Most women are at a disadvantage, as compared with men, in bunker play owing to their lack of strength. I do not mean that all women are feeble creatures, but that the average woman in comparison with the average man is endowed by nature with less power of physique. It takes a very considerable amount of strength to cause the explosion which Mr. Darwin describes as necessary to eject a ball deeply buried in sand. Unfortunately, very few women know how to use the strength they do possess to the best advantage. They do not seem to realise that they should put every ounce they can into a niblick shot. They 'flop' at the ball in a half-hearted fashion, and then feel aggrieved because it refuses to budge for such inept treatment. It has to be allowed, I fear, that most women golfers are singularly ineffective out of a sand bunker. Of course there are some brilliant exceptions. Of these Miss Dorothy Campbell and Mrs. Gibb, better known to golfers as Miss Titterton, may be quoted as shining examples. I was immensely struck with Miss Dorothy Campbell's bunker play at St. Andrews in 1908. It was not that she attained such a very great distance out of the several hazards into which bad fortune carried her, but that she was so absolutely certain of getting the ball out somewhere. She hit very hard, and evidently knew exactly the amount of sand which it was necessary to take with each particular stroke. St. Andrews, with its three hundred and sixty-five bunkers, struck terror into the hearts of those who competed in the open ladies' championship that year. Bunkers of every conceivable size, shape, and form had to be negotiated, many of them taking that most hateful of all forms, the pot bunkers, so small, that the unwary stranger never suspects its existence until she finds her ball buried in its innermost depths. The Swilcan Burn was the only hazard which failed to overawe the ladies. Several of the competitors, rather than waste an unnecessary stroke, descended boldly into its chilly depths and played their balls successfully out amidst a shower-bath of descending water and the plaudits of the delighted crowd.

Miss Titterton, as she was when she won that tournament, has recently written an article on niblick play. In it she gives the following description of a 'sledgehammer' shot which she says is most effective in driving the ball from the bottom of a deep pot bunker: 'It is by no means a pretty shot, for the club must be taken up almost vertically and brought down like a sledge hammer just behind the ball. Naturally there is no follow-through, for the head is buried in the sand, the ball, however, rises to a considerable height, which is what is wanted. In the case of a good lie in a deep bunker, the shot may be played in a modified manner which is difficult to explain, but quite a useful stroke to play; it is almost the same as the sledge-hammer shot but with a follow-through, the club practically describing a U as it descends and rises.'

Miss Cecil Leitch's recipe for getting out of heavy wet sand is, ' To turn the toe of the club out, grip firmly with palm grip, and swing away from the ball at an angle of about forty-five degrees, and then come right across the ball from right to left, and cut it out of the sand.'

Bunkers vary very much on different links. In some the sand is light and powdery, in others wet and heavy, in others again of a medium consistency. The way to play the shot varies with the character of the sand, as wet and heavy sand offers much more resistance to the club than light dry sand. As will be seen in one of the preceding chapters in this book, Mr. Darwin recommends a niblick with a very strong stiff shaft and broad heavy head, liberally dowered with loft, as the best weapon to take when confronted with a ball lying badly in sand. This is the one club a woman should possess for the quality of weight. As a rule women are inclined to use too heavy clubs. By so doing they tire themselves unnecessarily and waste a great deal of energy. A niblick, however, is quite different to any other club, and it should be of as substantial a weight as the player can comfortably wield. It is not meant to be used to propel the ball a long distance, but it is meant to cut through all kinds of obstructions, and for this latter purpose the heavier it is the better. It has long been a moot point in my mind whether it is better to take a half or a full swing with a niblick. Recently I have come to the conclusion that the full swing is preferable. It seems to me that with it more power is gained, and there is not so much likelihood of missing the shot. A half-shot to be effective has to be played perfectly, and a half-shot with a niblick may easily degenerate into a weak push. This weak push is only too often exemplified in the play of golfers of both sexes. They make little dabs at the ball in the effort to get it out of a difficulty, which are absolutely futile to effect the purpose. They resemble nothing so much as the tender-hearted maiden beating her pet dog with gentle little slaps, and crying, 'O you naughty little dog, how could you !' only the golfer seems to say, ' 0 you horrid little ball, why will you not come out? ' If the maiden and the golfer each gave one good hard stroke, the effect on dog and ball would be decidedly better.

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the point that the sand behind the ball is the object to be hit at, not the ball itself. Only practice will teach the player the exact distance behind at which to aim in each particular case, as the surrounding circumstances vary with each shot, but it may be given as a general rule that it is better to take too much sand than too little. Mr. Darwin's description of the 'explosion ' necessary to eject a ball is very graphic, and the idea of the 'ensuing commotion hoisting the ball more or less straight up into the air ' appeals to the imagination.

The method of attack is very similar to that described by Miss Titterton in the 'sledge-hammer' shot. Both make a great point of the up and down character of the swing, as this vertical motion tends to make the ball rise more suddenly. The straighter the swing, the easier it is to get under the ball.