The Soul of Golf. P. A. Vaile
dreary bore.
Moreover, the man who tries to get it on the links is in trouble from the outset, for in golf he is faced with a mass of false doctrine associated with the greatest names in the history of golf, which is calculated, an he follow it, to put him back for years, until indeed he shall find the truth, the soul of golf.
This book is in many ways different from any book concerning golf which has ever been published. It assumes on the part of the reader a certain amount of knowledge, and it essays to bring back to the truth those who have been led astray by the false teaching of the most eminent men associated with the game, teaching which they do not themselves practise. At the same time it seeks to impart the great fundamental principles, without which even the beginner must be seriously handicapped.
It does not concern itself with showing how the golfer must play certain strokes. That certainly may be done better on the links than in the smoking-room; but it concerns itself deeply with those things which every golfer who wishes really to know golf, should have stowed away in his mind with such certainty and familiarity that he ceases almost to regard them as knowledge, and comes to use them by habit.
When the golfer gets into this frame of mind, and not until then, will he be able to understand and truly appreciate the meaning and value of "the soul of golf."
This he will never do by following the predominant mass of false teaching. This book is a challenge, but it is not a question of Vaile against Vardon, Braid, Taylor, Professor Thomson, and others. The issue is above that. It is a question of truth or untruth. Nothing matters but the truth. It rests with the golfing world to find out for itself which is the truth. This it can do with comfort in its arm-chair, and afterwards it can with much enhanced comfort, almost insensibly, weave that truth into the fabric of its game, and so through sheer practice, born of the purest and highest theory—for there is no other way—come to the soul of golf.
ILLUSTRATIONS
| PLATE | FACE PAGE | |
| George Duncan | Frontispiece | |
| I. | Harry Vardon's grip | 16 |
| II. | Harry Vardon. Stance and frontal address in short put | 38 |
| III. | Harry Vardon at the top of his swing | 60 |
| IV. | Harry Vardon at the top of his swing in the drive | 82 |
| V. | J. H. Taylor at the top of his swing in the drive | 104 |
| VI. | Harry Vardon. The finish of his drive | 124 |
| VII. | Harry Vardon. The finish of the drive | 146 |
| VIII. | Edward Ray. Finish of drive | 168 |
| IX. | James Braid. Finish of stroke | 190 |
| X. | Harry Vardon. Finish of a drive | 212 |
| XI. | James Braid. Finish of drive | 234 |
| XII. | George Duncan. A characteristic finish | 256 |
| XIII. | J. Sherlock. Stance and address for iron-shot | 278 |
| XIV. | J. Sherlock. Top of swing in iron-shot | 304 |
| XV. | J. Sherlock. Finish of iron-shot | 330 |
CHAPTER I
THE SOUL OF GOLF
Nearly every one who writes about a game essays to prove that it is similar to "the great game, the game of life." Golf has not escaped; and numberless scribes in endeavouring to account for the fascination of golf have used the old threadbare tale. As a matter of fact, golf is about as unlike the game of life as any game could well be. As played now it has come to be almost an exact science, and everybody knows exactly what one is trying to do. This would not be mistaken for a description of the game of life. In that game a man may be hopelessly "off the line," buried "in the rough," or badly "bunkered," and nobody be the wiser. It is not so in golf. There is no double life here. All is open, and every one knows what the player is striving for. The least deflection from his line, and the onlooker knows he did not mean it. It is seen instantly. In that other game it may remain unseen for years, for ever.