of the golfer's
power. A long drive is not by any means everything, and the young golfer
should resist any inclination to strive for the 250-yard ball to the
detriment or even the total neglect of other equally important, though
perhaps less showy, considerations in the playing of a hole. But having
said so much, and conveyed the solemn warning that is necessary, I am
obliged to admit that the long driver has very full justification for
himself, and that the wisely regulated ambition of the young player to
be one is both natural and laudable. The long drive, as I say, is not
everything; but to play well it is as necessary to make a good drive as
to hole a short putt, or nearly so, and from the golfer who does not
drive well a most marvellous excellence is required in the short game if
he is to hold his own in good company, or ever be anything more than a
long-handicap man. The good drive is the foundation of a good game, and
just as one and one make two, so it follows that the man who drives the
longer ball has the rest of the game made easier and more certain for
him. This apart, there is no stroke in golf that gives the same amount
of pleasure as does the perfect driving of the ball from the tee, none
that makes the heart feel lighter, and none that seems to bring the glow
of delight into the watching eye as this one does. The man who has never
stood upon the tee with a sturdy rival near him and driven a perfect
ball, the hands having followed well through and finished nicely up
against the head, while the little white speck in the distance, after
skimming the earth for a time, now rises and soars upwards, clearing all
obstacles, and seeming to revel in its freedom and speed until at last
it dips gracefully back to earth again--I say that the man who has not
done this thing has missed one of the joys of life. I have heard the
completest sportsmen say that there are very few things in the entire
world of sport that can be compared with it, and none that is superior.

So now let us get on to our drive.

In the first place, the driver must be selected, and the hints I have
already given upon the choice of clubs will serve tolerably well in this
respect. Let it only be said again that the golfer should do his utmost
to avoid extremes in length or shortness. One hears of the virtues of
fishing-rod drivers, and the next day that certain great players display
a tendency to shorten their clubs. There is nothing like the happy