reached, the putter alone remains for a few words. Till quite recently
this was made of wood only, rather in shape like an elongated
driver-head. In fact these very old clubs, such as were used by
celebrities like Jamie Allan, young Tommy Morris, Mr. George Glennie,
and others, are now worth fabulous sums of money. But of late years,
steel and gun metal have come much more into vogue. Park's patent putter
with the twisted socket or neck, is a universal favourite, the fact of
looking straight down the shaft on to the ball appearing to make the
line of transition somewhat more easy for the eye to take in. The mode
of holding the putter is similar to that of the iron, only that the
thumbs are both placed downwards and the fingers are called more into
play, as shown in Figure 10. The general grip is a trifle looser,
although the right hand requires to be firm. Mr. Horace Hutchinson, in
the _Badminton Book on Golf_, says as follows: "The principal secret of
good putting, as of good driving, is that the club should travel as long
as possible on the line--or a production of it--on which the ball is to
travel.
"Putting is a stroke made almost exclusively with the wrists. The wrists
do not hit the club on to the ball and then check it, but the club is
swung by a movement of the wrists... any checking of the club as it
meets the ball being fatal to consistent good putting.... The hands
should be allowed to fall into a natural position.... The putter should
be held rather short, and preferably with a light grip, and should be
worked backward and forward by the wrists, mainly perhaps the left
wrist.... The left elbow may, if preferred, be a little crooked to the
front: the club head will in this method be swinging somewhat after the
fashion of a pendulum, and if a golfer gets the hanging arrangements of
this pendulum correct, it can not very well swing out of the true line."
[Illustration: _Figure 10._
_PUTTING OFF THE RIGHT FOOT._]
The above describes the stroke exactly. The stance for putting is as
shown in Figure 10, at least that is about the usual position, but many
people putt with the ball about mid-way between the right foot and the
left, in a straight line with the centre of the body (Figure 11). The
crooked left elbow is certainly a great help in keeping the ball on the
right road to the hole, while the right elbow should be resting against
the hip. Iron shots too can be kept from diverging with the vagaries of
the wind during a gale, if the left elbow is well crooked towards the
front, so as to follow through in that position over the line of flight
of the ball. A very similar position to that of playing forward at
cricket.
In golf there is a good deal of etiquette to be observed, but again all
hints will be found in the book of St. Andrew's rules, or in that very
useful compendium _The Golfer's Referee_, which was compiled lately by
the Editor of _The Golfer_, in Edinburgh. It may be as well to mention
that No. 2 of these rules is one to be observed, if not for courtesy's
sake, at least for the sake of danger, a blow from a golf ball being no
light matter. Therefore out of pure humanity it is only right to let the
party in front play their second shots, or get off the green, so that
they may be out of range of those behind. Besides match and medal play,
another species of competition has of late years been started, namely,
"Bogey." This is simply a score fixed for each of the eighteen holes,
the same as the par of the green, the player having to hole out in one
less than the given par, it she would win the hole, or in the like for a
half. At each hole, any strokes taken beyond the number of the fixed
par, count as a loss to the player and as a win to "Bogey." The mode of
marking this on the competition cards being + for a win and O for a
half, and - for a loss.
[Illustration: _Figure 11._
_PUTTING WITH BALL BETWEEN THE FEET._]
One of the greatest features of golf is that although you may only
perhaps be a third-class player, and your opponent a first-class, or as
it is termed, scratch player, yet by the system of handicapping you will
both play on equal terms. In match play the difference between handicaps
is allowed as follows: in singles, three-fourths of the difference
between handicap allowances, in foursomes, three-eighths of the
difference of the aggregate handicap allowance on either side, a half
stroke of over counting as one, but smaller fractions not being
reckoned. Thus if the difference between your own and your opponent's
handicap in a single is 12, you will have to allow her nine strokes, or
a half, viz.: a stroke every other hole, whereas if in a foursome the
difference of handicap between yourself and partner and your opponent
and her partner was likewise 12, you would then only give an allowance
of five strokes. As a rule, clubs have their own special table of holes,
at which the strokes are to be taken in matches.
