ONE would think that most of the ten provisions contained in the "Etiquette of Golf," which are to be found at the end of the St. Andrews Rules, are so obvious, that it is a work of supererogation to print them. The exercise of common sense, and the display of a little consideration for other people, one might imagine, would be sufficient to solve any difficulty that might arise, and guide the golfer to his proper behaviour in course of play. But in actual experience, we find that things are far otherwise. On the links, common sense and consideration for other people, are two qualities that are seldom met with. The golfer is a selfish animal, and so long as he gets his own game, he is too often quite careless how he obstructs or spoils other people's enjoyment by his procedure.

In many places, the golf links are reached from the nearest town by a short railway journey, and the players from town all come by a certain train. Now, it is the invariable practice, at all such places, for the resident golfers to assemble on the first tee, just before this train comes in. They, of course, have to get off first, and the result, for the visitors, is a wait of varying duration on the first tee, blocked greens, and spoiled tempers all day. If these residents would only start a quarter of an hour earlier, all this loss of time and temper would be avoided.

Clause No. 1 of the Etiquette of Golf runs : "No player, caddie, or onlooker should move or talk during a stroke." To this it is necessary to add, that the proper place for all onlookers, is either behind the player's back, at a safe distance, or directly opposite him as he addresses the ball. Many people have a habit of standing behind the line of fire, in such a position that they catch the eye of the player in the process of striking.

Clause No. 3 says that : "The player who leads from the tee should be allowed to play before his opponent tees his ball."

The object of this is, that the first player may not be hampered in his choice of tee, or obstructed in his stroke, by his opponent or his caddie, and, for these ends, it is well for the opponent and his caddie to keep off the teeing ground altogether, unless it be very large, until his partner has teed and played off.

The regulations as to parties passing each other are quite clear and definite, and yet, in the application of them, many golfers are incorrigibly stupid and inconsiderate.

It is the commonest thing for a match, looking for a lost ball, to make no sign to the party coming up to pass them, even though they may have been looking for their ball some minutes. If they do call them on, as it is their duty to do, and should they immediately thereafter find their ball, it quite frequently happens that they proceed to play, as if the party passing were not in existence. If the ball be found, after consent to pass has been given, the consenting party must not play, until the match passing has holed out and moved away.

In the case of a three-ball match, or a party playing a shorter round, it is equally the duty of these, to give the match following, the opportunity to pass, if they wish, and should they accept, they must wait on the next tee, until the others have left it and are out of range.

A player playing by himself has no status, and must allow all matches to pass him, if desired. The plea which I once heard such a player advance, that he was not playing by himself, but against "Colonel Bogey," though ingenious, cannot be sustained.

Many golfers have a habit, when their opponents have a shortish putt for the hole, of walking away from the green, before he has holed the ball. The result very often is, that the player, thinking that the hole has been given up, is careless or hurried, and often misses the putt, whereupon the half is claimed by the opponent. The proper course to adopt with a player who behaves in this manner, is to follow him to the tee without holing. This trick is akin to that of the billiard player, who when his opponent, in play, is 97 or 98, and has a comparatively easy shot to win, puts his cue in the rack', with an ostentatious rattle. The player should claim the game without playing the stroke.

There is one kind of golfer who meets with universal execration, and the more so as his particular idiosyncracies seem to be beyond the reach of cure. I refer to the slow man.

The man who fusses about choosing a tee, and aims about a minute at his ball before striking it; who stares after it long after it has ceased to move, and walks at a snail's pace to where it lies, only to go through the same performance, regardless of a crowded green, richly deserves the anathemas which are always showered upon him. This slowness, which so many golfers suffer from, is the more irritating to the beholder, as it is always accompanied by bad play and is, indeed, fatal to excellence. No good player ever plays slow. Watch any match between two good players. They lose no time in choosing their tees, and the balls once teed, are despatched on their ways, in the twinkling of an eye, and the players move after them before the last has ceased to roll.

There is a class of golfer about whom it seems necessary to say a word, when dealing with the question of golfing etiquette and behaviour. I refer to the "pot-hunter."

For the man who is constantly playing for prizes, who runs about all over the country, wherever there is a handicap competition for cruet-stands or clocks, or who belongs to one or two London golf clubs, and plays, as some have been known to do, for two or three different prizes, at different greens, in one day, no word of condemnation is strong enough, for, in his case, he cannot be playing for the enjoyment of the game. But it has become the fashion to apply this opprobrious epithet to any golfer, who wins one or two prizes, and thus establishes his position as a good player, and it is this unfair use of the word that it seems necessary to combat. In the mouths of many, and these, be it remarked, are usually the unsuccessful competitors in the same competition, the winner is immediately a "pot-hunter" ! According to these gentlemen, it is the crime of being a successful golfer that makes a man a "pot-hunter." So long as, like themselves, he only "hunts" unsuccessfully, they graciously allow him to retain his status as a fair and gentlemanly player. A palpable exhibition of envy, malice, and all uncharitableness such as this would be ludicrous, were it not so common, but those to whom the sportsmanlike traditions of the game are dear, may well ask whether, in view of its existence, it would not be desirable to curtail the number of prize competitions which so many clubs now indulge in.