It goes without saying that something must be written about the implements of the game - the selection and purchase of clubs, etc., and although the professional's point of view may be justly considered as flavoured by interest, it will do no harm if his opinion be recorded of other aspects of the question. I 've heard it said,' Show me a man's bag of clubs and I will tell you the sort of golfer he is,' and it is doubtless a very good test, but there are plenty of exceptions. I remember a celebrated match at Westward Ho, some years ago, between a member of the Royal North Devon, an international player, and a member of the Artisan Club. The latter turned up to play with an old brassie, a cleek, and an iron of sorts, and he won, and heaps of people to my mind drew a fatally wrong conclusion from the result. They argued that the clubs didn't matter, and it's quite common to hear the same argument to-day. 'The best round I ever played was one day when I went out with four old clubs,' is a sample; but the secret of the riddle is surely to be looked for in the man's attitude towards the clubs, and not in the clubs themselves.

You can accept it as a fact - the clubs do matter.

In the match cited above I could only see the case of a 'golfer born,' but with a serious laxity of judgment that led him to treat the game with an indignity bound in the long run to react against himself, and therein lies the reason why, fine golfer as he is, much to the disappointment of many he has never 'arrived.'

But this sort of attitude is an extreme one, and need not be treated very seriously. I might mention in passing the other extreme, that of the man who insists on carrying some thirteen to sixteen clubs for a round, mostly irons of all sorts of conceivable patterns - he breeds trouble of another sort. His position is, 'I would rather have a club with me in case I want it than leave it in the locker' (the caddie question being naturally allowed to drop out). His danger lies in the insidious attack made on his capacity for decision, by having several clubs equal to the same work. I saw a very good example of that one year in the 'Varsity match. The top couple were having a tremendous match - at the last hole the player in question was dormy; for his second shot he had what appeared to me to be a straightforward cleek shot to the hole, but he stood looking at the ball, and one after the other pulled out his driving-mashie, cleek, and short spoon. Hesitation was so marked that most of the small ring of spectators could not prevent a smile. In the end he half hit the shot, and if his opponent hadn't been also attacked by some enemy, the match would have been halved. As it was, the hole was halved in a none too creditable six.

We need not waste much time in considering the man who fusses about his clubs so much that he is universally voted a nuisance, but there are such. One I know, and ho is known to quite a number of the profession as 'Mephistopheles,' partly because he somewhat resembles the artistic representation of the prince, and partly because of his diabolical ingenuity in finding causes for grumbling. Every person he plays with 'has a better set of clubs than his own.' He never has a grip put on but what it's 'too thick under the third finger,' or 'too thin under the right thumb '; if you make him a driver the chances are you will have to unmake it within a week. He has now got it into his head that what he wants is 'a split hickory shaft,' and I 've heard of him lately peevishly bemoaning his lot because he cannot get one, not that he would recognise it if he could.

My excuse for mentioning this case is that, capable and keen player as this gentleman undoubtedly is, there is no doubt whatever in my mind that it's nothing but his mental attitude towards his clubs which accounts for his failure to get his handicap lower.

I hope it will be understood, from what has been said so far, that I am all in favour of taking a keen interest in one's own set of clubs. I confess that I like to hear a young player say that he 's' got the best iron in the world.' Not that I 'm pleased with the truth of the statement, but I expect to see him, when the club comes to his hand, play the shot effectively - and that's what generally happens.

As to the number of clubs necessary, it would be very unwise to lay down a hard-and-fast rule; the advice given by the big men is sound enough. Have a look at their sets in Golf and Golfers. My own whim leads me to carry, besides the ordinary set, two extras - a straight-faced iron with upright lie, mainly for shots against a strong wind, and a putting-cleek. My ordinary putter is of the swan-neck type, and I rely on it for most of the work; but when I find the greens unusually keen and slippy, the extra loft on the putting-cleek is a great help in checking the ball. That brings the number of my pack to eleven - driver, brassie, spoon, cleek, straight-faced iron, iron, medium iron, mashie, niblick, putter, and putting cleek.

Of course, if the event is important, I may include an extra driver, but things are not going well if I have to use it, and it only goes into the bag 'in case of accidents.'

And now for a word on the all-important point of what club actually suits. First, the weight and lie of the club are very important points, and must depend on the style of play and the player. The depth of face both in drivers and irons is also bound up with the style of the player, but a further consideration is the kind of course you play on. A deep-faced club is more useful where the texture of the grass keeps the ball well up off the ground, and a shallow face where the grass is so fine that the ball 'sits very tight.'

There is nothing very much to be said for the 'patent clubs ' - without heels, or with many heels. The usual pattern gives plenty of hitting face, and if you have developed the habit of hitting the ball off the socket, I do not think it is going to help your game simply to use a club where the socket has been cunningly put out of the way. You had far better understand the cause of the trouble, and put it right. And when you are face to face with half a dozen clubs more or less alike, buy the one you fancy, never mind about anybody else. I 'm convinced fancy must be allowed to play a very important part, presuming that it is generally the outcome of one's own particular measurements and power, and it comes therefore under the heading of things to be taken seriously. Of course to those who would ask, How do I know what club suits my style? I have but one piece of advice to give. Go to your local professional - certainly don't go to a friend who happens to be a short handicap player - and ask him to buy for you. The friend is nearly always an enemy in disguise. The test is simple, can you trust your friend to buy the club that he couldn't play with himself? Mind you, it's very unlikely that the same club will suit you both; of course, you will try and make it do, but my point is you can do better with professional advice. My own experience is that very seldom does the crack player select any other club than the one he would purchase for himself, and the seller finds himself in a position where he must be patient and acquiesce.