but punishment as the result of bold tactics. The
man who tries to place his long shot on the green may try again and
again, and he will be convinced that it is next to impossible to stop
there when he reaches it.

For some reasons I like Muirfield; but it does not enjoy so many
advantages as the other championship courses. There are not so many
sandhills. It is on the flat side, and at the first glance you might
take it to be an inland course; but after a single round you are greatly
impressed by the good golf that is to be obtained upon it. The turf is
capital, some of the hazards are very fine, and on the whole I think it
may fairly be regarded as a very good championship test of golf. The
fourth, twelfth, and eighteenth holes all call for first-class seconds
if the greens are to be reached.

There are so many other good links in the north that a further selection
becomes increasingly difficult. Troon, abounding in sandhills, is very
fine, and the player needs to be very skilful to get round it in a low
score. North Berwick is also good, and it is surprising to see how well
the links are preserved considering the enormous amount of play to which
they are subjected. There are many good holes at popular Carnoustie,
with a fine length about them which calls for good brassy play, and
which is calculated to bring out all the good points that a golfer has
in him. Cruden Bay and Dornoch are enjoyable; but those who want to get
the best golf in Scotland need not always go to those places that revel
in reputation and where an inconvenient crowd may at most times be
depended upon. Some of the gems of North Britain are hidden away in
inaccessible corners, and the golfers who would reach them must make
tedious journeys by land and sea. But he who is worthy of the game is in
my opinion amply rewarded for these travelling labours, by the quality
of the golf that is vouchsafed to him at his journey's end, and he is
spared the annoyance of being obliged to book his starting time
overnight and of having a couple of hours to wait upon the tee if he is
a minute late in the morning. I believe that Machrihanish is one of
these very fine but out-of-the-way courses, but it happens to be one
over which I have not hitherto played. I can tell of another where the
most glorious golf is to be obtained, and which I can strongly recommend
to those on the lookout for a place at which to spend a golfing holiday.
It is at Islay. There the air is g