Explaining for the information of non-golfers the Principles of and Terms used in Golf.

THE GAME OF GOLF.
The game of golf consists in striking a ball from a given starting point (the TEE) up to and in to a "hole" situated some distance away (usually from 100 to 600 yards) in the fewest possible "strokes." The game is played on a "golf course" or "links" comprising a series of nine or eighteen "holes."

THE COURSE.

THE TEE.
The starting point at each hole is the "TEE," at which the player may, for his first stroke, "tee" his ball, or raise it clear of the ground on sand or a peg, to facilitate the first stroke or "drive.

THE GREEN.
The smooth closely-cut portion of the course 20 yards round the hole itself (which is marked by a flag) is the "GREEN" ; the hole is always situated on the green, on which are played the final strokes (PUTTS) at each hole.

THE FAIRWAY.
The cut portion of the course between "Tee" and "Green" is the "FAIRWAY," generally from 30 to 100 yards in width.

THE HAZARDS.
On the "fairway" itself between tee and green, and on each side of the "fairway" are the "HAZARDS," or traps for the ball, which consist of "BUNKERS" (holes filled with sand, sand-banks, etc ) "STREAMS," "DITCHES," "ROUGH," (i.e., long grass, gorse, etc.) and so on.

The hazards are generally so placed as to trap a ball which is struck off the true line to the hole, and the player is thereby penalised, for he suffers certain penalties if his ball be lost, goes "out of bounds," or into a stream or ditch ; and if the ball goes into a bunker or into the rough, he must perforce play a restricted type of stroke to get the ball out of the hazard, which stroke does not carry ths ball so far towards the hole as would be the case if he were on the fairway.

THE OBJECT OF THE GAME.
The object of the player at each hole is to drive the ball from the tee, along the fairway towards the green, to reach the green, and then to "putt" the ball into the hole, taking in all as few "strokes" as possible.

THE CLUBS.
In order to ensure that the ball may be played to the best advantage under varying circumstances, a range of "clubs" is made, which produce different results when the ball is struck. The chief difference between clubs is the amount of degree of "loft," or slope of the striking-face. A club with little "loft" (i.e., with the face nearly perpendicular) will send the ball further than will a similar club with much "loft" (i.e., with the face inclined at an angle of, say, 45° to the perpendicular) ; but, on the other hand, the club with little loft will not raise the ball to so high a trajectory as the club with much loft.

Hence in order to send the ball a great distance without raising it far above the ground, a club with little loft is selected; but to send a ball a short distance, raising it well above the ground (for example, to recover from long grass, or to clear an obstacle) a club with much loft must be used.

Clubs are of two main types of con­struction, "WOODS" (that is, with wooden heads), and "IRONS" (with iron or steel heads).

THE WOODEN CLUBS.

(a) DRIVER.
The least-lofted, or most perpendicular-faced wooden club is the "DRIVER" ; this club is used in driving off the tee, where the ball is "tee-d up," to send the ball a great distance along the fairway towards the green. A good drive may take the ball as much as 300 yards towards the hole ; but an average drive for an ordinary player is from 180 to 240 yards.

(b) BRASSIE.
Next to the Driver in order of "loft" comes the "BRASSIE/' built like the driver, but with a brass sole to the club, and with a little more loft to the face, thereby enabling the ball to be "picked up" off the fairway, where it cannot be tee-d up. By reason of the loft, a shot with a Brassie is generally shorter than one with the Driver, and for an ordinary player averages from 180 to 200 varrts

(c) SPOON.
This is a wooden club with even more loft than a Brassie ; hence it is useful to "pick the ball up" from an awkward lie. It raises the ball higher in the air, but does not send it quite so far. An average spoon shot for an ordinary player is from 170 to 190 yards

IRONS.
All the iron clubs are known as "IRONS," but the term "IRON" is also used for the straightest (or most perpendicular) faced iron clubs; the irons, like the woods, vary in the degree of loft and the consequent effect upon the ball.

(a) THE IRON.
The IRON itself is the straightest faced of the "Irons" ; its face is almost perpendicular, and will drive a ball in a low trajectory up to 180 or 190 yards

(b) THE MASHIE.
The MASHIE has a face inclined at an angle of just over 60 degrees, and this club will lift and pitch a ball a distance up to about 150 yards. It is extremely useful in approaching the green from distances under 150 yards, and in recovering from "rough" which is not too thick and long.

(c) THE MASHIE-NIBLICK.
This club has a face inclined more than the mashie, and is used for short pitch-approaches to the green, for lifting the ball out of rough, and out of shallow bunkers.

(d) THE NIBLICK.
The NIBLICK is the most inclined of all clnbs, and has a face sloping at 45 degrees to the perpendicular or even more; it is generally a heavy club, and is used for lifting the ball out of heavy rough, or deep bunkers ; and also for pitching short distances up to the hole from off the green, particularly where there is an obstacle (e.g., bushes) to be carried.

GENERAL REMARKS ON CLUBS.
Whereas the player on the tee has a choice of three wooden clubs, and can "tee up" his ball, it does not necess­arily follow that he will use or select his Driver. His ultimate choice will depend on-the distance he desires (or hopes) tn send the ball. If the hole is only 180 yards from the tee, a driver or brassie might send his ball over the green, where he will be in as bad a position as if he had not reached the green, for in both cases he would have to play a second stroke to reach the green. In such case he would probably elect to play his first stroke with a spoon, that club being the most likely to send the ball on to the green at the first stroke.

With regard to all clubs, there is a maximum distance for which a particular club can be used, but with regard to the iron clubs, there is no minimum ; it is no use taking a mashie for a shot of 180 yards, for the club will not do the work ; but, on the other hand, for a short approach to the green of, say, 40 yards, the player may use an "iron" or a "mashie" to "run the ball up," or a "mashie-niblick" or a "niblick" to "pitch" the ball; thus for a short distance the player has the choice of four clubs.

