The above remarks apply also to selecting an iron or a mashie. In playing with an iron it is usual, for the reason explained in Chapter v (Approaching)., to take away a little turf with the stroke, and consequently the blade is made deeper than in the cleek. With the view of assisting to loft the ball, it is also made much thicker at the bottom of the blade than at the top, and it should have a good deal more loft than the cleek. The iron should be a tolerably heavy club, heavier than the cleek. As before pointed out, it is usual to take turf in iron play, and unless the club used be a fairly heavy one, there will be loss of force. A heavy iron will cut its way through when a light one will stick in the ground. These remarks apply to irons for all-round use, because in the case of a lofting-iron it is of advantage to have a slightly lighter club, as enabling a more delicate stroke to be played. The shaft of an iron should be perfectly stiff. By this I do not mean rigid and not flexible; there must, of course, be spring in it, but it should be so stiff as to require some force to bring out the spring. An iron with a wobbly shaft is useless. Great accuracy in hitting the ball is required for all iron strokes, and it is not possible to obtain this when the player has not complete control over the head of his club, which he cannot have when it is at the end of a wobbly stick.

The mashie should have more loft than either cleek or iron, and for all-round work should be as heavy as the iron. It should be made square at the nose, and have a deep face tapered from the bottom to the top, and, like an iron, should have a stiff shaft.

The niblick, most of all clubs, requires weight, because it is intended for the rough work of extricating the ball from bunkers and hazards, and it is of great advantage to get force into the stroke. The head is all the better of being tolerably large, but an experienced player may use one with a smaller head. It is possibly unnecessary to say that there must be a good deal of loft on the face. The shaft of the club should be strong and stiff, and not too long.

Next and last come putters. How much could be written on this subject and where is the golfer who has not got his own peculiar opinion about putting? If a golf-club has ever brought a fancy price, inquiry will almost invariably elicit the fact that that club was a wooden putter. The most essential requisites for a putter are that it be perfectly true in the face and that the balance be good. Of all wooden clubs it should be the longest in the head, but there is no great necessity for breadth of wood, nor for depth of face, as in other wooden clubs, provided that it be shapely. It is an advantage to have a club that lies well, and in this case the face should lie slightly in to the ball. The head should have a good deal of weight more than any other wooden club. Some players prefer the shaft to have a slight curve, the concavity being towards the player; but this is more a matter of taste than anything else. A straight shaft is quite as good, so long as it is not bent down - that is to say, so long as the concavity is not from the player. There is generally no loft, or at most just a sensation, on the face of a wooden putter. Iron putters are very numerous; all that need be said is to repeat what is before stated, that putting-cleeks are to be preferred with the faces very slightly lofted to prevent the ball from springing. A properly hit ball lying on a smooth putting-green will not spring; it is only when it happens to lie in a nick that this danger arises, and then it is more liable to spring off a wooden putter than off a cleek. The narrow sole of a cleek enables it to fit closer in to the ball, and so pick it out, while the broad sole of a wooden putter prevents its doing so. The shafts of all putters should be quite stiff and short, so as to give power and command over the club.

It may be taken as a general rule that there should be a gradation in the length of the different clubs in the following order, viz.: - driver, brassy, cleek, iron, mashie or niblick, and putter - the driver being the longest, the putter the shortest, and the others ranging between these two extremes. In adding other clubs to the set, the same order will be observed - driving-clubs being longer, clubs for approaching shorter, and putters shortest of all. In the same way there will be a gradation in the loft upon the lace: drivers will have little or no loft, while brassies and spoons will be set back or lofted. Cleeks among iron clubs will have least loft, and irons a little or a good deal more, depending upon the purpose for which they are to bo used - for driving or for pitching. putters, as has been mentioned, should have very little loft, if any. I would recommend that, in the first instance, serviceable all-round clubs be obtained - for example, an ordinary cleek and a medium-pitched iron. It is much better for a player to get at first one iron with a medium amount of pitch, than to get both a driving-iron and a lofting-iron. After experience is obtained and proficiency acquired, other clubs can be added to the set.

To an absolute novice I would give this counsel. 'Learn the game with the clubs you intend to play with hereafter.' So far as I know, there arc not special clubs made for beginners. Such advice must of course be used with discretion, and adapted to the peculiar circumstances of each case. For example, a hard hitter should see that he purchases strong clubs that will stand sonic bad usage, because he cannot at first always expect to get the ball off the centre of the face. Most clubs will stand a fair amount of tear and wear, but in the hands of a powerful hitter the lite of a wooden head is bound to be shorter, unless counter balanced by stronger make. Difficulty may be experienced in getting the ball up with a driver, in which case the use of a spooned club in the initial stages of tuition may be beneficial. Under no circumstances is it expedient to begin by using only a cleek or other iron club. A great many faulty styles of golf can be traced to such a practice.