So far, everything in this book has dealt with the physical actions of golf, the positions and movements of our hands, our feet, our bodies, our arms, and of the club itself. There is another side of golf, though, that is all too fre­quently overlooked in our sometimes frantic efforts to master the swing. This is the mental or thinking side of the game. Happily, this is not nearly so difficult to master as the rest.

Basically, the thinking side of the game is the exercise of common sense, by which we give ourselves the best possible chance on every shot we undertake, adapting ourselves to the elements of wind, weather, and terrain, using our clubs to their fullest capabilities. We plan how we are going to play each shot, how we are going to position ourselves and our ball to play each hole.

The more talented or expert a player is, the more likely he is to carry out his plans. He has the ability to make the ball do, most of the time, what he wants it to do, within varying limits. The poorer player does not have this fine control of the ball, and he does not hit it so far, but he should plan every shot and every hole. He will not be able to carry out his plans as often as the good player, but when he does, they will save him strokes, and obviously the poorer player should overlook no opportunity whatever to reduce his shots.

The playing of a round of golf is a long succession of decisions on what to do, followed by the physical action of carrying them out. The physical action may be good but may fall short of success if the decision is wrong. For instance, having hit a fine drive, you decide the 8 iron will carry the trap and put your ball on the green. You hit the iron perfectly—and drop the ball into the trap. The execution was faultless but the decision was wrong. You should have used your 7.

The selection of clubs, though, is only one area of the thinking department. A larger area is the planning of a shot to avoid trouble. This is, in a sense, a negative or defensive type of thinking, but it is extremely important. There are players who glory in playing everything boldly, in taking all manner of chances, and in scorning caution in themselves or anyone else. But when you stop to think of it, what chance does the poor player or the average player or even the pretty good player have of beating the golf course? He is one poorly to moderately well equipped individual, pitted against more than six thousand yards of rolling coun­try, studded with both natural and man-made hazards. For him to think he can beat this enemy is asinine. The course has all the advantages. The only sane attitude for any ordi­nary player to adopt is the defensive one, charting his way around or over the lurking dangers (thumbing his nose at them as he goes, perhaps), but at all costs avoiding them.

The besetting sin, the fatal flaw, if you will, in the poor or average golfer, is attempting too much. He gambles, on a decision born of sheer hope, that he will make a great shot from a poor position when the odds are heavy that he would not make nearly as good a shot from a perfect position. He takes a 5 iron when he knows he should take a 4, because the others in the foursome are using 5's. He attempts to carry a trap from the tee when he knows in his heart that only a perfect shot, which he rarely hits, will get him over it. He tries to get distance from the rough when all he should try to do is just get out. In short, hope and pride—and apparently a belief in miracles—cause the average player to attempt too much. By trying to beat the course to its knees when he should only be outboxing it, the typical player loses strokes.

For the expert the situation is different. For him the bold attack is fine, tempered with reasonable good sense. He has the game that can beat the course, and he will beat it only if he attacks it.

A perfect example of a top pro attacking a course was Arnold Palmer on the first hole of the last round at Cherry Hills in 1960. Palmer started that last round seven shots behind the leader. He knew that only the boldest of play could close the gap. The first hole was a par 4, slightly down­hill, measured 346 yards, and the green was closely guarded by traps, although there was a narrow opening. Palmer let out the shaft, as the pros say, and drove the green. He got down in two putts for a birdie 3, was off to a fast start, and as it turned out, a victorious round. Palmer has the power­ful game to beat any course. He kept attacking Cherry Hills, subdued it with a 65, and won the Open.

