n your own opinion you are lying dead and have one stroke left for the
half. You may not be as dead as you think, and your opponent may not
consider you are dead at all. He naturally wonders why you ask for the
half when it would be so easy to putt the ball. It would be excusable if
he were to offer to make you a present of the ball you have on the
match. These propositions about the giving of halves should invariably
come from the other side. Besides, when you have asked for a half and
your opponent says "No; putt it out," you not only look foolish, but you
are so irritated that you may very likely miss the putt. Then you will
look more foolish than ever, and the next thing you will lose is the
match.

* * * * *

But when your opponent of his own free will says, "I will give you
that," meaning the little putt for the half, show your appreciation of
his confidence in your putting by picking up the ball and saying no more
about it. Don't insist on putting the ball into the hole either with one
hand or in any other way. You are sure to be playing carelessly; and
suppose you fail to hole? Your opponent said he gave you the half, and
yet you failed afterwards to get it when you insisted on playing. Of
course you have a right to the half that he gave you, but you will have
an uneasy conscience, and your friend will be sorry that he was so
generous. Also, when you have carelessly missed a six inch putt for the
half, do not remark to your opponent, as some players do, "Of course, if
you insist upon it, I will give you the hole." It is no question of
insistence; it is the rule of the game. I say, stick to the rules of
the game.

* * * * *

Never use long headed clubs. The shorter headed clubs are easier to play
with and are more accurate.

* * * * *

Do not wear too tightly fitting clothes. Particularly be careful to see
that there is plenty of spare cloth under the arms. Tightness here,
where there should be the utmost freedom, means the wholesale ruination
of what would otherwise have been good strokes.

* * * * *

Always use braces in preference to a belt round the waist. I never play
with a belt. Braces seem to hold the shoulders together just as they
ought to be. When a man plays in a belt he has an unaccustomed sense of
looseness, and his shoulders are too much beyond control. It is a
mistake to imagine you ca