FASHIONS vary in golf as in everything else, and it must be admitted that at the present time that most useful club, the cleek, is not used by golfers to nearly so great an extent as was the case only a very few years ago. It has not been dropped entirely, it has simply been ousted from its former position in a measure, but in a way that may be readily explained.

The average player has not been long in discovering that the cleek is a somewhat difficult club with which to play. Then he or she has looked round for something to fill its place, and that something has been found ready to their hand. The driving mashie has filled the need admirably, and the golfer, speaking in a general sense, has discovered that the mashie is a far easier club with which to play. Hence the change has been made, and once anything has lost its grip, then it is a difficult matter for it to regain its former position.

One advantage possessed by the mashie lies in its shorter face. That is an advantage, I am ready to admit, but when a cleek is brought into use it is generally when the lie is of such a character that the brassie cannot do the work that is expected from it.

The brassie cannot be used when the ball is in a bad lie, in a half-cupped position, for instance. Then it is that the cleek might be used, but, on the other hand, so might the mashie. The long face of the cleek may be found incapable of fitting into the conformation of the ground so well, and this is, in my opinion, the real reason why the cleek is not so generally used now as was the case before the mashie was so well known.

There are, however, among the leading players some who still hold to their belief in the club. Mr. John Ball, of the amateurs, is a good player with the cleek. He will use it at the strokes as they may occur, and he has had no reason to find fault with the success he has attained. Then there is James Braid, of the professionals, who is quite at home with the cleek. He, of course, knows when it can be used to the greatest advantage. Both are thoroughly at home in the use of this club. Why should their example not be followed, using, I need scarcely say, a wise discrimination in the time and occasion when it should be pressed into service?

In offering instruction in the art of how best to use the cleek there are two things to be considered :

ADDRESSING WITH CLEEK FOR FULL STROKE.

TOP OF SWING WITH CLEEK FOR FULL STROKE.

FINISH OF SWING WITH CLEEK FOR FULL STROKE.

the height and reach of the player. The shorter man must not stand at the same distance from the ball as the taller, so it is impossible to lay down a hard and fast rule. Each player must take up the position pointed out to him by the instructor as that from which the best results are to be secured. As a general rule, it may be taken that in using the cleek the golfer must of necessity stand closer to the ball than were he to be playing with a club such as the brassie.

This position is necessary, as the stroke in which the cleek is used is more of the nature of a hit than a swing. There is a greater degree of leverage required in the playing of the stroke, and this leverage is secured by standing closer. This, indeed, must be the absolute rule in playing all full strokes with an iron club.

There is also another thing that cannot be too carefully guarded against. That is the overswing. In playing with an iron club the one thing that is really necessary is that the swing should be of the three-quarter variety. In doing this the greatest command is secured over the ball and the playing of a good stroke is made more of a certainty.

Care must be exercised in the bringing of the club down from the top of the swing. It must be brought down smartly, with a firm grip of both hands, although rigidity must not be mistaken for this firmness about which I am speaking. There must be flexibility with it, but not the slightest trace of looseness, and this is one of the things that go to make the stroke so difficult of accomplishment. The wrists must not be allowed to become rigid. All the successful players that I have met combine firmness with flexibility.

It is a matter particularly affecting the wrists, and should a golfer be troubled with traces of weakness here, then it is that he will find the difficulty increased when he comes to play the stroke. He labours under a considerable disadvantage. But persistent practice will strengthen the wrists, and there is no royal road, other than this, by which proficiency in the game is to be secured.

There is not such an amount of follow-through in the playing of a stroke with the cleek as there is with a driver or the brassie, although when the finish of the stroke is arrived at there must not be a sudden stoppage of the club. The stroke must terminate smoothly. There must be no stabbing or sudden stopping, which will set up a jerk. If there is this jerk, then the proper character of the stroke is lost, and it suffers accordingly.

At the moment of the impact of the head of the club with the ball the grip must be tense, not with the fingers alone, but with the wrists also. The club must not be allowed to sway about; the player must be a perfect master of it. Unless this is done nothing will save the stroke from failing, and I regret to say it is in this particular point in their play that many are apt to fail.

Still, there is no reason to become disheartened, even if you are not successful at first. Continual practice is the only way in which the inability to play properly is to be overcome. It is equally as easy to slice or hook a ball with the cleek as with a driver, and if this is done then measures must be taken to overcome this failure to play the stroke properly. A learner may be told how any stroke must be played, but it rests with himself to apply the teaching successfully.

One of the most general mistakes is, that though the club is gripped tightly with the fingers yet sufficient attention is not paid to the wrist work. Any tendency to looseness must be overcome.

In playing the ordinary stroke with the cleek the ball is in a position fairly equidistant between the two feet. There is no hard and fast rule in this respect; it is a matter to be settled by the individual player; but the distance should, in the majority of instances, be as I have just stated. The right foot should be slightly advanced, and the knees should be slightly bent This is an important point in the playing of the stroke. The golfer should see that the knees are never straightened ; it is a too common fault, and one that is readily fallen into.

Another thing is that the weight should be fairly distributed, but rather more upon the right leg than upon the left. This, with a slight stoop of the back, all conduces to steadiness of play. In bringing the club up to the top of the swing the action must be smooth and even, and the left knee must be slightly bent and turned inward toward the right leg.

The latter meanwhile, must not be allowed to shift from the position taken up when the ball is first addressed. This is important. If it is not firm the stroke will be affected; while even after the ball has been struck it must not be allowed to move to an extent equal to that seen when playing with such a club as the driver.

Firmness and stability are two things that are to be remembered. They are, in my opinion, best secured by playing off the right leg, and nothing must be allowed to interfere with their being carried out.

As for the grip, it should be near the bottom of the leather in every case. This is more especially necessary when a stroke is being played with an iron club, for the weight is evenly balanced and distributed to better advantage than were the grip at the extreme top of the shaft.