Before we go into the specifics of thinking, there are two things we can all do. We can learn both the rules and the etiquette of golf. The rules are many and they are sometimes peculiar, but the etiquette is simple. It is merely the ap­plication of the golden rule to golf: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Most of the rules of golf are restrictive; they tell us what we cannot do. But many of them afford us relief, too, from particular situations. Be certain you know the rules on a lost ball, out of bounds, an unplayable lie. Learn the rules governing water hazards and lateral water hazards. Know what a hazard itself is and what you are permitted and not permitted to do when your ball is in one. Familiarize your­self with the rules on obstructions, and bear in mind always that you cannot "move, bend, or break anything fixed or growing" except in special circumstances. Read, also, the rules on casual water, on obstructions deriving from course maintenance, and read the local rules printed on the score-card. Sometimes you find some surprises in the latter.

The rules and etiquette are issued annually in booklet form by the United States Golf Association, the best and wisest sports governing body in America. You owe it to your­self to have a copy.

The Weapons We Use

Since we play this game with clubs, our first thinking should be about the weapons we use. And there is plenty of ma­terial for thought here. How heavy should they be, what should be their swing weight, how stiff should the shafts be, how many should we carry, and which ones should they be?

Weights of clubs seem to go in cycles. In the early 1930's the tournament pros felt that with light clubs they could swing faster and thereby get more distance. The word spread about how the pros felt, the demand for light clubs in­creased, and the manufacturers of course obliged. This lasted until somewhere in the 1940's, when the pros decided that with heavier clubs they expended less physical effort; they would, in effect, let the club do the work. So heavier clubs came in. By 1960 the trend had begun to go the other way, toward slightly lighter sticks, not much but a little.

We prefer a club a little on the heavy side, for the reason that it doesn't have to be swung so fast. It can, and will, do most of the work if it is given a chance. With such a club the player can concentrate more on swinging correctly, mak­ing the proper moves that will bring direction, and not concern himself with getting adequate distance.

The average driver today weighs 13¼ to 13½ ounces and is 43 inches long, measured from the base of the heel to the tip of the shaft. The other woods are shorter by about a half inch with each number. The No. 2 iron is about 38% to 38⅝ inches, and the others drop about 7/16 of an inch each, down to the No. 9. The irons weigh from 14½ ounces for the No. 2 to 16½ for the No. 9. Sand wedges will go up to 17½.

Shafts of clubs are graded in three types, flexible, medium, and stiff. Most of the bigger, stronger pros use the stiff shaft. The medium shaft is for the average player. The flexible is generally considered best for players of more advanced age and for women. It is best suited for a slow swing. The limber-ness of a shaft is known to the manufacturers as shaft de­flection.

The amount of loft in the face of a club (the amount it inclines from the vertical) varies from 10½ degrees for the driver up to 58 degrees for the sand wedge. There is only one degree difference between the No. 4 wood (19 degrees) and the No. 2 iron (20 degrees). Here are the lofts of the standard clubs:

Woods                                  Irons
Driver     10½ degrees          No. 2            20 degrees
No. 2       13     degrees       No. 3            23 degrees
No. 3       16    degrees        No. 4            27 degrees
No. 4       19    degrees        No. 5            31 degrees
No. 5       21     degrees       No. 6            35 degrees
                                            No. 7            39 degrees
                                            No. 8            43 degrees
                                            No. 9            47 degrees
                                            Pitching
                                            wedge           53 degrees
                                            Wedge         55 degrees
                                            Sand
                                            wedge           58 degrees

We have heard a great deal, for years, about swing weight. The term is tossed about so loosely, in fact, that few players have much of an idea what it is. Swing weight indicates the distribution of the weight of a club. It is the proportion of the weight in the head compared to the shaft and the grip. Swing weights are listed from C—0 to D—9.

But a D—9, for instance, doesn't mean that 9 ounces of a club weighing 13% ounces are in the head. D—9 is merely one of the calibrations on what is known as a lorythmic swinging weight scale.

A D—9 is no club for the average player to use, either. It is what Arnold Palmer and many of the other pros use, and it is for a strong, fast swinger. For the average player the ideal swing weight is from D—1 to D—4. For women the range is from C—4 to C—6.

