t line,
but which carries it at last delightfully to the opening into which it
sinks just as its strength is ebbing away? We all know the thrilling
ecstasy that comes from such a stroke as this, but it has always been
helped by a little good luck, and I would not call it the master stroke.
There are inferior players who are good putters. Which, then, is the
master stroke? I say that it is the ball struck by any club to which a
big pull or slice is intentionally applied for the accomplishment of a
specific purpose which could not be achieved in any other way, and
nothing more exemplifies the curious waywardness of this game of ours
than the fact that the stroke which is the confounding and torture of
the beginner who does it constantly, he knows not how, but always to his
detriment, should later on at times be the most coveted shot of all, and
should then be the most difficult of accomplishment. I call it the
master shot because, to accomplish it with any certainty and perfection,
it is so difficult even to the experienced golfer, because it calls for
the most absolute command over the club and every nerve and sinew of the
body, and the courageous heart of the true sportsman whom no difficulty
may daunt, and because, when properly done, it is a splendid thing to
see, and for a certainty results in material gain to the man who played
it.

[Illustration: _PLATE XIV._ DRIVER AND BRASSY. STANCE WHEN PLAYING FOR A
SLICE]

[Illustration: _PLATE XV._ DRIVER AND BRASSY. TOP OF THE SWING WHEN
PLAYING FOR A SLICE]

[Illustration: _PLATE XVI._ DRIVER AND BRASSY. FINISH WHEN PLAYING FOR A
SLICE]

I will try, then, to give the golfers who desire them some hints as to
how by diligence and practice they may come to accomplish these master
strokes; but I would warn them not to enter into these deepest
intricacies of the game until they have completely mastered all ordinary
strokes with their driver or brassy and can absolutely rely upon them,
and even then the intentional pull and slice should only be attempted
when there is no way of accomplishing the purpose which is likely to be
equally satisfactory. Thus, when a long brassy shot to the green is
wanted, and one is most completely stymied by a formidable tree
somewhere in the foreground or middle distance, the only way to get to
the hole is by working round the tree, either from the right or from the
left, and this can be done respectively by the pull and the slice. Of
the two,