1-197-885 - Sarah Fabian-Baddiel/Heritage Images

'The Stymie', 1934. Illustration from Golfing, December 1934, after a painting by JC Dolman, RI. In golfing parlance a stymie occurs when one player's ball comes to rest directly between that of another player and the hole, thus blocking the line of his putt. Players were not permitted relief from a stymie until the rules of golf were altered in 1951, and prior to that the deliberate laying of a stymie to thwart one's opponent was a legitimate tactic, particularly in matchplay golf.