Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III STYLE OF PLAY It is of the first importance that a golfer should have a good style of play, these words being here used as including grip of club, stance, and swing. One frequently hears it said, ' What does my style signify provided 1 can play a good game ?' To this I would reply, 'In the majority of cases it is hardly possible to play a good game unless you have a good style.' It is also said that if the best golfers be closely watched no two of them have the same style, and which among all these styles is the correct one ? My answer to this is that there are few crack players who have not a good style, and that although there may be, and undoubtedly are, many whose styles are different in detail, they are fundamentally the same—they are all modelled on the recognised lines. There are, however, among the followers of every game men whose play can hardly bo excelled, and who yet violate the canons of style. Such players have been termed geniuses, and a few are to be found among the ranks of golfers; but I would further say that these are the exceptions that provethe rule. The imitators of geniuses seldom attain to any perfection, and generally find it difficult to reach mediocrity. For geniuses no rules can be laid down— their success justifies their play, but only their success. Failure would heap on their heads deserved ridicule. I would recommend all golfers to model their styles upon the recognised lines that have stood the test of decades of play at the hands of the best amateurs and professionals. If any one finds himself to be a genius, he can easily carve out his own peculiar style, and will be none the worse, but probably much the better, for having begun upon the orthodox lines. The first detail is the grip of the club, and it is a matter of cons...