Nerves undoubtedly play a great part in golf, for the person who can go on quietly and steadily when her opponent is two up at the turn has an immense advantage. For as nothing is certain in life, still less is it so in golf! A topped drive, or a short putt, and the whole luck of the game may alter. Therefore the player who has perfect control over her nerves has a decided advantage over one who becomes flustered, and she will very often come in with a rush and flourish of trumpets at the last. When playing a tight match never risk going for the hole if a halved one will answer as well, for there is always the chance in going for it from some way off of placing the ball out of holeing distance for the next shot, and so losing the hole altogether. Much the same in medal play: never risk a very long carry or dangerous shot if instead, by playing short and then over the difficulty, you can insure more safety. Medal play is essentially a matter of stolid steadiness, while match play bristles with excitements from start to finish, but it is by no means the case that the best match player will be the best in a medal round, the almost mechanical steadiness of play required in the latter being often found too irksome and tedious. Of the faults that a golfer may drift into, slicing, hooking, and topping are the most common, and these are often too the most difficult to cure. Slicing is caused by drawing the club across the ball and towards yourself. This will cause the ball to dive off to the right, and is either the result of an error in the stance, or the grip of one or both hands, or possibly because the club is being swung away too quickly, causing more of a straight up and down stroke than is the case in the proper and rounded swing. If hooking is the fault, then the ball will fly off to the left. The reason of this may be either that you are standing with the ball too much opposite to the left foot, or that you are hitting it with the club's face turned in, the latter being the result of faulty gripping. Topping as the name denotes is simply not getting well down to the ball, and means the ruin of both its shape and paint! Yet another fault is that of heeling, or hitting the ball off the neck of the club, this can generally be cured by standing a little farther away from the ball and letting the arms go out well free of the body.