In a general sense, the more you "feel" the head of the club when you waggle it or swing it, the higher the swing weight. You have often heard players say, and no doubt you have said it yourself, when handling a new club, "Feels like a lot of head in this." What you are feeling is the swing weight.

You could be fooled, of course, by the shaft. A medium swing weight, for instance, in a club with a flexible shaft, would feel like a very high swing weight. You would "feel" an inordinate amount of head when you swung it. In fact, with a club like this, you would have a very difficult time developing a decent swing at all. But the manufacturers have taken care of this. They do not put out clubs with high swing weights on flexible shafts. In men's clubs the swing weights for a flexible shaft are D—0 and D—1. For medium shafts they are D—1 to D—4. For stiff shafts they are D—4 to D-9.

Which Clubs to Carry

Since the USGA permits the carrying of fourteen clubs, it would be difficult to persuade the average golfer that he shouldn't take full advantage of the rule. He would not be happy, indeed he would feel himself laboring under a handicap, carrying fewer than the rule allows. So, which ones should they be?

From the conventional set of three woods, nine irons, a sand wedge, and a putter, the average player should drop the No. 1 iron and the No. 2 wood. For these he should substitute the No. 4 wood and a pitching wedge. The No. 2 wood and the No. 1 iron, with their relatively straight faces, are the hardest clubs of all to use. Many pros dispense with the No. 2 wood, the old brassie, though most of them carry a No. 1 iron, mostly for use off a tee. If the pros cannot use them effectively, what chance does a 16-handicapper have to make them behave?

It is also a fact that most golfers find a lofted wood easier to handle than a long iron. This seems to be specially true as the player grows older. If you are one of these, and do not want to or cannot take the time to master the longer irons, then drop out the No. 2 and pick up a No. 5 wood.

Generally speaking, we recommend the carrying of a driver, Nos. 3 and 4 woods, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 irons, a pitching wedge, a sand wedge, and a putter.

There are some to whom the No. 1 wood, the driver, seems to be a special type of poison. There is no logical reason for this. Anybody who can hit a 3 wood, or any other wood, off the fairway has more than enough ability to hit a teed-up ball with a driver. If you hook or slice so badly with the driver that you are afraid to play it, something is radically wrong with your swing.

Strategy on the Tee

Now that we have decided on our clubs, let us go to the first tee. You have the option of teeing your ball anywhere between, but not forward of, the markers. Don't forget that you can also tee it a maximum of two club-lengths behind the line of the markers.

Before you stick the peg in the ground take a good look at what is in front of you. And know what you are looking for. Almost every hole has more trouble on one side of the fairway than it does on the other. This trouble may be obvious: a string of white out-of-bounds stakes, a fence, or a pond. It may be more subtle: longer rough on one side than on the other, or a fairway trap on one side. It might be just a line of small trees, or a hidden ravine, or it might be one big tree with spreading branches out there in the rough about 220 or 230 yards from the tee.

Whatever the trouble is, make this your rule: Tee up your ball on the same side of the teeing ground as the trouble lies, and shoot away from it.

Fig. 53. Faced with rough, trees, and a brook at the right of the fair­way and only mild rough at the left, tee the ball on the right side and shoot away from the trouble.

If the worst trouble lies on the right side, tee up on the right. Aim for the left center of the fairway and let fly. This way you will be at least starting your shot away from the danger zone. If, playing from the right side, you slice badly enough to bring the ball back into the trouble, you will still have two sources of satisfaction: The ball won't be as deep in the trouble and you will know that you at least tried intelligently to avoid it. There is always the chance, of course, that you will hit the ball across the fairway and into the rough on the opposite side, but then you have been caught by the lesser of the two evils and the advantage is still yours.

