Lively and cheerful, he's playing a golf shot (7)
I believe the answer is:
chipper
'lively' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'cheerful he's playing a golf shot' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' could be 'per' (eg 'one a day' means 'one per day') and 'per' is found in the answer.
'shot' could be 'chip' (chip shot is a kind of shot) and 'chip' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chipper that I've seen before include "golfer, perhaps?" , "employee in fast-food joint" , "type involved in 6 [CARPENTERING] ?" , "Cheerful - machine used on timber" , "Debonair" .)