The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-05-30
Don't Fear Your Drassie


 It takes a little brass for the new player to boss his brassie.
 This club differs from the driver in two ways The shaft should be stiff fer than the driver shaft. and its face Is laid back more to give loft to the ball The brassie usually Is the best club in the players bag with which to go after a cupped bail on the fairway-if distance is desired a fact that the new player should get fixed in his mind as a golfing rule. The cupped ball requires 8 somewhat different manner of play, which I win explain later on in this article.
 good many new players draw forth the brassle for tho second shot, then, after a few games. find them selves with a tendency to Hay off the brassie and use an iron. They develop this fear of the brassfe be- cause of a lack of success with it when using it directly after the tee shot drive.
 The chances are that this trouble can be traced to fault of teeing too high for the drive from the tee. have often warned my readers to use low tee--many good players dis pense with the tee entirely. using T bit of sand merely to insure flat spot In the grass of the tee on which to rest the ball. The low tee pre- pares the way, so to speak, for the brassie shot to follow.
 If the ball is lying fairly well, then the stroke with the brassie Is prac- tically the same as it is from the tee. All the player has to do is to skim the turf closely and the loft in the face of the brassie will pick the ballFup and give 1t plenty of height for distance. The swing should reach it's maximum speed just when 1t comes into contact with the ball. but many a player spells his brassie shots in his effort to get too much power into them. He should allow the club to do more of the work for which it is designed. If, however, the ball is cupped. the problem is not so simple. This kind of shot is especially hard for a player who uses too high tee.
 Playing Cupped Ball
 In playing cupped ball the club should come to the ground half an inch or an inch behind the ball. This ront should be deliberately aimed at. Then when the clubhead comes down on that point it will push along the turf and be under the ball when they come in contact, so that an abun- dance of loft will be secured.
 have seen many players make poor work of a cupped ball because they show a tendency to try to scoop the ball out of the cup, and the usual result is to smother the clubhead in the ground. getting little or no dis tance. It seems to take some players long time to realize that this ef- fort to dig the ball out doesn't pay. Tn fact 1t almost invariably fails. believe this tendency goes back very largely to the question of developing a golfinR temperament again. A be- ginner in his effort to make low scores refuses to admit the impossi- bility of some shots and foolishly attempts the impossible. Beginners will do well not to attempt to tam per with the underlying principles of golf.
 Iron Club Play
 If the ball is so badly cupped that the shot cannot be made in the regu- lar way, then 1t may be case for iron club play. If study of the proceed accordingly. Experienced players. even on badly cupped ball. often like to stick to the brassie. Tn this case the club must be held in an absolutely firm grip and take the ground about two inches back of the ball. The through should not be tried for. as in the nature of this stroke 1t is practically out of the question.
 In my own bsgI carry spoon and regard 1t as valuable club. The object of the spoon, of course, is for shots which are little too short for a brassfe and & bit too long for an iron.
 Copyright, John F. Dilie Col