Nerves undoubtedly play a great part in golf, for the person who can go
on quietly and steadily when her opponent is two up at the turn has an
immense advantage. For as nothing is certain in life, still less is it
so in golf! A topped drive, or a short putt, and the whole luck of the
game may alter. Therefore the player who has perfect control over her
nerves has a decided advantage over one who becomes flustered, and she
will very often come in with a rush and flourish of trumpets at the
last. When playing a tight match never risk going for the hole if a
halved one will answer as well, for there is always the chance in going
for it from some way off of placing the ball out of holeing distance for
the next shot, and so losing the hole altogether.
Much the same in medal play: never risk a very long carry or dangerous
shot if instead, by playing short and then over the difficulty, you can
insure more safety. Medal play is essentially a matter of stolid
steadiness, while match play bristles with excitements from start to
finish, but it is by no means the case that the best match player will
be the best in a medal round, the almost mechanical steadiness of play
required in the latter being often found too irksome and tedious.
Of the faults that a golfer may drift into, slicing, hooking, and
topping are the most common, and these are often too the most difficult
to cure. Slicing is caused by drawing the club across the ball and
towards yourself. This will cause the ball to dive off to the right, and
is either the result of an error in the stance, or the grip of one or
both hands, or possibly because the club is being swung away too
quickly, causing more of a straight up and down stroke than is the case
in the proper and rounded swing. If hooking is the fault, then the ball
will fly off to the left. The reason of this may be either that you are
standing with the ball too much opposite to the left foot, or that you
are hitting it with the club's face turned in, the latter being the
result of faulty gripping. Topping as the name denotes is simply not
getting well down to the ball, and means the ruin of both its shape and
paint! Yet another fault is that of heeling, or hitting the ball off the
neck of the club, this can generally be cured by standing a little
farther away from the ball and letting the arms go out well free of the
body.
One of the most difficult shots you can be called upon to play is when
the ball is in a "cuppy" lie, viz., in a small hole or hollow. The club
then has to be swung _into it_ without taking any of the surrounding
edges, which seems so impossible to accomplish, and yet to get the ball
away any distance, but the more quietly and without pressing you succeed
in doing this, the more chance you will have of a good result. A ball
lying above you, say on the side of a hill, is awkward, as the club
shaft when used in such a position seems so lengthy and unwieldy, but
taking the stroke quietly and again not pressing for an extra long shot
is the best way out of the difficulty. If on the other hand the ball
lies on a slope below you, shorten your grip of the club, for the body
will naturally fall a little forward in the downward swing, owing to the
stance being on the slant. Sometimes the ball may be found lying with a
disused and grass-grown mole-hill, or some such lump immediately in
front. In such a case it would be equally impossible to sweep away the
ball with a full swing, or with a three-quarter one. The club must
therefore be raised just as far backwards as in a half shot, when it
should be smartly brought down, thus hitting the ball and jerking into
the turf, causing it--the ball--to rise over the obstacle. This will cut
a large divot out of the ground, which must be replaced and stamped
down, ever remembering the text, "It is the duty of every golfer to
replace, or to cause to be replaced any turf cut in the act of making a
stroke." Of course care must be used not to break the shaft of the club,
owing to the force with which the head will cut down into the turf.
To keep yourself in good form it is not necessary after the game has
been thoroughly mastered to practise every day. Three or four times a
week will keep both the eye and the hand well up to their work, without
getting either tired or stale. Whenever the chance presents itself of
playing a round with a scratch player, or someone who is really more
skilled than yourself, do so. Such experience will not only serve as a
lesson, but will stimulate the spirit of ambition in no small degree.
Besides, it will be most excellent training and a decided gain in the
way of steadiness, and will also teach you not to get flustered when
confronted by difficulties. Merely to watch your opponent's
self-possession, as she extricates the ball from the heaviest sand,
without the least sign of force or irritability, will be a lesson worthy
of taking to heart. To have made good progress in the game, and to be
able to hold one's own with some of the longer handicap members, perhaps
even to be able to give them a point or two besides a beating, has the
effect of making most people rather proud and pleased with themselves.
Then it is that a sound beating from some good player will do your game
pounds of good and show you how much you still have to learn. If one
were to play golf for ever, yet would the feeling remain that there are
many things to be mastered.
