While a good game can be played with comparatively few clubs, the addition of two or three more to a set will frequently obviate the necessity of having to play difficult strokes. So long as a full stroke has to be played there is no great risk of making any mistake; it is when three-quarter and half shots are necessary that the greatest risk of foozling exists. Half shots it is not possible to avoid; but by judiciously selecting a few extra clubs with varying degrees of loft on them, three-quarter shots may be almost entirely evaded, and the number of long half shots requiring to be played considerably reduced, full strokes with one or other of the extra clubs coining in their place.

Lofting-irons and lofting-mashies are before noticed. I recommend the former in preference to the latter. The blade of the iron is larger than the blade of the mashie, and there is thus a larger surface available for hitting the ball when the former is used. Mashies require very accurate play, especially for lofting strokes. Although the niblick is the best club for bunker play, a heavy mashie is very serviceable for this purpose; and it is quite possible to get a mashie that will not only answer for playing approaches, but also for the rougher work of digging the ball out of hazards. The bunkers are, however, apt to spoil the mashie lor the more delicate work of approaching.

For putting, the appropriate club is undoubtedly a putter, wooden or metal; but all the same some very fine players have putted, and putted magnificently, with an ordinary cleek. On a rough green a cleek does well, because by playing the ball with 'bottom' or back spin on it, it is less liable to be deflected by irregularities of the green. Nothing, however, can beat a putting cleek for all-round play.

All the clubs above mentioned are made to suit left-handed players. It is a mistake to suppose that a man otherwise left-handed should play golf with left-handed clubs. The proportion of left-handed goiters is almost infinitesimal, and they are all amateurs. I do not know of a single left-handed professional player. There is no reason, however, why left-handed players should not excel at golf, and, as a matter of fact, I know several who would be hard to beat. Nevertheless. I think beginners should follow the usual style of play; and although in a matter of this kind every one must please himself, I would urge all who are for the first time taking up golf to play with right-handed clubs, notwithstanding that they may be naturally left-handed. It has been recommended by some authorities on the game that a left-handed club should be included in every player's set, to meet the case of a ball lying up against a wall, or in some such position where it cannot be easily struck with a right-handed club. Such a plan is no doubt good; but unless he has had some previous practice, it is not an easy matter for a man who uses right-handed clubs to pick up a left-handed club and play a stroke, particularly a difficult one, with it. He will probably miss the ball altogether if he attempts to do any such thing.

The greatest secret, if secret it be, of playing well with any club is to know it thoroughly - to know what strokes it can best be used for, and when to use it, and to have confidence, which can only be gained by past successes, in being able to do what is required.

Balance in a club has been spoken of. This quality is so subtle that the least alteration may spoil it for ever. Be very careful, therefore, not to tamper with a well-balanced club. The mere putting of a new leather on the handle may spoil the balance, and it is better to have a well-balanced club with a tattered and patched-up leather, than to have a badly balanced one with a perfectly new leather.

The keeping of clubs in order is a mutter to which a good share of attention has been directed, and it is frequently recommended that the shaft and head should be kept slightly oiled. If the clubs are properly cared for, and not kept in cither too damp or too dry a place, I do not advise oiling, as I rind it is apt to cause cracks in the wood. Before a club leaves the maker's hands it receives a coating of oil and varnish, and this ought to be sufficient to last for a long time. If, however, the clubs have been allowed to get dry, a touch of oil will render them less brittle: but care must be taken that the oil is not too liberally applied, and it should not be allowed to come into contact with the scare, the face, the sole, or other unvarnished parts of the head. A very slight touch is sufficient, and after application the club should be well rubbed up and polished with a dry cloth. If the coating of varnish has worn off, it should be renewed, as a protection against wet getting into the wood. A really tine club should not be used on a wet day, if it can be avoided, as not only will the head probably be ruined, but also the shaft. I have seen some splendid shafts, with just the right spring in them, rendered wobbly and absolutely useless through their getting thoroughly soaked by playing in wet weather.

Iron clubs are usually polished round, not down, the socket and along the blade. After polishing the face of the blade lengthwise, the heel and toe thereof are rubbed across. The different rubbings are easily visible, and cause a distinctive mark of about a couple of inches in the centre of the face, which acts as a guide to the eye in playing. Irons should be polished with very fine emery cloth, and not too much rubbed. Each polishing helps to rub away the metal, and in course of time diminishes the weight of the head. A drop of oil on the back of the cloth will prevent the emery from coming off in small pieces, as it is somewhat apt to do.