John Henry Smith: A humorous romance of outdoor lifeAdams, Frederick Upham
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John Henry Smith: A humorous romance of outdoor life
Adams, Frederick Upham
Humorous stories; Outdoor life -- Fiction
Wallace was on hand at the appointed time to give Harding his first
lesson, and we had quite a gallery for our foursome, including Miss
Harding and Miss Lawrence. Wallace was to play with Harding against
Carter and me, but the chief interest centred in whether Wallace could
effect any improvement in the playing of his ponderous pupil.
He told Harding to make several practise swings Harding did so and
Wallace studied them closely.
"A man of your build should play with the left foot advanced," he said.
"Bend the left knee but keep the other one more nearly rigid. Keep the
weight of your body on your heels or you will fall on your ball when you
swing through. Do not curve your back like a letter C. Keep the backbone
straight but not rigid. It is the pivot on which your body and shoulders
must turn, and how can it turn true if your vertebrae is bent?"
"I had not thought of that," admitted Harding, making a much better
stroke.
"Unless the back is straight the right shoulder will drop, and that is
fatal," cautioned Wallace. "Grip firmly and evenly with the fingers--not
the palms--of both hands, but let the wrists be flexible until the
club-head comes to the ball."
Wallace corrected other errors, and after fifteen minutes of instruction
Harding teed a ball and for the first time in his life cleared the lane.
He was as delighted as a boy who unexpectedly comes into possession of
his first gun.
"Wallace," he declared, "if you will stick to me until I get so I can do
that well half of the time I'll give you a hundred shares of the L.M. &
K. and a job which beats this one all hollow."
"I think you will be able to do even better than that," said Wallace
confidently.
As the game progressed Harding's play steadily improved and his face
took on an expression of supreme satisfaction delightful to contemplate.
His crowning triumph came on the thirteenth hole, in which he drove the
green and found his ball laying within a foot of the cup, from which
distance he easily negotiated a two which won the hole, and, as it
subsequently developed, the match, Wallace holding the best ball of
Carter and myself even.
Harding made the round in 106, which is ten strokes better than any of
his previous records. He tried in vain to induce Wallace to take some
large sum of money, but this strange young Scotchman positively refused
to accept more than the regular rate for a lesson.
LaHume left, bag and baggage, early this morning, and I doubt if
Woodvale will see him again. His membership is for sale, and at a
special meeting of the board his resignation was accepted. He seems to
have been the villain of this diary, but really he is not a bad sort of
fellow, save for a strain of tactless selfishness. I presume that his
good looks eventually will win for him some unfortunate heiress.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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