It is usual for golf clubs to hold three or four prize meetings or competitions in the course of each year. These are frequently named after the seasons in which they take place - as the spring, summer, autumn, and winter meetings, - and sometimes after the more important prizes competed for, as the medal meeting and the cup meeting. Such competitions may be for scratch prizes, in which case the actual game of each competitor is alone regarded: or they may he for handicap prizes, in which case allowances are made to the weaker players, to place them on equal terms with the stronger players of the club; or they may be for both scratch and handicap prizes. In one club I know of - and it is a model club, end tracing many of the best amateur players in Scotland - the only prizes offered for competition are scratch prizes; there are no handicap prizes at all. But in almost all other clubs it is usual, in addition to there being at least one scratch prize, to give a certain number of handicap prizes. The object of this is to encourage golf, and to stimulate the exertions of players who could never hope to win the scratch awards. It is obvious that if only scratch prizes are to be played for, the contest resolves itself into one among the best players in the club, and among them alone, because the vast majority of members would not take part, knowing that their chances of success wore very remote. On the other hand, when handicap prizes are presented, every member of the club, be he a good or a bad player, has an equal chance of gaining a prize. I would accordingly recommend clubs to adopt this system of combining scratch and handicap prizes. There should be at each meeting a scratch prize and three or four handicap prizes, and at two of the meetings the scratch prizes should be made the important events in the club's competitions. For example, there may be a scratch gold medal to be played for at the spring meeting, and a silver cup to be played for at the autumn meeting. Important trophies, such as gold medals and cups, do not, as a rule, become the property of the winners; the successful competitors hold them for a year, and get their names inscribed on them, receiving at the same time a small medal or charm to be retained as a memento of their victory. Some of the cups and medals belong-ing to the older golf clubs arc of great value, not only on account of their intrinsic worth, but also on account of the associations connected with them. Handicap prizes usually consist of articles of an ornamental or useful nature, but not of great value, as they invariably pass into the absolute custody of the winners. There may, of course, be scratch prizes of the same nature as the handicap prizes above mentioned, and which, like them, become the property of the winner; and, on the other hand, there may be handicap medals and cups, tenable by the successful competitor for a year only. The conditions under which the prizes are to be won may be varied to almost any extent. For instance, a prize, either scratch or handicap, may be given for the best aggregate score at any two, or at two stated competitions in the year; or a prize may be presented for competition to become the property of the player gaining it three times, or three times successively. Some clubs have a monthly medal or cup, to be held for a year by the golfer winning it the greatest number of times during the year, he receiving a charm or small medal as a memento. There is, however, this objection to such monthly competitions, that they interfere considerably with the private match play of the members of the club, and on that account they are frequently objected to. Such competitions are usually fixed for a day that will enable the greatest number of players to compete; and as it is the invariable rule, especially with clubs having private greens, that all competitions shall take the precedence of private matches, the day becomes practically devoted to the competition, thus debarring all play except in it, and this is considered to be more or less a hardship upon those golfers who prefer a friendly game. All players are in the general ease allowed to compete not only for scratch awards, but also for handicap prizes, and it may thus happen that one man may carry off more than one prize; he may, for example, win a scratch and also a handicap prize. The stated competitions of all clubs are invariably played for under medal rules, or according to score. In addition to such meetings, many clubs hold an annual tournament, played during the summer months by holes, or under match rules. This is always under handicap, and in a new club is extremely useful in introducing the members to each other. In the first chapter I (The Game Of Golf) have referred generally to playing medal competitions and tournaments. There is not much to be added in regard to the former. The players start in couples, and it is for the management of the club to determine whether the players may arrange their own partners, or whether they are to be balloted for. If competitors are allowed to arrange their own partners, there is this advantage, that they may be allowed to start at any time on coming forward between certain hours; while, in the other case, the players must come forward in batches and be balloted for partners before they can start, thus entailing some congestion of the green at the hours of start. Where there is a ballot for partners, the order of starting is usually determined by the ballot - that is to say, the first couple drawn start first from the tee. and so on; but the Captain of the club, if present, and his partner are always by courtesy permitted to go off before all others. Where the couples are balloted for, it is a good plan to divide the players into classes before the ballot takes place, because it is unfair to both if a good and a bad player be drawn together. I would recommend that all members having a handicap of less than, say, ten strokes, should be balloted for partners among themselves, those having a handicap of ten strokes and upwards being similarly dealt with. In handicap competitions under medal rules the scores for the prize list are reckoned by deducting the handicap of each player from his actual score, and the net result is his return in the competition. As is hereafter mentioned, some members of the club may, owing to their proficiency at golf, have a plus handicap, and this is added to the actual scores of such members. The following example of a prize list will explain the matter more clearly: -