Something else in teeing your ball. Take advantage, if there is any to be taken, of any unevenness of the ground. Often there are little depressions on a tee. If there are in the area you choose, tee your ball on the forward edge of one. This will give you a slightly uphill lie, the lie most golfers like to play from. This is especially important if you are playing with the wind behind you. It will get your ball a little higher. But wherever you tee, be sure there are no obstructions of any kind behind the ball. These might be worm casts, which could deflect the club slightly as it is brought back, or they could be loose, dead grass, the move­ment of which might distract you. Whatever they are, get rid of them.

Another point to be sure of is that your feet are on level ground, that there is nothing under them which disturbs you, like a stick or a small stone or a clod of mud. Be sure also, especially in wet weather, that your feet aren't resting on muddy ground or loose earth from which they might slip.

All this may seem to be making mountains out of those worm casts we warned you of, but such observation, inspection, and reaction should become automatic. We assure you they are with the good player. Any little advantages which may exist are even more valuable to you than they are to the pro or the low-handicap player.

Handling the Wind

One of the great and variable hazards of golf is the wind. Few players actually like the wind, because it is an unsettling factor, though sometimes more imaginary than real. It is a fact, though, that an appreciable number of yards are lost when you hit straight into a wind, even though it is a light breeze, and just as many yards are gained when the wind is directly with the shot.

It follows, then, that in playing against the wind the ball should be kept as low as possible, where it is less ex­posed, and that when the wind is behind us we should get the ball up so the movement of air can exert a greater and longer effect. To get a low ball, play it back farther than normal, toward the center line between the feet if it is the tee shot, back farther for a pitching iron. Keep more weight on the left leg than normally and try to have your hands ahead of the ball at impact. It is also advisable, against the wind, to take one club stronger than you would use in still air, grip it shorter, and use a shorter but firmer swing. Most of these alterations should be reversed in a following wind. The ball should be played a shade farther forward than usual to get it up quickly, and one club weaker than normal should be used. It, too, should be gripped shorter and swung with a shorter and firmer action. Let the weight movement and the hand action be normal; fooling with them is too dangerous.

Playing in a crosswind from the tee, the ball should be played from the same side the wind is blowing and played for the windward side of the fairway. This way you are letting the wind help the ball just a little, instead of fighting it as you would be if you started the ball even slightly against it. This formula—playing from the side of the tee the wind is blowing from—holds in a quartering wind too, whether it is with or against you.

You will be faced with a slight conflict if the trouble is on one side of the fairway and the wind is coming from the other. When you find yourself in this dilemma, let the trouble be the determining factor.

One more thought while we are on the teeing ground. Most short (par 3) holes are played with an iron. When you play them, use a wooden tee. This is the only chance you ever have to get a perfect lie for an iron, so why not take it? But remember, the higher you tee the ball, the less distance you will get.

You can make this knowledge work for you. For instance, you may come to a hole which is a little short for the 5 iron you feel you should use but not short enough for a 6. Your feeling is that if you use the No. 6 you will have to hit the ball very hard to get there. In this case use the 5 but tee your ball a little higher and use your normal swing. The higher tee will take distance off the shot. You can vary the height of the tee in the wind, too, teeing a shade higher if you want the help of a following wind and lower if you want a low, boring shot into the wind.

Have an Eye for Position

Another area in which you can use your heads is getting position for a shot to the green. This consists merely of trying to get your ball in front of the opening to the green, whether that opening is 10 yards away or 180.

On a short or medium-length par-4 hole, try to place your drive so that you can aim your second shot at the opening and not have to approach the green from an angle where there is no opening and you will have to carry a trap to reach the putting surface. If the opening, let's say, on a 330-yard hole is at the left, aim your tee shot down the left side of the fairway. Then you can aim for the green over the open­ing and, if your shot is straight but somewhat short, you will still be in good position, with a good lie from which to chip up and get your par anyway. If your drive is down the right side, though, you probably will have to go over a trap to reach the green. If you mis-hit the shot you will be in the trap, and if you hit it too hard or use a stronger club to be sure you carry the trap, you may go over the green or wind up high on the rear of it from where you may easily take three putts.

