16 FEBRUARY 1907, Page 23

Great Getters in the Making. Edited, with an Introduction, by

Henry Leach. (Methuen and Co. Is. ed. net..)—Mr. Leach has put together in this volume the recollections and experiences of thirty-four masters of the art and science of golfing, both professional and amateur, giving them, when, requested by the writers, a little literary finish, and he prefaces them with some considerations of his own. The " masters " have every right to the appellation. They have won among them the Open Champion- ship twenty-six times (Tom Morris and Harry Vardon four times, James Braid, J. H. Taylor, and R. Ferguson three times each), and a multitude of other distinctions. "Old Tom Morris" is very amusing with his stories of golf as it was, though he does not give Ds much practical information. From some of the papers, however, much may be learnt. There are many curious things in the game, but some of the eccentricities of putting stand out among them. Harry Vardon, for instance, tells us that when he played off the tie for the Open Championship at Muirfield in 1896 he used an old cheek for the purpose. Ho saw it in a shop at North Berwick ; it took his fancy, and ho used it for that occasion only. There seems to be no part of the game in which the nerves are more concerned. The conditions are very simple, and yet the variety of the results is very great. A golfer, whether good or bad, will find this volume interesting, and it is at least possible that he may learn something from it.