THE PUTTER.
Once the ball is "on the green," that is, on the cut portion within 20 yards of the hole, great accuracy is required to send the ball down the hole, and for this purpose a "PUTTER" is used. The putter is straight-faced like an iron, and sometimes the head is shaped like that of a driver, being made either of steel or aluminium. The face is not lofted, because the ball does not require to be lifted on the green ; and as great distance is not required, the head is usually small and the shaft, or handle, short.

BOGEY.
A hole measuring under 200 yards from the tee to the hole itself is known as a "short hole" or "3 bogey." This means that a good player making no mistakes should reach the green with his shot from the tee, and taking normally two putts on the green, he should "hole out" in three strokes altogether ; hence "3 bogey." As only one shot should be necessary to reach the green, such a hole is sometimes known as a "one shot" hole.

The "one shot" hole or 3 bogey, may be from 100 to 120 yards in length, requiring play of a raashie-niblick or mashie from the tee; from 120 to 160 yards requiring a mashie; from 160 to 180 yards necessitating play of an iron or a spoon ; or 180 to 200 yards requiring an iron, spoon, brassie, or even -driver. Thus every short -hole requires to be played in a different way.

A hole measuring from 200 yards to about 420 yards is generally a "two shot," or "4 bogey"; for it takes a good player, making no mistakes, two strokes to reach the green, and two putts to hole out.

A hole measuring over 420 yards (and sometimes under that distance) is usually a "3 shot" or "5 bogey" ; such holes are called "long holes."

Of course, a player frequently plays his approach shot to the green so near to the hole, or putts so well, that he only takes two strokes to hole out at a 3 bogey, three to hole out at a 4 bogey, or four to hole out at a 5 bogey; these are popularly called "Birdies."

Thus, every hole, short, medium, or long, requires a different combination of strokes with a different succession of clubs, without taking into account at all the effect of bunkers or other hazards.

THE EFFECT OF HAZARDS.
At a long hole of 520 yards, a player might drive 240 yards from the tee; then 190 yards with his Brassie for his second shot; leaving himself 90 yards from the hole to be on the green in three strokes. If he places the ball on to the green with a mashie or mashie niblick with
his third shot and holes out in two putts, he will have obtained a Bogey score of 5.

Supposing however, that when he drove (his first shot) his ball ended up in a bunker 200 yards from the tee, he would then be 320 yards from the hole, but being in the bunker could not play his brassie. He might get out of the bunker and possibly 80 to 100 yards towards the green with a mashie-niblick, or 40 or 50 yards towards the green with a niblick; but under the best fo circumstances he would still be 220 yards from the hole when he came to play his third shot. He cannot reach the hole with a brassie, and may have to be content to reach the green in four strokes, and if he then takes two putts, he will have taken six strokes for the hole.

Similarly in the rough, a player must generally use a mashie to get out, and, if the rough be thick, a mashie-niblick or niblick.

PENALTIES.
Certain hazards entail special penalties ; thus if a player strike his ball "out of bounds," he loses "stroke and distance," this means that he must play another ball from the same place {thereby losing the distance he gained with the ball which went out of bounds) and also add one penalty stroke to his score. Thus if a player drive out of bounds from the tee, he must drive again from the tee, and count 3.

If a ball goes into a stream, pond, or ditch, the player loses "stroke only" (not distance as well). He picks the ball out, drops it over his shoulder behind the hazard, and adds one stroke to his score before he plays again.

TYPES OF MATCHES.
A game in which two players compete one against the other is known as a "single."

Where three players compete each against the others, it is called a "three-ball," or "three-ball three-some." A "four ball" is a match in which two play against two, each of the four players playing his own ball, but only the better score of the side counting at each hole ; thus if A and B play in a "four-ball" match against X and Y, and at a given hole A takes 4 strokes to hole out, his partner B takes 7, the opponents X and Y taking 5 and 6 respectively, A and B win the hole, for their "best ball" (A's 4) beats the opponents' best ball (X's 5).

A "Foursome" is a game for four players, each side of two using only one ball. Thus if A and B play in a foursome against X and Y, A will drive at the first tee for his side, and X for his ; B and Y play the second and fourth shots, A and X the third and fifth, and so on. At the second hole B and Y drive off, and the third hole A and X.

SCORING.
In a "Medal" round the player adds up his total score for the eighteen holes ; but in "Match Play" only the holes won are counted, irrespectively of the number of strokes taken. A player is said to be "one up" or "two up" when he has won one or two holes more than his opponent; they are "all square" when both have won the same number; and a player is "dormey" when he is "up" the same number as there remain holes to be played. Thus if after the 16th hole A is "two up," he is "dormey," for there are only two holes left to play, and if B wins both, he can do no more than square the match. A player wins the match when he is one more "up" than there remain holes to play ; thus if after the 15th hole A is four up, he wins, and the match is over, for if B wins the last three holes, he cannot even square the match. Under these circumstances A is said to win by "four up and three to play," or "four and three."

MISCELLANEOUS TERMS.
When a player approaching the green sends his ball into the hole from off the green, he is said to "hole his approach."

When both players are on the green, and the line to the hole is obstructed by opponent's ball, it is called a "stymie" ; the player whose turn it is to putt, if he be "stymied," obviously cannot putt straight for the hole ; but if he strikes his ball so as to miss his opponent's and yet go into the hole, he is said to "negotiate the stymie."

The player whose turn it is to drive off first from the tee (by virtue of his being the last to have won a hole) is said to "have the honour" ; a player "keeps the honour" until he loses a hole.