lag that one putt has sufficed. When the work with the mashie is
indifferent or poor, the player is frequently left with long putts to
negotiate, and is in a fever of anxiety until the last stroke has been
made on the green. It often happens at these times that the putting also
is poor, and when this is the case a sad mess is made of the score.
Therefore, while I say that he is a happy and lucky man who is able
constantly to save his game on the putting greens, happier by far is he
who is not called upon to do so. In this way the skilled golfer
generally finds the mashie the most fascinating club to play with, and
there are few pleasures in the game which can equal that of laying the
ball well up to the pin from a distance of many yards. One expects to
get much nearer to it with this last of the irons than with the cleek or
the simple iron, and the more nearly the flag is approached the greater
the skill and experience of the player. Here, indeed, is a field for
lifelong practice, with a telling advantage accruing from each slight
improvement in play.

First a word as to the club, for there is scarcely an article in the
golfer's kit which presents more scope for variety of taste and style.
Drivers and brassies vary a little, cleeks and irons differ much, but
mashies are more unlike each other than any of them. So much depends
upon this part of the game, and so much upon the preferences and
peculiarities of the player, that it is unlikely that the first mashie
in which he invests will go alone with him through his experience as a
golfer. To his stock there will be added other mashies, and it is
probable that only after years of experiment will he come to a final
determination as to which is the best for him to use. In this question
of the choice of mashie it is necessary that taste and style should be
allowed to have their own way. However, to the hesitating golfer, or to
him whose mashie play so far has been somewhat disappointing, I give
with confidence the advice to use a mashie which is very fairly lofted
and which is deep in the blade. I can see no use in the mashie with the
narrow blade which, when (as so often happens when near the green) the
ball is lying in grass which is not as short as it might be, often
passes right under the ball--a loss of a stroke at the most critical
moment, which is the most exasperating thing I know. Again, for a last
hint I suggest that he should see that his shaft is both stiff and
st