Having adjusted grip and stance on sound lines, the player is now ready for the actual hitting of the ball. At this point the use of the wrists becomes a very important feature. Nearly all good putters do great work with their wrists. The alternative method is to putt with stiff wrists, but by so doing the arms are bound to be moved more pronouncedly. This movement of the arms is very likely to cause a movement of the body, a result which invariably leads to direful consequences. The moving of the body forward is a fault which must be strenuously fought against. The foundation of a putting stroke, and an essential to its success, is the smooth backward and forward motion by which the club head travels behind and along the line by which the ball is to travel. This smooth, even motion can only be acquired correctly by prolonged practice. In making the stroke the left arm may be kept reasonably far out from the body, but the right arm and elbow should be kept as close to the side as possible. With the stance in which the left foot is very much advanced and the right withdrawn, the left elbow is usually a good deal more bent than with the open or square stance. The keeping of the right arm close to the body prevents any stiffening of the right wrist or abrupt checking of the swing. The checking of the swing must be guarded against, as it is just as important to follow through correctly with a putt as with a drive. In putting a much more deliberate swing is used than in any other branch of the game. The club head is taken back some distance even for short putts, and the length of the shot is regulated by the force with which the club is brought forward again. A putting stroke in this way differs from all other strokes in golf, as in driving and iron play the length of the shot is regulated by the distance back the club is taken, not by the pace of the swing. Although the smooth pendulum motion is more generally used, quite a number of golfers putt with a kind of sharp tapping motion. This method can be very effective, especially on very fast greens, but I am inclined to think that it is the less certain of the two, and the beginner would be wiser to cultivate the smooth swing. The make of putter used has to be taken into account in deciding between the methods. An iron putter is much more suited to the tapping style than one made of wood or aluminium.

One very essential point has not been touched upon so far, and that is that the eye must be kept on the ball. The reader is probably utterly weary of having this refrain continually dinned into her ear3, but it really cannot be repeated too often. The keeping the eye on the ball is of vital importance in putting.

The shorter the putt the more necessary is it to bear this in mind. The desire to look up at the hole at the moment of hitting is most insidious, and unless the player assiduously practises avoiding it, it will get the better of her over and over again. Why short putts should be the bane of every golfer's existence is an insoluble riddle. Their intrinsic difficulty is trifling, and yet every player dreads them because sad experience has taught her that they are so continually missed. There is scarcely a match in which some one does not throw away a chance by failing to hole an easy putt.

It is always possible to tell the initiated from the uninitiated in a golfing 'gallery ' by noting the relative value they apportion to drives and putts. It is good driving that impresses the uninitiated, and a raking drive will produce a burst of Oh's and Ah's of admiration, while a good putt will be regarded as quite a simple feat. It is only the experienced golfers who sympathise when a champion misses a wretched little putt. Those who are not well versed in the game immediately jump to the conclusion that the player has been guilty of gross carelessness or too much 'cocksureness.' I certainly think that since the Rules Committee recommended that no putts should be given, the difficulty of holing short putts has been lessened. Formerly there was a great deal of uncertainty as to whether one would be required to play a short putt or not. Sometimes a putt was given, sometimes it was not. A generous or rash opponent took a good deal for granted. A prudent opponent required proof positive of the player's capability to make the ball find the bottom of the tin. The consequence was that the player never quite knew what was going to happen. According to the theory of the game, and indeed of common-sense into the bargain, she ought to have gone boldly forward on each occasion fully prepared to ram her ball into the hole. But in reality it was very hard to do this. One always had a sneaking hope that the putt would be given, and so moved towards the ball in a hesitating sort of way, trusting devoutly that one's skill or weakness would not be put to the proof. Sometimes, too, an aggrieved feeling would be manifested because a certain putt had not been given and yet had been missed, and harmony between opponents has often been broken in this way. All this was very wrong. A golf match is a test of the comparative skill of the players, and each should be prepared to undergo all the testing that the game involves. No one should be expected to give, and no one should expect to receive, a point which has not been earned. A player is quite justified in refusing to leave anything to chance, and it is perfectly fair that she should reap the benefit of her opponent's mistakes. The victory usually goes to her who makes the fewest mistakes, and rightly so. Now that people have become more accustomed to the idea that all short putts should be holed, they practise them with more care.

A good many short putts are missed through being played hurriedly. I have found by experience that one is much more certain of holing these putts if the eye is kept fixedly on the ball and the stroke made very deliberately. I do not mean to imply that I have found the recipe a complete safeguard; far from it; but I do think that it is the way to attain the best results. As a rule it is not a good thing to dally too long over putts, once the player has decided her line and plan of campaign, but the concentration necessary to play a shot very deliberately is undoubtedly helpful in negotiating quite a short putt.

I suppose no discussion of putting would be complete without some reference to the necessity of hitting the ball hard enough on the green. But the subject has been worn threadbare by continued repetition. Mr. Darwin says it is one more fitted to be treated by a moral essayist than by a mere golf player. Failure in courage is one of the main reasons for short putting. The player is often afraid of running out of holing distance on the far side of the hole, and consequently makes the fatal mistake of only covering a portion of the required distance. In putting one must call upon one's courage and play for the back of the hole. There are times, of course, when judgment has to be exercised in the matter, as, for instance, when the green is on a slope and the hole lies above the player's ball, it is wiser for her to putt so that if she does fail to hole out in the first attempt, she still has an uphill putt before her and not a downhill one for the second effort. The reverse holds good if the ball has to be played from the top of the slope. In that case she must putt a little hard so as to be certain of passing the hole if she misses, and thus have an easy putt back instead of the more difficult one down the hill. A downhill putt on a fast green is excessively difficult to accomplish satisfactorily. The ball gathers impetus all the way, and unless it is hit absolutely truly for the centre of the hole, it is bound to miss its mark.

The question whether men or women are the better putters is an oft-debated one. There is no reason why women should not putt as well as, or better than, men, as skill, not strength, is the chief requisite. Most women do not study their putts as carefully as men, but I will not venture an opinion as to whether the general results justify them in not doing so. The question of the comparative excellence of the sexes as putters is not one of vast importance. The point that immediately concerns us is that each golfer should equip herself to putt as well as she can against man or woman, and so long as she can prove her own individual superiority she need not worry about generalities.