Fig. 54. On a par-5 hole such as this, the correct route for the second and third shots is the solid black line to the left. The same route would hold if this were a par 4 and the approach shot were the second instead of the third. An approach through an opening to a deeper part of a green is always less dangerous.

On par-5 holes your second shot is the one to place with an eye to the opening. Where the opening is no problem, shoot for the big or deep part of the green, the so-called "fat" of it. These are small things, of course, but in the course of eighteen holes they can save you a surprising number of shots.

For the average player the wood or the long iron from the fairway is the hardest shot in the game. His big trouble is getting the ball up in the air, unless the ball is sitting up high, begging to be hit—a situation that doesn't often occur.

Obviously this shot has to be struck accurately or, with a straight-faced club, the ball won't get up. But what com­plicates the problem is that distance also is needed. So the average player swings hard to get that distance. The harder he swings, the less chance he has to strike the ball accu­rately. He half tops it or he hits behind it, and the shot is missed.

If this shot is giving you trouble, the first thing to remem­ber is to select a club with enough loft; not the No. 2 wood, maybe not even the No. 3. The next thing to recall is that the longer the club, the harder it is to control. So shorten your grip on the No. 3, say, perhaps halfway down the gripping area. This shortens the club. And then don't try to kill the ball. Use a controlled swing, a little shorter than normal, and try only for a perfect contact. It will help, too, to address the ball with your hands just a shade in front of it, as you might for a short iron, so that the arc of the swing is slightly downward through the ball. For remember, it is hitting down on a ball that gets it up. Remember, likewise, that distance comes as much from a square, flush contact as from club head speed.

In playing any wood shot from the fairway, take a good look at your lie before you pull a club from the bag. If it is in the least downhill use a No. 4 wood, perhaps even a No. 5. Your chance of making a good shot will be much better.

When the Track Is Wet

Wet weather is another hazard. The first move to make when the rain is coming down and the course is soggy, is to resign yourself to it. You are not going to hit the ball as far as you usually do and you are not going to score as well. But there are things you can do. Use your umbrella to the best advantage and keep as dry as possible. Have your caddy hold it over you while you thoroughly size up the shot. Then step out, hit the shot—but don't hurry it—and then get back under. Be sure your caddy carries an extra towel to wipe off the clubs. Be careful, in your waggle, that the club doesn't pick up cut grass on its face. The crushing of the grass between ball and club face makes for a slippery contact; the ball may duck, squirt off, or do other peculiar things. You will find at times that it is impossible to waggle at all, because of this pickup of grass. You must school yourself to be able to make shots without this usual pre­liminary. The cut grass can be especially troublesome just off the greens.

In playing an iron from wet turf keep in mind that an accurate contact is of prime importance. Shorten your grip a little, shorten the swing a little, keep more weight on the left foot than you normally do, and try to pick the ball off cleanly instead of going down and through it. Admittedly, this is somewhat dangerous. But the reasoning is clear: We want to avoid a contact that is in the least heavy. On dry turf you can often get away with a shot when you catch the ball a little heavy, because the iron will "ride" just a little on the grass. But in wet weather it won't. The sharp edge of the iron will dig into soft turf if you give it any chance at all. So a descending blow, which would take a divot, must be very accurate. If it hits even a shade behind the ball the shot is ruined. So in wet weather stay down to the ball and pick it off.

Fig. 55. Above, the normal iron shot in dry weather, taking the usual divot. Below, the pick-off type of shot to be played in wet weather or on a heavy course, the ball being taken clean.

The rough always is tougher to get the club through when it is wet, so take extra pains to avoid it. When you do get in it, though, be sure you use a club with plenty of loft to get out, and take a slightly more upright swing.

No shot will run as far on wet turf as on dry, so on tee shots tee the ball a little higher to get as much carry as possible. A No. 2 wood from the tee, in fact, is not a bad club to use on a wet track.

