The existence of this special class in England and Scotland is only of recent date,and so we need not despair of making a similar advance in this country before many years are past. The improvement in American golf courses is a most important factor in the development of the game; but of greater weight still is the fact that our college boys are only now beginning to take golf seriously. When they have had a few more years' practice the limits of our first class will be enormously extended; for youthful training alone can produce the very best players.

Mr. J. E. Laidlay.

Photographed by R. W. Hawks, Edinburgh.

Mr. J. E. Laidlay, Putting.

Among those who belong to the inner circle in Great Britain there is no more brilliant and successful player than Mr. J. E. Laidlay. The only distinction which he has not won is the open championship of England and Scotland, and that is a prize which has only three times fallen to an amateur. He has been amateur champion twice, and there is hardly a club of high standing in Scotland which does not claim him as a medal winner. Mr. Laidlay never, perhaps, attained that perfection of steadiness which for many years made Mr. John Ball almost invincible. On the other hand, he is accustomed to make so many extraordinary recoveries from seemingly hopeless situations that it has always been a great treat to watch his game in an important match. Not only is he marvelously effective in a high wind - a thing which in itself goes far to distinguish the really first-class player from the average scratch man, but he is one of the few men who seem able to do a hole of almost any length in three when circumstances require it.

To a certain extent Mr. Laidlay had for a few years a deteriorating effect upon incipient golfers; because he was the first great player to adopt the method of driving off the left leg. For several years he had innumerable imitators who could easily assume a similar position, but never exhibited the genius necessary for making it successful. For a short time, indeed, it was more common to see examples of this style on the links than the older St. Andrews fashion. The fad has had its day by this time, and it will be a long time, in all probability, before another first-class player appears with so extreme a method. It may be equally long before we meet any one who has so perfect a control over his iron clubs.

The old course at North Berwick has been lengthened and improved beyond recognition, and so it will never again be possible to see Mr. Laidlay negotiating the many short holes which used to demand the utmost skill in iron play. There was every kind of stroke then, from a full cleek to a mashie shot, and generally it was necessary to pitch the ball upon a keen sloping green surrounded by hazards. No one has ever surpassed Mr. Laidlay at this game, and it is doubtful whether any one ever will surpass him. Mr. Ball's full cleek shots are a marvel to all beholders; Andrew Kirkcaldy can get as far with a half iron as most men can with a brassey, and Willie Campbell in his day was the greatest exponent of the mashie. But no player, either amateur or professional, has such a perfect command over every iron club in the set as Mr. Laidlay. As a driver he is brilliant, but inclined to be erratic on occasion, a fault which gives him ample opportunity of displaying his great power of recovery. On the putting green he is also a trifle uncertain. Few men hole a greater number of long puts than he, and yet few among the first-class players miss so many short ones. In this respect, at least, he is mortal, and that is possibly the reason that he has never won the open championship, which is decided by medal play.

Mr. Ball has won both the open and amateur championships, the latter upon four occasions, and is also so fine a match player that he must be ranked as the most sue cessful, and indeed the greatest amateur golfer of the day. If he is more liable to defeat now than he was a few years ago, it must be remembered that general form has improved wonderfully of late, and it would be impossible for any one to maintain for very long the unique position which he held in the golfing world a short time ago. Of a slight but wiry frame, he is possessed of great physical strength and endurance. And here it may be well to remark upon the fact that the idea which many people still entertain regarding the amount of muscle requisite for pre-eminence in the game is entirely erroneous. No one could call Mr. Ball, or Mr. Laidlay, or Mr. Hilton a physical giant; but they are all men of great muscular power and perfect health, accustomed to an abundance of outdoor exercise. Great height is not apparently of any particular advantage, although it is naturally conducive to long driving. The Messrs. Blackwell, Mr. Arnold Blyth and Mr. Mure-Fergusson, to mention no others, are instances of large, powerful men who excel in the use of the wooden club. But, after all, there is practically little difference between the driving of the most powerful player, and that of a man like Mr. Hilton, who is, comparatively speaking, of small stature. It is only in the case of Mr. "Ted" Blackwell that the added distance begins to tell. Certainly Mr. Ball is as fine a driver as any one could wish to be, and he probably weighs less than Mr. Hilton. But then, he is a man of iron muscle, and that is the essential thing. A weak player may drive excellently for eighteen holes or so, but he is bound to tire sooner or later, especially when any strain is put upon him. Moreover, he is very apt to be short with his iron clubs. Mr. Ball and Mr. Hilton can drive just at well at the end of four days' tournament as at the beginning, because being naturally endowed with strength of limb, they always have something in reserve. No one seeing Mr. Hilton finishing his fourth round in the open event could ever imagine that he had exerted himself at all. He never seems to drive a very long ball, and what is more curious, he generally drives rather high. Yet when the distance is actually measured he is just as likely to be ahead of a long driving opponent as not.