Amongst games, golf has a nature peculiarly its own, and in no respect is its distinctiveness more marked than in the circumstance that it allows its devotees practically a free hand in the choice of the implements, the ball, and the extent and general characteristics of the playing ground. Golf, then, is apt to alter considerably as the seasons come and go. It is a game in which the sentiment of liberty holds sway. In point of fact, it has changed a great deal during recent years, and for that reason I offer no apology for appearing a second time as the author of a book of instruction on a subject which I have made my life-study. My first was "The Complete Golfer," which is still popular. The present work does not replace that, but supplements it in the light of recent developments.

Golf demands deep thought till the end of one's playing days, and, as one grows older, ideas continue to present themselves in connexion with the principles of executing shots. If I may say with frankness what I think, I will express the opinion that many amateurs fail to attain that degree of success which is within their reach for the simple reason that they do not reflect sufficiently upon the possibilities, especially where small points are concerned. The professional has to think, because golf is his livelihood; that, in the abstract, is why he excels. He gives close attention to details, and knows the cause of every effect.

In this volume, I have tried to explain to the full the twin subjects of cause and effect on the links. If the golfer of ability finds some hints which he learnt in the long ago, let him recollect the needs of the moderate performer. And, in any case, even the short-handicap player may not be the worse for a refreshment of his memory in matters of the fundamental rules of action. It is in the more advanced kind of golf that the chief changes in methods (the natural corollary of changes in materials) have taken place. I have thought over them with care, and set down what I regard as the most profitable means of playing the game to-day; the methods which I personally employ.

In this connexion, let me describe an experience which often falls to the professional who is called upon to travel considerably in pursuit of golf. A little while ago I visited a course which I had not seen for seven or eight years. To mention one particular hole will be sufficient for my purpose. It had not been altered since the time of my introduction to it. Moreover, I had to play it on the second occasion in practically the same circumstances, in the matter of weather as seven or eight years ago - that is to say, in a strong right-to-left wind. In the first instance, I decided to hit my drive into the wind and impart pull to the ball so as to gain distance by the effect of the spin and the wind coming into kindly co-operation on my behalf when the shot was nearing its end. On the later occasion I found myself playing what I regard as the up-to-date game. I hit an almost straight drive with a suspicion of cut on it so as to bring the ball into the wind at the finish of its flight. Each constituted, I think, the right tactics at the time of their employment. But why did I alter ? Because the ball had changed. Now that the ball is so resilient and so susceptible to the slightest movement which accentuates the run, the intentional pull is the most dangerous shot in the game. To keep it under perfect control when the ground is hard and the course is narrow is so difficult as to involve a very big risk. Here, then, is a concrete example of the way in which golf has changed.

In regard to the photographs which accompany these pages, I should like to say that they were taken in the actual process of accomplishing shots that produced precisely the desired effects. I can assure the reader that they represent the player in the positions which he knows, after many years of study, to be correct - or, in the case of the illustrations of wrong swings, incorrect. In the background of the pictures will be noticed a high pole. I had it put there so as to throw into relief the position of the head and body during the different stages of the swings. The device in front of several of the illustrations also makes clear the absence of movement, or the unhappy movement of the head. The different stances are well defined by the position of the feet in the chalk-line figure in which the photographs were taken. I have not included the rules of golf. For one thing, they are changed from time to time, and for another, they are very easily accessible to anybody who wants them.

I greatly desire to thank Mr Robert E. Howard for the part which he has played in the production of this volume. Let me explain how it has been born. I love teaching golf; I like the task far better than that of competing in championships. I can write down just how I make every shot and why I make it that way, but to put it into the form of book instruction is a different matter. Mr Howard has taken in hand my notes, arranged them in order, and rounded off the rough edges. For the purpose of "How to Play Golf," I have exhausted myself, I think, of all the knowledge of the subject I ever possessed, and I trust that the result may be helpful to the many thousands of people who wish to wake up one fine day to find themselves at scratch, or better, on the links. H. V.

TOTTERIDGE

August1912