almost every day when it is fine, I think he
will generally do far better for himself by abstaining altogether for a
day or two before the competition. Then, when he goes out to play in it,
he will experience a zest and keenness which will be very much in his
favour. There is no danger that in this brief period of rest he will
have forgotten anything that he knew before, but, on the other hand, he
will have a greatly improved capacity for taking pains, and every stroke
will be easy to him. His confidence will be refreshed. If he continues
to play his round or two rounds every day right up to the date of the
competition, he will undoubtedly be "over-golfed," will have a great
tendency to fall into errors, and will be generally careless. But if the
would-be prize-winner is a man who has usually to content himself with
week-end golf, it would be all in his favour if he could put in a day or
two of practice before taking part in the big event. There will be no
possibility of his becoming stale by so doing.

When a competitor has the choice of playing his round either in the
morning or the afternoon, I strongly advise him to select the former and
get the thing over as soon as possible. I am positive that his chances
of success are usually greater when he does so, especially if, in case
of his electing to play in the afternoon, he has nothing particularly to
occupy his mind and attention in the interval except his prospects in
the forthcoming contest. Golfers are freshest and keenest in the
morning, their bodies and limbs are most vigorous and anxious for work,
and--a very important consideration--their eyes are most to be depended
upon. And it is not an unimportant consideration that there is no
indigestible lunch to interfere with the perfect ease of mind and body
which are necessary to the making of a good card.

But often, particularly in the case of important open competitions, the
times of starting are decided by lot, and the competitor, on arriving at
the course, finds that he has to accept the disadvantages of a late
draw, and must endure a period of waiting for his turn to tee up. It is
best to dispose of these wearisome periods not in hanging about the tee
or in the vicinity of the club-house, but by going out with one of the
early couples, watching their methods, and making note of the exact
manner in which their best holes are played. If the course is a strange
one, the information which the watcher thus derives