3. The Stymie.—Reference to Rule 16 will show that only in the rare circumstance of a less space than six inches intervening between the two balls is the player saved from being the victim of a stymie. Otherwise he must adopt unusual means to reach the hole. The stymie is bound up traditionally with the game of golf, and though men "of the baser sort" (south of the Tweed, by the way!) have attempted to get a large modification of the rule, the chance of setting up an undesirable division in the ranks of golfers is against, at least for the present, any change. It cannot be overlooked, however, that the element of luck in the game often receives an unnecessary contribution under this rule, a weak putt from the one player seriously handicapping a well-executed stroke from the other. In the event of any revival of the agitation, the middle course would seem to be that the penalty should only stand when it is self-imposed; otherwise, the argument that the chances are equally distributed must be accepted with as good grace as possible.

Assuming then that the direct line to the hole is blocked by the opponent's ball, the modus operandi is as follows :—Take a mashie with a well laid-back face and address the ball with the right foot well forward and the weight of the body on the right leg, the ball being opposite the left foot. The club should be gripped well down the shaft. Greater play will thus be afforded to the wrists, which, at the moment of striking the ball, must be given a sharp upward twist. It is scarcely necessary to add that this stroke needs considerable patient practice but it is well worth the trouble, both in its immediate and general effect. It sometimes happens that the relative positions of the balls furnishes a loophole from the foregoing method. It may be that the hole is only partly obscured by the opponent's ball. If your ball is so placed that you can see a part of the hole to the left of your opponent's ball, the difficulty can be got over by the trick known as "putting a slice on" your ball, in much the same way that a billiard player imparts "side" to his ball. The path of your ball to the hole will then be that of the curve of a parabola. In addressing the ball, the putter must be held so that the heel first meets the ball; and at the precise moment of impact, the face must be drawn evenly and quickly across towards the body. Care must, however, be taken to allow a sufficient margin in the aim, in order to prevent any exhibition of undue familiarity on the part of your ball towards the other during its journey. Pulling and slicing.—These are frequent unintentional strokes that amount to grave faults, but have their virtuous side when they can be produced at will to meet an exigency. The cultivation of such expert control over the manipulation of the clubs should, however, be left until a fair proficiency has been attained in the ordinary game, and a lesson or two of direct instruction from an expert professional player will be worth far more than a whole bookful of instruction. For the present let us "rather bear the ills we have than fly to others that we know not of." It will serve a much more useful purpose here if some hints are offered to enable the beginner to avoid these faults. The "pulled' ball has the merit of travelling farther than one driven straight, but it usually fares worse. The "hook" unconsciously given may add distance, but the ordinary golf course has its limits and the tendency thus imparted to the ball to go to the left, often results in a bad lie involving the loss of a stroke. The cause of the deviation is simple enough: the club is being held too loosely in the left hand, and the right hand is thus charged with an undue proportion of the work at the last moment. During the downward swing, the extra grip of the right hand brings the club head over a little towards the front. The player who aspires to produce this effect uto order" will find his efforts seconded by a stance that brings his ball nearly opposite to the right foot.

A "sliced" ball is of far more common occurrence than a "pulled " one, and its tendency to fly away to the right is due to a spinning motion imparted at the moment of impact by drawing the face of the club across the ball. This is obviously due to pulling in the hands towards the body during the downward stroke and shows that the swing needs more freedom in the use of the arms. For an intentional stroke of this description, the stance should be the con-verse of that for the "pull," and the swing a little more "upright." We will now proceed to discuss the effect of wind upon the play, and the method of getting the better of it.