d than before. The
stance is not accurate, but it is not bad enough to be fatal in itself.
The play is very uncomfortable with his left arm, which is in a badly
cramped position. The hands are too far apart and the left wrist is too
high. The result is rather doubtful. Quite possibly the ball will be
pulled. Anyhow a good shot is out of the question._]

[Illustration: _PLATE XXXVI._ FAULTY PLAY WITH THE CLEEK

_In the case of this finish the player has fallen away from the ball
instead of going forward with it as in XXIV. It is evident that the club
has been drawn across the ball. Result--a slice._]

Evidently it will take some time to bring the cleek completely into
subjection. There is, of course, no such thing as an all-round club in
golf, but the nearest to it is this one, and the man who is master of it
is rarely in a serious difficulty. He can even play a respectable round
with a cleek alone, and there is no form of practice less wearisome,
more diverting, or more eminently valuable and instructive, than that
which is to be obtained on a fine afternoon by taking out the cleek and
doing a round of the course with it from the tee to the hole in every
case, and making use of all the different strokes that I have described
in the course of this chapter.

CHAPTER X

PLAY WITH THE IRON

The average player's favourite club--Fine work for the iron--Its
points--The right and the wrong time for play with it--Stance
measurements--A warning concerning the address--The cause of much
bad play with the iron--The swing--Half shots with the iron--The
regulation of power--Features of erratic play--Forced and checked
swings--Common causes of duffed strokes--Swings that are worthless.

When I mention that useful iron-headed club that goes by the simple name
of iron, I am conscious that I bring forward a subject that is dear to
the hearts of many golfers who have not yet come to play with certainty
with all their instruments. For the iron is often the golfer's favourite
club, and it has won this place of affection in his mind because it has
been found in the course of long experience that it plays him fewer
tricks than any of the others--that it is more dependable. This may be
to some extent because with the average golfer such fine work is seldom
required from the simple iron as is wanted from other clubs from time to
time. The distance to be covered is always well within the capabilitie