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Foreword - I have the greatest admiration for people who can do things better than their fellow man—people such as Babe Ruth in baseball, Dr. Dave Freeman in badminton, Eddie Arcaro in riding, Howard Hill in archery, Ned Day in bowling, Misha Elman with the violin, Babe Didrickson in just about everything she undertook, my good friend Clarence Buddington Kelland with words, Bobby Jones or Ben Hogan with a golf club, to name a few standouts.

Preface - I have always had a fond affection for the irons in my bag. Perhaps it is the thrill of watching a ball streaking for the flag after having struck it with a crisp, firm blow that only an iron club can deliver; or it might be that it requires just a little bit more finesse and skill to hit the irons than it does the woods.

01. Fundamentals - Mastery of golf's fundamentals is the first step toward better golf and consistent iron play. The fundamentals form the framework and the foundation upon which the entire swing is constructed.

Actually, building a swing is much like an architect building a house. If he builds it hurriedly—without a good set of plans—it becomes structurally weak and the slightest of pressures could send it tumbling to the ground. Such is the case in golf.

02. Grip the Club - Good iron play requires a good grip. Without such a grip it is virtually impossible to control your shots to the green and score with any degree of consistency. Most golfers, particularly beginners, fail to appreciate the importance of the grip and its influence on the over-all swing.

03. Basic Stances - The more skilled a player becomes, the more he realizes the importance of aligning himself properly with the ball. This technique involves more than just stepping up to the ball and hitting it down the fairway or toward a distant green. It involves knowing how to address the ball and where to address it in relationship to the stance and the direction in which he is aiming.

04. Lining - Golf fans are often amazed at the ability of a professional to hit the ball straight and far down the fairway. The accurate drives and pinpoint placements on approach shots are seemingly magical feats which the average golfer believes to be beyond his capabilities.

05. Accurate Iron Play - Almost every hole in golf requires some kind of an iron shot. If you can consistently hit the greens with your approach irons and position your ball near the pins, you are going to get your share of birdies and pars. It stands to reason that a good iron player who can direct his ball to within the 15-foot circle around the flag is going to shoot lower scores than the player who is 50 feet away, chipping from off the green or blasting from a trap.

06. Short Irons - The short irons are the offensive weapons in your arsenal of golfing shots. They are the clubs which you use to attack a golf course, to set up those all-important birdies for low-scoring rounds, and to help get you out of trouble when your tee shots stray off line.

07. Medium Irons - I have always liked the medium irons, the four-, five-, and six-, for they are the clubs which come into use so often in tournament play. Also, the five-iron is the dividing iron between the medium and short irons, and it is an excellent club to practice with when learning the iron game. It has just enough loft and distance to enable the beginner to acquire the feel for the entire golf swing.

08. Long Irons - Al Balding, one of the greatest professionals ever to come out of Canada and a truly fine iron player, regards the long irons as his "bread and butter" clubs.

"There's something wrong with your swing if you can't hit the long irons," Balding once observed. "The way they stretch the holes out in tournament competition, it seems like we're always pumping at them with two- or three-irons."

09. Pitching - Although there is a divergence of opinion as to which facet of the game is more important, the woods, irons, or putting, almost all golf veterans agree on this point: Mastery of the short shots, is absolutely necessary if you are to become a consistent scorer.

10. Trouble Shots - Every golfer, regardless of his skill, should learn to play trouble shots. They invariably come up during a round of golf, usually when you least expect them, and, if you have the experience and good judgment to cope with them, they shouldn't cause you too much concern.

11. Hit the Woods - If you have a good grip and a fundamental understanding of the basic swing, wood shots should not give you too much trouble. The full swing is employed in hitting both the fairway woods and the driver, but there is a distinct difference and, as a result, a different feeling between hitting a ball off a grassy lie and hitting off a tee.

12. Reviewing - After having played, practiced, and experimented with my own swing over a period of some 20 years, I have reached some rather definite conclusions concerning the swing and its execution. These conclusions, which I have boiled down into four categories, have been tried and tested under all conditions and types of play, from casual rounds to tournament competition, and, while there is nothing startlingly new about them, they do serve to emphasize the fact that you must practice and perfect them if you wish to become an accomplished player.

13. Equipment - Selecting the proper equipment is a big step toward playing better golf. This phase of golf is so often overlooked that I feel impelled to discuss it here at length, not only to clear up certain misconceptions concerning golf clubs, but to point out how important it is to have clubs that fit you and your swing.

Tournament Record -

Tournaments Won                                                                  Years

National Amateur Championship                                               1953
San Diego Open                                                                       1954
Los Angeles Open                                                                    1955
Phoenix Open                                                                           1955

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