In general,  the average golfer should use  the 4 wood on a wet fairway, rather than the 3. To reach a specific target he should use a club one number stronger than he would in dry weather, shorten his swing somewhat, and concentrate on meeting the ball squarely and getting it into the air. He can also play his approaches a little bolder up to the hole, know­ing the ball will stick, and from around the fringe of the green he should use a more lofted club, pitching the ball a little more, rather than trying to run it on wet greens. In bunkers the sand will be heavier. Try for a slightly more shallow path through the sand for the club head; you can hit the same distance behind the ball as you would normally, but don't let the club dig quite so deep.

Since the greens will be slower, the putting can be bolder. Many players putt better on wet greens. A word of caution here: Be sure you get the short putts up to the hole. It's easy to leave the short ones short on a slow green.

As a final reminder for wet-weather play, be sure you know the rule on casual water, which is "any temporary accumu­lation of water which is visible before or after the player takes his stance." The key words here are "visible" and "before or after." If you can see the water, it is casual water and you are entitled to relief. This applies, on the green, not only to water between your ball and the cup but also to where you are taking your stance to hit the putt. It is also a fact that you may not be able to see any accumulation of water in the stance area as you are lining up your putt, but that it becomes visible after you have taken your stance —usually because the weight of your body forces it up through the turf.

Through the fairway or in the rough, of course, the rule applies only to the spot where the ball lies and where you stand to hit it, not to any puddles on the fairway 60 yards or so in front of you. And of course you do not have to play bunker shots out of water. You are permitted a free drop somewhere else in the bunker, though not nearer the hole. If the bunker is completely inundated you drop out­side it.
But look up the rule, learn it, and use the relief it affords you. We have seen too many people try to putt through big puddles on greens without realizing they didn't have to.

The Payoff Area

Another area where there is plenty of room for headwork, of course, is on the greens and around them.

The prime object from close range is to get the ball as near the hole as possible. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, though, there is still another shot to be made before you get the ball into the cup. It is this next one that you should have in the back of your head when you play the first one— the idea of making that next one as easy as you can.

The only things which can make the next one difficult, assuming it's a short pitch or a chip and that you get the ball three feet from the cup, are leaving the first one above the hole or to the side with a nasty roll. We all know that we approach a putt that is slightly uphill with much more confidence than one which is downhill or sidehill. So in sizing up the shot to a green where there are definite rolls near the cup, try to play it so that you reduce the odds against holing your next one. It's better to be left with a four-footer uphill than with a three-footer downhill or side-hill.

This also holds true for long approach putts, and with these you should be more successful in getting the ball where you want it, because most of us have more control with a putter than when we are chipping or hitting a short pitch.

Something to remember about rolls on a green is the dis­tance of the roll from your ball. If it is near the ball it will have much less effect than if it is far away. This, of course, is because the ball will be moving faster right after you hit it than it will be as it nears the cup. A big roll near the ball will deflect it much less than a small roll near the cup. The knowledge of how much you should allow for each can only be gained by experience, and lots of it.

Fig. 56. Remember that a big side roll near the ball will not affect the path of a putt nearly as much as a small roll near the cup, when the ball has slowed down.

Grain is another thing to be taken into consideration. On putts with the grain of the grass, your ball will roll farther than it normally would. Against the grain, it won't roll as far. In putting across the grain the ball will be deflected in the direction toward which the grass points, and on a putt of any length you will have to allow for it. And grain varies widely. Some greens are very grainy, others only slightly so. Patches of some greens will be grainy, other areas won't be. So take a good look, especially around the cup. Again, experience will be your only guide.

When in doubt, and when it is possible without delaying play (and it usually is), look at your putt from the side as well as from behind the ball. You will get a better idea from the side whether your putt is slightly uphill or slightly downhill, and this knowledge can be invaluable in deter­mining how hard to stroke the ball.

So far as boldness and caution are concerned the average player, as we have already noted, will be far better off play­ing safe than he will be by taking chances. This is especially true in medal play, where every stroke goes down on the card. The only time to take chances in a medal round is in the late stages when only bold play can give you a chance to win, or to qualify, or to reach whatever goal you have set.