One of the most trying times for the nerves, and in fact for your play
all round is when at some big open meeting, or perhaps even in the
championship, you find yourself drawn to play with or against a
celebrity. Some of the on-lookers may, and probably will, elect to
follow you round just to see your famous partner perform, as well as to
criticise both players. Naturally, this will cause you some
embarrassment, but beside your own feeling on the matter, you have to
consider those of your partner, and the risk that if you play badly you
may very likely put her off too. For in golf the laws of imitation are
very subtle, and nothing is more common than to play down to another
person's standard. However trying it may be, therefore, to have every
shot watched, whether it is a long raking drive, a foozled iron, or some
twelve inch putt that lips the hole instead of going down, do your best
to be steady, even if brilliancy be out of the question, for consistency
can never be very hardly criticised, even when seriously put in the
shade by a superior display of knowledge. Attending open meetings, and
taking part in club matches, will do more for your nerves and be the
means of your gaining greater experience than a hundred rounds on the
quiet home course, with just those players around you to whose
criticisms the ear has become so used, that they cease to make the
slightest impression. At such big gatherings you can see for yourself
the endless varieties of style, grip, stance, and a dozen other details
which will go more towards teaching you how you should or should not do
this, or do that, than many lessons and many chapters on the subject.
To play a tight match in a championship, is generally a doubtful
pleasure. The severe strain of knowing that every stroke should be
soundly good, or at all events useful, the amount of care that must be
taken over the shortest putt, the dogged determination that you _will_
beat your opponent, or if you do not quite succeed in this, that you
will only be beaten by the most narrow margin, and last but not least,
the total obliviousness to the crowd that may be following the match;
all this self-possession cannot be learned in a day or even in a few
months. To attain to such a level is a matter of test and training.
Before any of these big events, it is as well to go and reside for a
time in or near the spot where the meeting is to be held, as you will
thus gain a thorough knowledge of the course, lies, bunkers and greens,
not forgetting that most useful appendage, the caddie. To secure a sharp
boy, who knows every nook and cranny of the links, will often mean half
a stroke a hole to the credit of your match or score.
The most suitable and workmanlike clothes for the game are a simple coat
and skirt of Harris tweed or other strong material, thick boots with a
few nails in the soles to prevent slipping, and a straw sailor hat by
way of head covering. Fly-away and feather-bedecked hats, together with
garden-party dresses, look, and are, terribly out of place on a course,
which in this country, owing to the variable moods of the clerk of the
weather, may not always be without mud! Many players wear red coats with
their club facings and buttons, and these always look smart. Among them,
and one which is quite the neatest of all club uniforms, is that of the
Wimbledon Ladies' Club--a coat, with black collar and cuffs, outlined
with a piping of white, the buttons being of black, with the club
initials in white on them. All clubs that have the privilege of calling
themselves Royal are entitled to facings of Royal blue. The Littlestone
ladies wear rather a smart coat with white facings, round which are the
narrowest of narrow pipings in tri-coloured silk cord, of the club
colours, white, green and salmon pink. Green facings are very popular,
and are used by the St. Anne's Ladies, the Mid-Surrey and many others.
Perhaps the only club with a membership of several hundred, which has no
distinctive coat is Princes, at Mitcham, but the charming mixture of
chocolate and light blue, in the form of hat ribbons and ties worn by
the members, makes rather a welcome change.
Going away to other links to play matches for one's club is by no means
the least of the minor pleasures of being a golfer, for it carries one
to many "lands unknown." The fascinations, too, of a new course are
great and wonderful, especially during the first round when you are
quite ignorant of the pitfalls that await the unwary. There is something
so exhilarating in driving over carries of unknown breadth, and in
taking one's iron to reach a blind, or hidden green, with several sandy
obstacles between you and it.
[Illustration: _MISS PASCOE._
(_Winner of the Championship, 1896._)]
Of the five courses which have now been used for the Ladies Golf Union's
Annual Championship Meeting, that of Gullane, in 1897, was by far the
best and most difficult, Portrush being next in order. But before
entering into further details it may be as well to give just a brief
outline of the said "Ladies' Golf Union" and its origin. Early in 1893,
the idea of such an institution was started, Dr. Laidlow Purves, Miss
Issette Pearson and several Wimbledon members being the moving spirits
in the scheme, ably backed up by such clubs as Ashdown Forest, Barnes,
Eastbourne, East Sheen, Great Harrowden, Great Yarmouth, Lytham and St.
