of putter different from 
 his own and immediately jumps mentally 
 109 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 to the conclusion that it is not his put- 
 ting style, after all, that is at fault, but 
 his style of putter. 
 
 All this may sound as if I had adopted 
 one style of putter and putting at the 
 outset of my golfing career and clung 
 to it to the present day. I confess other- 
 wise. Even when I say that I have had 
 generally satisfactory results from the 
 methods which I adopted last, I must 
 admit that there have been times when 
 I have been tempted to copy some golfer 
 who, when I have seen him putt, appar- 
 ently knew not the meaning of failure. 
 
 Before a golfer can putt, he neces- 
 sarily must have some implement with 
 which to do it, and I would suggest a 
 gooseneck putter with a medium straight 
 face. I have tried the putting cleek with 
 the flat, or upright, lie, but have found 
 it impossible to get over the ball so as 
 to get an absolutely straight line to 
 110 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR PUTTING 
 
 the hole. It has seemed to me that 
 where you are not directly over the ball, 
 that is, where you have the club-head 
 extended away from you, the tendency 
 is to pull the club-head off the line, and 
 then it is speculative whether the club- 
 head has the proper line when it comes 
 back to meet the ball. More often, I 
 think, it comes back from an angle and 
 either imparts a cut or else is prone to 
 hit the ball to the left of the hole. 
 
 Now as to the cut stroke in putting, 
 I personally do not believe that the ball 
 so hit will follow as true a line as that 
 which is hit absolutely straight; except 
 that the cut is serviceable where the 
 ball may be lying in some slight de- 
 pression. 
 
 In my putting I take a stance well 
 
 over the ball, in fact my head is directly 
 
 over the ball, and the latter is about 
 
 midway between the two heels, the 
 
 111 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 stance being fairly open. I have tried 
 putting off the left foot, but found that 
 with this stance there was a tendency 
 to " stab " the ball. Taking the club 
 back, niy wrists do not come into play 
 at all, the backward motion starting 
 from the left shoulder and coming back 
 from the right, like a pendulum. It 
 is the right hand which imparts the 
 blow and I endeavor to get a distinct 
 follow- through, with the face of the 
 club -head at absolutely right angles 
 to the hole. I do not attempt to hold 
 a rigid position, but allow my body to 
 go forward slightly toward the hole. 
 
 I do not attempt to hit the ball above 
 the centre, for a half-top, the stroke 
 which some claim makes the ball hug 
 the ground and be more certain of drop- 
 ping when it strikes the hole. Rather, 
 my idea is that the follow -through in 
 itself does this work. The club -head, 
 112 
 
SUGGESTIONS FOR PUTTING 
 
 at the finish of the stroke, is between 
 three and four inches from the ground, 
 a result which cannot be attained by a 
 stabbing stroke. To sum it up, my idea 
 is that if the ball were placed on a piece 
 of tape stretched directly toward the 
 hole, the club -head should hold, as 
 nearly as possible, the same position 
 with relation to the tape from the back- 
 ward motion to the follow-through. 
 
 It is one of my mottoes always to be 
 " up." Sometimes I fail in this, but 
 this is what I have found through ex- 
 perience: That I feel much more cer- 
 tain of holing an eight-foot putt coming 
 back after having overrun the hole, than 
 of getting down a three or four-foot putt 
 if I have fallen short on the approach- 
 putt. In other words, I have acquired 
 the habit of thinking, when making an 
 approach-putt of some length, that if I 
 go over, I at least have given the 
 113 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 a chance and, with nothing to regret, 
 I can make a bold try on the come back. 
 But when I fall short on the approach- 
 putt I am apt to dwell upon what a cow- 
 ard I have been, consequently to have 
 a feeling of insecurity over the stroke 
 which follows. 
 
 My final word of advice would be 
 this: No matter what your putting style 
 may be; no matter whose style you may 
 try to copy; no matter whose advice 
 you may take about putting, — 
 
 Practise assiduously. 
 
 114 
 
HINTS IN BRIEF 
 
 PUTTING 
 
 Stance. — Heels about 12 inches apart; 
 ball midway between the two; head 
 well over the ball. 
 
 Grip. — Thumb of left hand down 
 the shaft of club. Little finger and 
 fourth finger of right hand overlapping 
 forefinger and middle finger of left. Left 
 hand holds club and right hand gives 
 impact to ball. 
 
 Up-Swing. — Movement begins from 
 left shoulder; no wrist action; try to 
 keep face of putter at right angles to 
 hole. 
 
 Down-Siving. — Club follows imagi- 
 nary groove which it took going up, like 
 115 
 
SUCCESS AT GOLF 
 
 a pendulum; follow -through, essential, 
 face of putter stopping three or four 
 inches from the ground after having hit 
 the ball. 
 
 Suggestions. — Generally try to be 
 past the hole, rather than short. It 
 gives more confidence for the next putt. 
 Try to hit the ball squarely and firmly. 
 Do not study the line too long and do 
 not putt carelessly. Practise! 
 
 116 
 
Willi 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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