WE are told that the poet is born, not made; and in the matter of golf I am inclined to think this saying may be very well paraphrased, for it is beyond possibility of contradiction that a player who is able to aspire successfully to the gaining of Championship honours or performances of first-class merit must possess a natural aptitude for the game. The fact of my expressing this opinion, however, must not be taken as a discouraging factor. With plenty of practice, good tuition, and a capacity for taking pains, with a faculty of supporting initial disappointments, any man, young or even middle-aged, may learn how a good game is to be played.

If he is naturally an adept at picking up the finer points, so much the more in his favour; but he should never be cast down over an exceedingly moderate or even a poor start. The best of us have had to learn ; if one can succeed, why not another? Rome was not built in a day. There is no royal road to golf, and the finished player cannot be made immediately he takes a club in his hand.

Before commencing to offer a few hints, I may be allowed to make one very necessary explanation ; it is, that I consider it impossible for any man to learn any game, and especially golf, purely from a text-book. It is possible to reiterate instructions and lay them down in black and white, and the learner may accustom himself to the theory of the game, but the practical idea must be learnt upon the links.

Under the circumstances I shall not attempt here to enter into the points of the game in anything approaching an exhaustive manner. I shall attempt to show briefly how the game should be learnt, and how I should proceed were I teaching a pupil, but simply in a general sense, as I shall deal with the art of golf in a more technical way a little later on.

Methods must necessarily vary with the style and aptitude possessed by the learner. That is where the value of the practical side makes itself felt, and, also, it is where the average text-book is in error in the majority of instances. It is useless, this attempting to teach golf upon one set rule. The teaching must, as I have already remarked, vary, for what one man would find extremely easy of accomplishment another might find to be exactly the opposite.

And now for what I have to suggest as hints for golfers, young and old.

The provision of a set of clubs is, of course, the first thing necessary. Economy must not be studied to too great an extent in this respect, but I think for the purpose of a beginner at the game half a dozen clubs will be found amply sufficient for the purpose we have in view. This set should consist of a driver, brassie, cleek, iron, mashie, and putter.

Here we have all that is necessary at the start. I am fully aware that there are players who pin their faith upon a very much greater variety; but, in my opinion, the half-dozen clubs I have enumerated are all a learner or an ordinary player would be likely to require - all that are really necessary.

Now for a system of tuition.

As I have pointed out. there are no two men who possess an exact similarity of style. Hence the necessity for an instructor to determine what method of play should be employed. He must "size" his man up - if I may be allowed to so express myself. Then, and not before then, can he see how it would be best for him to proceed.

The greatest mistake that can be made is to attempt a rule - of-thumb means of imparting a knowledge of golf. The art of teaching lies in the way a good style is gradually forced upon a learner. The latter's own method must be subordinated, and yet made use of, for the instructor must see that the learner is not cramped or rendered stiff by the means used toward the end. In short, one certain style does not suit two different men. That is where practice, and not theory alone, is discovered to be the most important factor in the working for ultimate success.

But, supposing myself to be upon the links, I should, after watching a pupil make, or attempt to make, a few strokes of various kinds, be able to form some slight idea concerning his capabilities.

This accomplished, I should take him in hand, and, as a commencement, proceed to teach him how to drive. Practice at this would go on for half an hour or so at a time, and in the course of a few lessons a man should be able to acquire the rudiments of the stroke, how and how not to do it, and after that a careful observance of the rules he would have heard laid down should be all that was necessary, with, of course, plenty of practice.

After a man had rendered himself fairly familiar with the use of the driver, I should proceed with my tuition in respect of the iron clubs, the cleek, the iron, and the mashie. Here again, owing to a diversity of styles, we should find necessary a blending of the best with what was most suitable for the particular individual.

The rapidity with which a learner "picks up" golf depends largely upon himself, although I admit my experience has shown me that a good athlete has everything in his favour, taking one thing with another.

He generally takes more or less naturally to golf, and a man, for instance, who has played cricket or fives, or any similar game where muscles must work in conjunction with the brain, as a general rule picks up the rudiments of the game far more rapidly than a man who has occupied himself with sedentary pursuits alone. The one readily sees through a thing after his tutor has gone to the pains of explaining it to him, while the other finds a difficulty in accustoming himself to his very different environments.

I should like to repeat my warning to the intending aspirant to golf honours against the erroneous idea that, armed with a text-book and the necessary clubs, he is quite capable of teaching himself how the game is best to be played.

I feel I cannot protest too strongly against such a thing as this being attempted, for not only is the idea an altogether wrong one, but more than that, it is a very dangerous one. We will suppose, just for the mere sake of argument, that you have learnt the lessons laid out before you between the covers of your pocket volume, and that you go out to conquer or to die.