Anne's, Minchinhampton, North Berwick, North Warwickshire, Portrush,
Belfast, St. Andrew's, Southdown and Brighton, and Wimbledon. A large
and influential meeting was held in London during the month of April,
and it was then decided that an annual championship should be held, the
winner of which was to receive a gold medal and be styled Lady Champion
for the year, whilst a magnificent silver trophy was to pass into the
possession of her club for the same period. Strangely enough the Lytham
and St. Anne's Club had already thought of, and in fact advertised, a
splendid £50 silver challenge cup, to be competed for annually over
their links, the winner of which was to be styled champion.
This handsome offer had been made before the golfing world was even
aware that the subject of a Ladies' Union had been mooted. After some
discussion the matter was amicably settled, by the delegate from the St.
Anne's Club and the council, deciding to hold the first Championship
over that course. The subscribers towards the magnificent cup include
the clubs of St. Andrews, St. Anne's, Ashdown Forest, Blackheath,
Cotswold, Royal Belfast, Royal Eastbourne, Southdown and Brighton,
Minchinhampton, and Wimbledon. The 13th of June and three consecutive
days were chosen for the event, and the following circular was issued to
all the ladies' clubs throughout the United Kingdom:
"The Ladies' Golf Union have decided that the Ladies' Golf Championship
Competition, 1893, open to all lady golfers, members of any golf club,
will take place at St. Anne's-on-the-Sea, Lancashire, on Tuesday 13th,
Wednesday 14th, Thursday 15th June, when the trophy, value fifty
guineas, and four medals will be competed for under the following
conditions:
1. Competitors shall enter for the competition through the secretaries
of their respective clubs.
2. The competition shall be played by holes in accordance with the rules
of the Lytham and St. Anne's Golf Club.
3. The draw shall take place on Friday, 9th June, and shall be conducted
as follows:
Depending on the number of entries, such number of byes
shall be first drawn as shall after the completion of the
first round leave four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, or
sixty-four players, and one draw shall decide the order of
play throughout the competition; those who have drawn byes
being placed at the head of the list of winners of the
first round, and taking their place in the second round, in
the order in which their names then stand.
4. Each game shall consist of a round of eighteen holes.
5. In the event of a tie in any round, competitors shall continue to
play on until one or other shall have gained a hole, when the match
shall be considered won.
6. The winner of the competition shall be the champion lady golfer for
the year, and the trophy shall be held for that year in the club from
which the winner shall have entered.
7. The winner shall receive a gold medal, the second a silver medal, and
the third and and fourth bronze medals.
8. All entries must be subject to the approval of the Lytham and St.
Anne's Golf Club.
9. All disputes shall be settled by the Council of the Lytham and St.
Anne's Golf Club.
10. Entries close Thursday, 8th June, 1893."
Truly perfect weather favoured the meeting, and some thirty-eight
competitors entered, including two members from the Pau club. The
drought that year had been exceptional, but the "green committee,"
headed by Mr. T. H. Miller, had kept the greens verdant, thanks to
constant care and unlimited watering. The course being one of nine
holes, two rounds had to be played. The chief hazards were "cops," or
high turf banks, sand bunkers, and one or two ditches.
At that time, when ladies' golf had not reached its present standard of
excellence, the links appeared sufficiently difficult for a championship
test, but now, when entries number a hundred or so, and players think
nothing of a carry of 140 yards, which will clear the great obstacles
easily, it becomes necessary to have a shortened man's course for such
events. Although at Gullane, in 1897, the full men's links were used,
the round of which is two miles and three quarters, with a few yards
over, at Littlestone, in 1894, the course was not quite two miles and a
half long, whilst Portrush, in 1895, measured only a few yards more than
two miles and a quarter; the Hoylake course, used in 1896, was within a
hundred and ten yards of two miles and three quarters. Great Yarmouth,
which is to be the scene of the present year's--1898--struggle, is some
three miles in extent, but will doubtless be a trifle shortened, if it
be in any way possible.
