The line having been taken and the club soled, the time has now arrived for the all important put to be played. It has been said so many times that the motion of the club head in putting is like the swinging of a pendulum that no sooner does one think "putting" but "pendulum" comes into the mind as an immediate corollary. As I have said before, this simile has been greatly overworked, and, at best, it does not bear too close following. It is at fault in two ways: one, that the wrists cannot be directly over the club head in a manner corresponding to the position of the point of suspension of a pendulum over the weight; the other, that the arc of a pendulum would graze the horizontal plane over which it is suspended at only one point and, being an arc, could at no time be parallel to that plane, whereas the head of the club during the correct putting stroke should be carried along a line almost parellel to the ground immediately before and after the ball is struck. Thus it follows that this simile, like so many others, is fallacious when applied too exactly; it serves better in conveying to the mind the idea of smooth and even motion, which is necessary to the proper execution of the put, than in giving a true picture of the stroke itself.

Mrs. J. E. Davies Finish of an approach shot.

Mrs. Ronald H. Barlow A good tee shot.

The factor of prime importance is that the club should travel along the intended line of run of the ball, and that line projected, both before and after the ball is hit. The hands should hold the club firmly yet delicately, the body should be kept motionless, and the eyes should be fixed upon that portion of the ball which is furthest from the hole. The head of the club should be drawn back near the ground for several inches, the arms should be steady, and the wrists allowed to do most of the work. If the put is a long one, so that there must be an extended backward swing, the forearms must come further into play during the movement of the wrists. It is obvious that the put cannot be, as Vardon asserts, purely a wrist stroke, because if it were the club would rise into the air immediately after it leaves the ball, or, if the arc of the club's head should be in a plane more nearly parallel to the ground, the club, after having retreated a short distance from the ball, would begin drawing in toward the body. Plainly the forearm must be used if the club head is to be kept in a straight line, both during the backward swing if it is a long one, and especially during the follow-through, when the arms must go out after the ball and the club head keep in the line to the hole as long as possible. I do not mean to say by this that the putting stroke is in any way an arm motion. Accuracy and steadiness are gained by keeping the arms as still as possible; the wrists should be used first, then as much forearm as is necessary to keep the club head in a straight line, and, last of all, and this only in case of an exceedingly long put, the upper arms may come slightly into action. To begin a put with the idea in her mind that every part of the body must be kept rigid but the hands and wrists, means that the player will be cramped and awkward. It is better to start with body comfortably disposed and quiet and then to make the stroke with only such motions as are natural and necessary.

Contrary to what a great many expert players say when writing, George Duncan in his article on putting for women in "Golf Illustrated," does not speak of the put as a pure wrist stroke. In fact, from what he says it seems that he considers it, especially in long shots, almost entirely an arm stroke. Let us see what he says. "For approach putting I advise the following methods to be adopted. . . . The club should be taken back with the left hand and arm, and the club head must be kept as close to the ground as possible. The right wrist must not be allowed to bend. The player will now hit naturally, follow through, and finish with the hands in a line with the club head."

It seems extremely doubtful that, if the right wrist is not allowed to bend, the player can hit naturally; certainly she must hit extremely awkwardly, and with her whole arm from the shoulder down. Duncan's idea appears to be that the left hand and arm shall do the putting and that the right shall act as a check or brace to keep the club head in a straight line. The fact that such an excellent putter as George Duncan could formulate such a theory led me to examine the photographs of him in Mr. P. A. Vaile's "Modern Golf." In plate 15, the caption of which is "swing back for approach put," we have a frontal view of Duncan, and it may plainly be seen that his right wrist is bent back so much that the back of his hand is almost at a right angle to his arm. Possibly he thinks it best to advise women to use another method of putting from that which he himself practices, but it is difficult to understand why he should do so.

Underneath this picture Mr. Vaile has written, "In this case, as the put is a long one, the swing back is considerable, but observe that neither the forearms nor the body have moved. This is the secret of good putting. . . ."

Notice that he commends the fact that in the swing back for this long approach put the forearms have remained motionless, yet he says on page 66, "The Soul of Golf,"

"We are frequently told that a put is the only true wrist stroke in golf. As a matter of fact there is no true wrist stroke in golf, for it is evident that if one played the put as a true wrist stroke with a club whose lie is at a considerable angle to the horizontal . . . the instant the club head leaves the ball it must leave the line of run to the hole, and equally as certainly will it leave the line of run to the hole immediately after it has struck the ball. Now this is not what we require, so it has come to pass that the put at golf is to a very great extent a compromise."

So it is that even the best of golf writers will contradict themselves and the student of the game must make the best of it she can.

To return to George Duncan's article, a little later he says, "For puts inside three yards one or two alterations should be made. The right hand should do all the work: the left elbow should point more at the hole: and the feet should be a little closer together."

From this one is led to believe that, on reaching the three-yard limit, one should abandon the left hand and transfer the work of putting to the right. If one must shift from one hand to the other in this way, it would seem more sensible to do the long puts with the stronger hand, which with the majority of people is the right, and leave the lighter work for the left.