Match play is a little different. Individual temperament is a factor here. Some players delight in match play and are at their best when engaged in it, knowing that no matter how many extra shots they take on a hole the price can only be the loss of that hole.

Still, in the long run, a reasonably safe type of operation will pay off in match play. As great a golfer as Bob Jones, who didn't like match play, played the card and let the match take care of itself. The best time to take chances in match play is when you are behind and the holes are run­ning out. If you fall behind your opponent early in a match, one of the worst things you can do is panic and start going for everything. Usually you will only make it easier for him. In this situation it is far better to play the card and let your foe come back to you. It is amazing how often he will do just that.

Another thing about match play. Don't be liberal in con­ceding putts, unless you want to do it early in a round to build up a false sense of security in your opponent, which you will shatter in the late stages by making him hole out those little ones. It is always well to remember, though, that a putt that is short enough to be conceded is also short enough to be holed without difficulty. Your opponent has no right to take umbrage at being made to hole a putt he thinks you should give him. On your own part, it is well to get in the habit of never expecting any of your putts to be conceded. Then you never will be surprised when one isn't.

List Your Faults

As a general thought, every golfer should analyze his own game in two principal lights—his weaknesses in what might be called departmental areas, and the swing faults to which he is most prone.

A player may be an excellent driver but throw away strokes around the green. He may be an excellent chipper and putter but be wild off the tee. Some players are very good with the irons but woefully inept with the woods. These departmental strengths and weaknesses he knows well. If he is smart he will work on the shaky shots and at least try to bring them up to the rest of his game. The short game is easy to practice and develop. The long game is more of a problem, but if the basic principles are followed and con­tinually checked, great strides can be made.

The swing faults are a little different, and too many players pay too little attention to them. For instance, one of the commonest faults you can slip into is cutting down on your shoulder turn, which usually causes your shots to stray off to the right. Another fault is moving your left hand up on top of the shaft in your grip. A third is unconsciously playing the ball farther back to a point midway between the feet or even farther. A fourth is letting your hands lag on the downswing. Still another might be working into a swing plane that is too upright. These are just samples. There are many others.

Our point is that each individual tends to develop certain faults and he develops them habitually, maybe two or three or four of them. One good player we know, who has played in the National Amateur championship several times, has a habit of addressing the ball for his drive farther and farther back toward the middle position. If he doesn't watch him­self, he will have the ball back nearer his right foot than his left. This is something he has to check every so often.

If you have played much golf you are bound to have a pretty good idea of the bad habits you fall into in the course of a season. So sit down some night and analyze your game in the light of your swing faults. They are easy faults to forget. Make a list of them. Then check over the list before you next go out to play. One good place to put such a list is in your locker at the club. You can take a quick look at it, as a reminder, while you are dressing. Be on your guard against them as you walk to the first tee. If you begin to hit some bad shots you can immediately trace the shot to the fault and correct it.

One final thought, and this applies to all types of play, whether in competition, just for fun, or even if you are playing alone: Never give up. Golf is one of the most peculiar of all forms of contest. Form can be fleeting. Luck can change. Touch comes and goes. No matter how bad a start you may get on a round, keep trying. You never can tell when the bogeys and double bogeys you pile up on the first half-dozen holes or the first nine, can suddenly turn to pars and birdies on the back nine. It never pays to give up on yourself.

With this, we have covered the main areas in which our brains can be applied to this game. If we use them, from the time we step on the first tee until the last putt is holed, they will save us strokes. The more we save, the better scores we will have and the more pleasure and genuine satisfac­tion we will get from the game. If we don't think—if, as you have heard good players lament after a bad round, "I went to sleep out there"—we throw strokes away needlessly. Don't go to sleep. Plan and think on every shot. The ability to do this is the real meaning of concentration in golf.

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