He will consistently hole out two-yard putts one day, and the next as persistently miss those of a foot, and be quite unable to account for his failure.

Without an "infinite capacity for taking pains " a man will never be a good putter. A player cannot begin to study his putt too soon. Even for the approach shot, unless it is a very long one, he should first of all go forward and examine the ground, so as to select the spot for his ball to pitch on that will give him the best putt for the hole. The ball having been played on to the putting-green, if it is still some yards from the hole, it is well, before approaching the ball, to walk first to the hole and examine the geography in its immediate neighbourhood. A putting-green is not flat like a billiard table, and even

John Ball, Junr. Putting.

the best of them have their differences of surface, one part being keen and smooth, and another stiff and rough, according to the nature of the grass. Then there are the undulations and slopes of the ground which will have their effect on the ball as it travels towards the hole. But more particularly, in a long putt, the ball will be travelling slowest, if it has strength to reach the hole, in the last yard or so, and it will consequently be then that it will be most affected by any inequalities or irregularities on the green. The line that the player will ultimately select to play the ball at the hole will therefore be determined chiefly by the character of this last crucial yard or thereby, and those few feet of turf ought to be the first object of his consideration in studying a putt. When this examination has been made, the player should walk slowly to his ball, removing any loose obstacles from the line likely to deflect it from its course, and taking a mental note of any other facts likely to influence it, but bearing in mind that the higher rate of speed at which the ball will be travelling at its start, will minimise considerably any inequalities of the green that may there exist.

Having arrived at his ball, the player should get behind it and survey the ground to be traversed from that position ; for it is from the ball to the hole that the line must be taken, and not from the hole to the ball. The information gathered from his examina-

J. II. Taylor. Putting.

tion of the ground near the hole is only to be applied to modify his opinion of the line after he has arrived at his ball. If he has also studied the line from the hole to the ball, he will most probably only confuse his mind with two quite distinct lines. He will now determine the strength with which it will be necessary to hit the ball, to enable it to reach the hole, by travelling on the selected line, and thereafter address himself to the ball.

The stance for putting, as before indicated, should be of the same nature as for other strokes, except that as the putter is more upright and shorter in the shaft than other clubs, it will be necessary to stand more over the ball. The player should not stoop low-over his putt nor straddle his legs too much. It is a good and useful plan to place the head of the putter in front of the ball, and then behind it, searching in this manner to get the head of the putter absolutely at right-angles to the projected line of the putt, but in doing this, care must be taken that the ball be not moved. In a long putt, if there be any point half or three-quarters way to the hole, on the direct line, which is marked by a daisy or can otherwise be remarked from the ball, it will simplify matters very much if the player plays his ball for that point, giving the ball, of course, the requisite strength to reach the hole.

The club being firmly grasped in the usual way, the aim taken, and the eye firmly fixed on the back of the ball, it should not be allowed to wander off again to the hole before striking, but the club should immediately be drawn backwards, and returned on the ball at the same angle, and with the required strength. Great care must be taken to aim with the very centre of the putter. A ball struck on the toe or heel of the club will not run straight any distance.

If the green be at all rough, a putter with its face slightly set back will be found to keep the ball in a truer course. With an absolutely perpendicular face there is a tendency, unless the green be very smooth, for the ball to be deflected at its start. The lofted face enables the player to start the ball straight, as it will be slightly lofted for the first foot or so. In shorter putts, to which the line is straight, the ball should be played firmly for the back of the hole. If the player aims at the near lip, the chances are that the ball either "lingers shivering on the brink " and does not go in, or rolls off to one side or the other before reaching.

To take too long over a putt is as grave an error as to hurry it. Everything, however, should be done carefully and deliberately, and the player, having made up his mind as to the strength and direction, should hit the ball confidently, always bearing in mind the putter's golden maxim, " Never up, never in."

It sometimes happens that the player who is furthest from the hole plays his ball, which does not go in, but gets between the hole and his opponent's ball. If it rests less than six inches from the other's ball, it has to be lifted till the other is played. If more than six inches, it is called a " Stymie," and there are two ways of negotiating it, viz., either by playing round the obstructing ball, or by-lofting over it. To play round it, unless favoured by the lie of the ground, is extremely difficult, and must be done by putting on spin or cut, either with the toe or heel of the putter. The lofting shot is also a very delicate stroke. It must be played with a firm wrist, from a well-lofted mashie or iron, and not too strongly.