Take heart, though the great day is almost upon us, time need not be a barrier to the bestowing of a priceless gift on a golfing friend.

But the matter must be handled with extreme delicacy, as the legendary Bernard Darwin cautioned in his charming essay, "A Christmas Sermon." Written way back in 1913, Darwin was responding to the urging of a friend of his who complained that "golfers are not what Mr Yellowplush called "benevolent"; they never tell him what he is doing wrong in his shots, nor do they tell each other."There are celebrated stories, of course, of golfers who engaged regularly in outrageous gamesmanship, thinly disguised as advice. Like telling their opponent in a crucial match: "Your ball-striking has improved out of all recognition since you acquired that little pause at the top of the backswing." Needless to remark, there was no pause. And so, the seeds of mental turmoil had been cleverly planted.As Darwin wrote: "The undoubted fact is that many of us do not like being told of our golfing mistakes any more than we do of those we make in more serious walks of life. "We have so often been given counsel that did us no good whatever, that it makes us both incredulous and irritable." This is not to say that advice should be ruled out altogether. On the contrary. Indeed looking back on the season just passed, there can be few of us who have not benefited from the golfing advice of others. One tip from professional Bobby Browne that has remained with me - and which I must practise in the New Year - is to employ a very weak left hand when pitching.Clearly, we must choose our advisers carefully, as I did in that instance. As Darwin pointed out: "When a perfect stranger shall tap me on the shoulder and say: 'Excuse me, sir, but you would play much better if you did not tie yourself into such a ridiculous and complicated knot,' then, even though it be Christmas time, I shall think that the system of promiscuous benevolence has gone too far." By way of advice to the adviser, the scribe went on: "The champion who is kind enough to throw a word to us must remember, if he be a conscientious man, that a great responsibility rests upon him. "It scarcely matters how nonsensical his advice, if we have confidence in him we shall hit the ball for a while; but when the next bad time comes, as come it must, his lightly spoken word may do great harm, because we shall persist in following it with blind, unquestioning faith."So, whatever the great man says, he should add, with all the emphasis of which he is capable: 'The moment you begin to hit the ball, forget what I told you and never think of it again'." The Christmas Sermon is undoubtedly a valid concept. For us lesser mortals, however, its content should be second-hand, having originated from a worthy source. And my gift to you comes from the memoriam card of the late Joe Craddock, kindly sent to me by his widow, Carmel.It reads: "Left arm straight .... Eye on the ball .... Do this and you'll solve it all .... Head well down .... You'll hear me beg .... Then hit it hard ... It's not an egg." "David Leadbetter has never won a tournament in his life. Unless you've been a winner, you can't explain to these people, especially young people, what they should or shouldn't do." - Veteran Australian professional, Norman Von Nida, urging struggling compatriot, Aaron Baddeley (right), to break with the Florida-based guru.