THE NEW GOLF BY P. A. VAILE Author of Modern Golf, The Soul of Golf, etc. CONTAINING FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS NEW YORK E P. BUTTON COMPANY 1916 p- JEROME D. TRAVERS Copyright, 1916 BTT E. P. DUTTON COMPANY PEEFACE THEEB are always many people who say that golf cannot be learned from a book. Neither can arithmetic, unless one assiduously practises the actual work. Yet no intelligent person would try to argue that the arithmetic book is superfluous. The fact is that the American has in the past played most games by imitating other people. It is a fine way to learn, but it is not always the quickest, and it certainly is not the most scien tific or intellectual. Golf in America is making amazing progress. Many of the greatest intellects of the nation get their recreation on the links. The youth of the country is playing the game in a manner that is not equalled by the youth of any other nation, either as regards quantity, quality or sex. The women of America are playing it. It is making playmates of parents and children, husbands and wives who otherwise would not be so close to one another. It is a mighty industry, a great factor in business and social life, and every day it is becoming more so Unless one can play, or at least talk intelli PREFACE gently about, golf, one has to miss about three quarters of the conversation in any country club and many other places in America. This may seem a poor wdy to look at a great game. It really is not so. There is more golf in the atmosphere than politics or religion. Nobody cares to be quite ignorant of the subject that is engrossing the attention of ones friends and rela tions. It is therefore becoming increasingly im portant for everyone to know at least enough about golf to avoid being bored to distraction. This is a very insidious method of adding to the rank of the golfers. It is right that one should get this knowledgl this theoretical knowledge first. It is so much pleasanter for him and the other people when he sets out to put it into prac tise, as he undoubtedly will. In arriving at the new golf it was of course nec essary to know Ye olde golfe. In comparing the new thought and the intellectual advance in the game with what has gone before it has been im possible to avoid reference to the works of the great masters of golf, men whom every good golfer honors for their skill in the execution of the game and for the admirable manner in which they all so worthily maintain their posi tion in it in every way. All advance in any science is built upon the achievement or error of PREFACE the men who went before, and even the er rors of the earnest student are frequently good for the man who comes after. I have been led to the truth by a famous mans error, the same error as I myself had made before him, but I did not see it until he made it. Then it was clear to me. So, it has been necessary for me to use the work of the famous men, who have gone before me in the history of golf, in building up The New Golf and the secure foundation for The New Thought in golf, which is of infinitely greater importance. Knowing golf thoroughly and thinking it keenly cannot make the game less interesting or beneficial, and that I am sure will be proved Iff a careful study of The New Golf. I must impress on my readers the fact that in nearly every case where a golf book has been pro duced in England under the name of a famous professional it has been written by some golf journal ist who is not himself entitled to speak with au thority. In this manner much that is not even olde goffe has become associated with the names of the famous players, much, indeed, to which they will not now subscribe. The trouble is, however, that it is still circulating with all the authority of their great names and will so con tinue to circulate unless The New Thought in golf damages it severely as I think it will PREFACE Americans really are keen and analytical about their game...