The late Dr. A. J. T. Allan was almost unknown as a golfer when he won the amateur championship at Muirfield in 1897. His sad death from pneumonia, a few months later, prevented confirmation of the great capabilities he undoubtedly possessed.

Mr. P. C. Anderson was the first to check the victorious career of Messrs. Ball, Hutchinson, and Laidlay by defeating the latter in the final at Prestwick in 1893. Like many another winner, he owed his victory to magnificent putting. His departure to Australia prevented him from taking further part in first-class golf. Mr. R. Maxwell first came into prominence in 1897, when he astonished most people by defeating Mr. Ball and Mr. Hilton in the amateur championship at Muirfield. This performance did not surprise his friends in the least, as they were fully aware of the extraordinary power and accuracy of his game even in those early days. Although he has never cared for the glaring publicity of championships or for competitions of any kind or description, he has succeeded in winning the amateur championship twice, been well up in the open, and has annexed a St. George's Cup and every medal of note at North Berwick, St. Andrews and Muirfield, the latter, judging by results, being his favourite course. His style is not only quite peculiar to himself, but I think is rather deceptive. Though he is generally credited with having a short swing, I am not at all sure that this is the case. Not only does the club head describe a very wide flat arc, but his hands travel very far, and are higher at the top of the swing than the majority of players ever reach. By reason of its very obvious power, one is a trifle apt to underestimate his exceptionally fine touch and skilful manipulation of delicate shots. His pitch-and-run approach, played with an unusual club, a niblick, and his long approach putts are perhaps the most telling part of his game. Nothing could have been finer than two of these typical approaches to the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth holes in the final of the last amateur championship at Muirfield. They were so obviously played exactly as intended, that they thoroughly deserved to win the match and the championship.1

R. MAXWELL.

JOHN GRAHAM.

[To face p. 251.

We now come to a player who, though he is by common consent one of the most brilliant of modern golfers, has never yet succeeded in winning the amateur championship. Mr. J. Graham has certainly been very unlucky in this event. Time after time, when he looked all over a winner, an opponent put up an unusually brilliant game and snatched victory from his grasp. Granted that fortune has been very unkind, he is certainly not blessed with a temperament capable of withstanding a very prolonged strain, and I have always thought that his driving style might be a trifle apt to break down under pressure. His swing decidedly belongs to the 'headsman' type, and the club is taken abnormally high above the head. If, in addition, he is rising a little on his toes, very perfect timing becomes imperative to prevent the ball being topped, and this is exactly the form in which a partial breakdown of his game sometimes exhibits itself in such tantalising fashion at the critical moment. I hope that Mr. Graham will forgive my attempted explanation of an extraordinary phenomenon, namely that such a superlatively good player should have failed so far to win a title to which no one ever had greater claims. His suppleness of wrist is a very conspicuous feature of his play, and enables him to drive a very long ball with a rather low trajectory; and he is a beautiful iron player.

1 Captain Hutchison's modesty prevents his mentioning that he, equally deserving of championship honour, was the unhappy victim of these two very remarkable strokes. - Ed.

Mr. Edward Blackwell is famous as being the longest driver in the history of the game. In addition to great physical strength, he possesses a glorious swing, and being unusually supple for such a heavily muscled man, it is little wonder that the ball flies such prodigious distances. He is not only a very powerful, but is also a very crafty driver, taking every advantage of the wind. Since taking to an aluminium putter he has become very deadly in that department, especially at St. Andrews, which he knows by heart. On less familiar courses he appears sometimes to find unusual difficulty in judging distances.

St. Andrews can also claim Mr. J. Robb as one of her most successful products, as he learnt, or at any rate put the finishing touches to, his game while he was studying at the Madras College. In spite of this fact his methods are the antithesis of what is generally regarded as the true St. Andrews style. His swing is short and rapid, and he relies principally on strength of wrist and forearm. There is one feature of his play which is common to nearly all St. Andrews players - he is a beautiful putter; but even here he differs from most of them by using a putting cleek instead of the traditional wooden weapon. He was amateur champion in 1906, was twice runner-up, and reached the semi-final on four occasions.

Mr. E. A. Lassen first earned fame by winning the Yorkshire championship in 1900, but although he was recognised as a very sound player, his win in the amateur championship at Sandwich in 1908 occasioned considerable surprise. That it was no fluke he has ably demonstrated by his fine play in the open championship at Deal the following year, and by again reaching the final at Prestwick in 1911. As might be expected from such a hard hitter at cricket (he was a member of the Rugby XI.), he is a powerful player with all his clubs. His chief strength, however, lies in his putting, and absolutely imperturbable temperament. As Mr. Darwin points out, he is one of the few really good putters who putt with a stiff wrist.