Having spoken of the many clubs used from the tee till the green is reached, the putter alone remains for a few words. Till quite recently this was made of wood only, rather in shape like an elongated driver-head. In fact these very old clubs, such as were used by celebrities like Jamie Allan, young Tommy Morris, Mr. George Glennie, and others, are now worth fabulous sums of money. But of late years, steel and gun metal have come much more into vogue. Park's patent putter with the twisted socket or neck, is a universal favourite, the fact of looking straight down the shaft on to the ball appearing to make the line of transition somewhat more easy for the eye to take in. The mode of holding the putter is similar to that of the iron, only that the thumbs are both placed downwards and the fingers are called more into play, as shown in Figure 10. The general grip is a trifle looser, although the right hand requires to be firm. Mr. Horace Hutchinson, in the _Badminton Book on Golf_, says as follows: "The principal secret of good putting, as of good driving, is that the club should travel as long as possible on the line--or a production of it--on which the ball is to travel. "Putting is a stroke made almost exclusively with the wrists. The wrists do not hit the club on to the ball and then check it, but the club is swung by a movement of the wrists... any checking of the club as it meets the ball being fatal to consistent good putting.... The hands should be allowed to fall into a natural position.... The putter should be held rather short, and preferably with a light grip, and should be worked backward and forward by the wrists, mainly perhaps the left wrist.... The left elbow may, if preferred, be a little crooked to the front: the club head will in this method be swinging somewhat after the fashion of a pendulum, and if a golfer gets the hanging arrangements of this pendulum correct, it can not very well swing out of the true line." [Illustration: _Figure 10._ _PUTTING OFF THE RIGHT FOOT._] The above describes the stroke exactly. The stance for putting is as shown in Figure 10, at least that is about the usual position, but many people putt with the ball about mid-way between the right foot and the left, in a straight line with the centre of the body (Figure 11). The crooked left elbow is certainly a great help in keeping the ball on the right road to the hole, while the right elbow should be resting against the hip. Iron shots too can be kept from diverging with the vagaries of the wind during a gale, if the left elbow is well crooked towards the front, so as to follow through in that position over the line of flight of the ball. A very similar position to that of playing forward at cricket.