It is a curious fact that there are no written laws of golf regarding the implements - either clubs or balls - to be used in playing the game; but it is sate to assume that only golf-clubs and golf-balls can be used.

The mode of play has already been briefly explained. Hut there are two methods, viz. 'match play; in which individuals contend against each other for holes, and 'medal play,' in which any number compete among themselves for scores.

Match Play - the most genuine form of golf - admits of several variations. The most usual match is a single - that is, two individuals play against each other. They start at the first teeing-ground, and each tees his own ball on a small pinch of sand called a 'tee' - sand for the purpose being provided at each teeing-ground. If they cannot agree which is to strike off first, it is usually decided by tossing up a coin. This privilege of playing first from the tee is called 'the honour.' Each player endeavours to drive his ball from the tee on to the putting-green, and to put it into the hole with the smallest number of strokes. The player holing his ball in the fewest strokes wins the hole: if both take the same number, the hole is said to be 'halved' - neither wins it. The game proceeds from toeing ground to hole until the full eighteen holes, of which it generally consists, have been successively played, or until the match is finished. The player who wins the greater number of holes wins the match; but if both win an equal number the match is said to be halved, or, in other words, is drawn. Except in the case of the tee-shots, the person whose ball is farther from the hole plays before the other. Thus it may happen that one of the couple, on reaching the putting-green, has played two strokes while his opponent may have played three or four, or even more; and it is also possible that one of them may have to take two or three consecutive strokes before his opponent again plays, until he puts his ball nearer the hole than his opponent's is at the time. After the balls have been struck off from the tee, they cannot be touched or moved with anything except the golf-clubs, save in the exceptional cases provided for in the rules, or subject to the penalties therein mentioned.

A good golfer can drive a ball any distance up to, roughly speaking, a couple of hundred yards, and when he gets to the putting-green he should be able to put his ball into the hole in two strokes. On reading this, many persons will no doubt think that golf is quite a simple game - and simple it is, in theory; moreover, to see golf played by a 'crack' makes it look not only simple but also comparatively easy. But let it be tried, and it will then be found that it is not quite so easy as it looks. A golf-ball is not a large object, being only about an inch and three-quarters in diameter, and to hit it accurately when it lies clear on the green - and accurately hit it must be to make it travel - requires both skill and practice. I have said when it lies clear; but the ball may not lie clear: it may be imbedded in grass, or it may have lodged in a 'cup' or small hollow in the ground, which considerably increases the difficulty of hitting it properly. Apart from mere hitting, the distance and the direction in which the ball is to be driven must be attended to; because, as already pointed out, the hazards are intended and are always so placed as to catch badly played strokes; and if care and skill be not exercised, one is likely to find his ball in a difficult position out of which there may be some trouble in extricating it. In addition to all this, when getting near to the putting-green, or 'approaching,' the amount of force requisite to play the ball on to the green and yet not beyond it requires to be judged; and in putting - as playing strokes on the putting-green is called - the requisite strength and the proper line of play to send the ball into the hole have to be nicely calculated. But the player who has obtained even a small degree of mastery over the game feels a keen delight in endeavouring to overcome such difficulties: and the same amount of satisfaction as is derived by golfers from well-played strokes is probably not to be found in playing any other game.

In match play it is not usual to count the actual number of strokes taken. Golf has a language of its own. When a golfer plays the same number of strokes as his opponent, he is said to play 'the like.' When both have played the same number they are said to be

'like as they lie.' When the one has played a stroke more than his opponent, he is said to have 'played the odds.' When he plays two or any greater number of strokes more than his opponent, he is said to play 'two more' or 'three more,' as the case may be. Now, suppose one of the couple has played three strokes and the other live strokes - that is, 'two more' - and it is the turn of the former to play, he does not say, 'This is my fourth stroke against your fifth' but he says, 'I am playing one oft' two.' Similarly, he may be playing 'one off three' and so on; of course, when he plays one off two, if he has again to play before his opponent, he then plays the like. In a 'hole game' it is not of the slightest consequence what actual number of strokes is taken; the only object each golfer need have in view is to get his ball into the hole in one stroke less than his opponent. Having played the first hole, if it is won, the person winning it is said to be 'one up' and his opponent 'one down.' If it be halved, the match is 'all even.' If halved, the player who originally had the honour again drives off first for the second hole. If either party wins the hole the party winning it obtains the honour: and so the game proceeds from hole to hole until the match is finished.

It is not always necessary that the agreed on number of holes should actually be played out to finish the match. Suppose, for example, that one of the players gets to be 'four up,' and there remain but three holes to play, he has won the match, because it must be obvious that even if his opponent were to win all the three remaining holes, the first supposed player would at the end of the round be still one up. In such a case the successful player is said to win his match by four up and three to play. Similarly, he may be two up and one to play, or seven up and six to play, or seven up and five to play, or any such combination. The match originally made (called the long match) being finished a few holes from home, the remaining holes are generally played as a 'bye.' When a player is, say, three holes up on his opponent, and there are only three to be played, that player is said to be 'dormy three,' 'dormy lour,' 'dormy live,' etc., applying similarly to the number of holes he is up with the like number remaining to be played. When a player is 'dormy' he cannot lose the game; it may result in a halved match, however, if the opponent succeeds in taking all the remaining holes.