Harold H. Hilton

THE first lesson to be learned by the aspiring golfer is the value of practice. This is the beginning and end of excellence - the fundamental secret of improvement, other things being equal. Speaking for myself, I am convinced that the present position I hold in the golfing world is in a very great measure due to the faculty I am gifted with, of being able to proceed out to some quiet corner of the links, with just a couple of clubs and a dozen balls, and religiously set myself the task of trying to find out the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of these particular weapons. To many this procedure may seem a somewhat dull and uninteresting task, but personally I have always found it to be a most fascinating pastime, and although nowadays my enthusiasm for practice may not be quite so marked as it was ten or twenty years ago, still I must candidly acknowledge enjoying even to this day an hour all alone by myself on the links more than the pleasure of participating in the most interesting and pleasant match one can imagine. Moreover, I consider that a young player is apt to gain more knowledge in such an hour of solitude than he is at all likely to acquire in playing thirty-six holes against even the finest players in the land.   ...