Harking back to St. Anne's and the first championship, it was a matter
of surprise and pleasure to witness the splendid play of Lady Margaret
Scott, and the ease with which she used her clubs, whether in a good,
bad or indifferent lie. It came in the light of a revelation to the
non-golfing many, who were not used to such a beautiful exhibition, and
were not aware to what pitch of perfection a lady-golfer might rise.
Whilst to the golfing few it was a fine lesson, on the subject of how
the game should and could be played, if it was only properly engrafted
into the player from the beginning, and if proper pains were taken not
to leave the minutest detail unconquered. The only two who approached
Lady Margaret Scott in her easy swing, and the manner in which she
extricated herself from difficulties, were Miss Issette Pearson, the
energetic and hard-working Honorary Secretary of the Golf Union, and
Mrs. Wilson-Hoare, of Westward Ho! The final issue of the great battle
resulted in Lady Margaret becoming champion, a title she held for three
consecutive years, and Miss Pearson being the runner-up. This first
championship was not without its fruits amongst those who witnessed it.
On all sides the tide of ambition ran high to emulate even in a small
degree the splendid example that had been given, which was the talk of
the golfing world. So much so, that by the spring of 1894, there was a
much improved band ready to struggle with each other for the coveted
title at Littlestone, Kent, an off-shoot of that charming and quaint
cinque port town, New Romney, which the continual wash of shingle, and
silt of the sands, has left a mile and a half high and dry inland.
In comparison with St. Anne's, Littlestone was three times more
difficult. Not only was the latter an eighteen hole course, but it
fairly bristled in sand bunkers, canals, rabbit holes, and endless traps
for the incautious. However, everyone had profited by the previous
experience, and the play of most of the competitors called forth
expressions of approval on all sides. The number of entries was
sixty-four, including players from seventeen different clubs. Ireland
was unrepresented this year, although at St. Anne's the previous season
there had been four entries from the Sister Isle. Lady Margaret Scott,
and Miss Pearson, again stood first and second, after a very fine match,
which was watched attentively by a large crowd from all the neighbouring
golfing centres. Following the championship in the Autumn came the
largely-attended and first open meeting of the Ranelagh Club, at Barn
Elms. This was a huge success, thanks to the untiring energies of the
Committee, and Miss Pearson, so much so that another gathering was
organised for the following April--1895--and since then this fixture has
been kindly allowed to become an annual event.
Early in the May of 1895 the enthusiastic army of golfers was under
weigh for the quiet little Irish town of Portrush, the scene of both the
Irish and the English Championships that year, the former preceding the
latter by a few days. The bustle and excitement in the streets of the
little town was great, and outside cars came tearing round the
perilously sharp corners, laden with red-coated golfers either off to
watch the semi-finals of the Irish ladies, or else to sample the truly
grand course on their own account. Every train too brought in fresh
relays of competitors, till the huge Northern Counties Hotel had not a
corner untenanted.
The trophy of the Irish Ladies' Golf Union, which is a remarkably
handsome worked silver bowl, had, after a good fight, together with much
steady play, including some glorious long putts, been won by Miss Cox,
Miss Maclaine being the runner up. An open meeting was held the day
before the Golf Union Championship, where the scratch prize was easily
won, with the fine score of 89, by Miss Sybil Wigham, the first Scotch
representative to attend one of these events. Miss Wigham's style was
grand, being both easy and sure, and she proved herself equal to sending
terrific long balls from any lie. It was much hoped that she and Lady
Margaret might meet in one of the heats, but being unused to play before
so large a crowd, Miss Wigham's nerve rather gave way in her match with
Miss Dod, and she suffered defeat by two up and one to play. Two of the
finest matches of this championship were those between Lady Margaret
Scott and Miss Phillips, in the opening heat, and between Lady Margaret
and Mrs. Ryder-Richardson in the semi-final, wherein the latter player
was four up at the eleventh hole to the champion, who after this
gradually assumed the lead, and won in the end by two up.
[Illustration: _LADY MARGARET HAMILTON-RUSSELL._
(_Winner of the Championship, 1893, 1894, and 1895_)]