with a tolerably high bunker guarding the
green--a type of hole very frequently encountered, and which simply
calls for steady, sure play to get the bogey 3. The baffy does its work
very well in circumstances of this kind, and the ball is brought up
fairly quickly upon the green; but the man who is skilled with his irons
will usually prefer one of them for the stroke, and will get the coveted
2 as often as the man with the spoon.

CHAPTER VIII

SPECIAL STROKES WITH WOODEN CLUBS

The master stroke in golf--Intentional pulling and slicing--The
contrariness of golf--When pulls and slices are needful--The stance
for the slice--The upward swing--How the slice is made--The short
sliced stroke--Great profits that result--Warnings against
irregularities--How to pull a ball--The way to stand--The work of
the right hand--A feature of the address--What makes a pull--Effect
of wind on the flight of the ball--Greatly exaggerated notions--How
wind increases the effect of slicing and pulling--Playing through a
cross wind--The shot for a head wind--A special way of hitting the
ball--A long low flight--When the wind comes from behind.

Which is the master stroke in golf? That is an engaging question. Is it
the perfect drive, with every limb, muscle, and organ of the body
working in splendid harmony with the result of despatching the ball well
beyond two hundred yards in a straight line from the tee? No, it is not
that, for there are some thousands of players who can drive what is to
all intents and purposes a perfect ball without any unusual effort. Is
it the brassy shot which is equal to a splendid drive, and which,
delivering the ball in safety over the last hazard, places it nicely
upon the green, absolving the golfer from the necessity of playing any
other approach? No, though that is a most creditable achievement. Is it
the approach over a threatening bunker on to a difficult green where the
ball can hardly be persuaded to remain, yet so deftly has the cut been
applied, and so finely has the strength been judged, that it stops dead
against the hole, and for a certainty a stroke is saved? This is a most
satisfying shot which has in its time won innumerable holes, but it is
not the master stroke of golf. Then, is it the putt from the corner of
the green across many miniature hills and dales with a winding course
over which the ball must travel, often far away from the direc