Fig 24   A GOOD TEE

Fig 24 - A Good Tee.

F1G. 25.   A BAD TEE

F1G. 25. - A BAD TEE

If, in the course of the preliminary waggle, or in drawing back the club in the act of swinging, it happens to touch the ground behind the ball, it will invariably be advisable to change the tee: such a touch indicates that a suitable spot has not been chosen. But even it' the tee be unexceptionable, the mere fact of having hit the ground will disturb the accuracy of aim. and lend to put the player off his drive. When it is permissible to do so according to the rules, anything that is apt to catch the eve or interfere with the club in the course of the swing, or with the flight of the ball as it rises, should be removed.

Hitherto the subject dealt with in this chapter has been confined exclusively to driving or tee-shots. Play through the green is fully deserving of as much attention, and is more difficult than driving, because in it a greater variety of strokes is to be found. With the exception of those cases specified in the rules, the ball must always be played as it lies; and here is introduced an element of chance, for the stroke to a great extent depends upon the lie. It frequently happens that, after two equally tine drives, the ball in one case will be found lying as well as if teed, in such a position that a good swipe at it can be got with a play-club, while in the other it may be lying so badly as to require to be played with an iron club. Such an occurrence is purely luck, and will happen on the best of greens; it is one of the elements of golf, and although aggravating enough at the time to him who experiences the Worst side of it, the luck will, generally speaking, be found to be pretty evenly divided.

It will be obvious that, as the ball cannot be placed to suit the player, he must take up his stance relatively to it, getting into the position indicated in the preceding chapter.

When one reaches the ball after a drive, the question that naturally arises first is, What club should be used? The answer to this depends upon two things, viz. the distance to the hole and the lie of the ball. In play through the green it is presupposed that the distance is sufficient to admit of a full shot with any club; strokes which will lay the ball on the green are generally termed approaches, and will be treated of under that head. It may therefore be stated that the chief factor in determining the club to be used is the lie of the ball. For a good-lying ball the proper club is a driver, because the desired object is to get the greatest possible distance out of the stroke, and for this purpose the driver is unequalled. Even if the ball be not lying quite clear, an experienced player will take his driver and get away a long shot; but many of the best golfers habitually use a brassy or spoon, and there is little doubt that for such a purpose they are the more reliable clubs. I therefore recommend a brassy - spoons not being so frequently carried - for all play through the green. This on the principle that it is better to play steadily with a brassy than to use a driver, with the possible result of obtaining one good stroke, further in distance than can be got with a brassy, and three or four indifferent ones. The stiffness of the brassy shaft and the loft on the face are both in favour of that club, as opposed to a driver, for such strokes.

Among the variety of lies in which the ball may be found is that termed 'a cupped ball.' This expression is applied to a ball lying in a shallow hollow such as may have been made by some former player having cut out a piece of turf. Unless the cup is very shallow - in which case an experienced golfer may use his driver if he prefers - the proper club for such a stroke is a 1 brassy, for two reasons: first, because the small head allows of its fitting into the cup; and second, because the loft on the face makes the ball rise more quickly. A cupped ball gives room for playing one of the finest strokes in golf. A ball ought to be driven nearly as far out of a cup as off a tee; but, instead, how often is the stroke miserably foozled! To play a cupped ball successfully great accuracy of aim is required, and the club must be swung with less of a sweep than in playing tee-shots - coming down straighter to the ball, and jerking it out of the cup; as a result, after the ball is struck the club-head catches in the ground and cuts the turf. It is to be borne in mind that, if the stroke is to be successful, the ball must be struck, and struck clean, before the turf is touched; the cutting of the turf is to come after the ball is away, and is a consequent of the swing being intercepted. If the turf be first cut, and the ball afterwards struck, the entire force will be taken out of the stroke before the ball is reached. When the ball lies clear on the green, it must be apparent that the bottom of the club should sweep over the surface; but, as happens in the case of a cupped ball, when the ball is slightly under the level of the surrounding ground, the swing must bo correspondingly lowered, so that the sole of the club will be below the centre of the ball. Not only must the swing be lowered, but the stroke must bo played somewhat as if it were intended to drive the ball down, and hence the club-head is bound to hit the ground in front of where the ball lay. The swing cannot be the same as in the case of a teed ball; because, if the stroke be played with the same sweep, one of two things must obviously happen: either the ground at the back of the ball will be struck first, in which case the whole force will be expended before the ball is touched: or, the ball being below the surface of the ground in the cup, it will be topped. The swing must therefore be modified so that the club will not sweep the ground, but will come down between the ball and the edge of the cup behind it, thus entailing, as is above explained, a more up and down swing. The annexed diagram will show more clearly what I mean. The hard line shows the circle which the club-head will follow, and the dotted line shows the circle it would follow if the ball lay clear and not cupped. With the view of aiding in the 'picking up' of a cupped ball, it is well to stand somewhat over it - that is to say, to keep the ball nearer the right foot than would be done in playing a tee stroke. If the cup be anything deep, it may not be possible to use a brassy, in which case a clock or driving-mashie. or even an iron, may be required to get the ball away. On soft greens the yielding nature of the turf renders it possible to get away a deep-lying ball, which would be almost unplayable on hard ground. A ball lying so deep as to require the use of an iron can scarcely be said to be cupped; it really lies in a hole, and if the hole is deep, it may not be possible to do more than extricate the ball, in which case a mashie or a niblick will probably be the best club to take. There should not, however, be any holes of this description on a green in the line of play.