Temporary wartime golf rules

[Robert L.]

These were the local rules for one golf club if you were playing while the Battle of Britain waged overhead. Those Brits were hardcore indeed!

[cohee]

One stroke penalty if a bomb goes off during your swing? Seems like a good spot for a mulligan if there ever was one....

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

What do you mean 'were'?

Plenty of 'War babies' still playing.

 

[Foozle]

Splendid! The blitz spirit shining through! 

Can you imagine, in todays H&S world, letting people play golf near unexploded ordinance? "Known" delayed action bombs are roughly marked but presumably there were also "unknown" bombs which, if you happened to detonate, cost you a shot! 

Just a wonderful tribute to a remarkable generation - respect to them all including those still alive and playing through!

Forever in your debt, I salute you!

[Tim Schoch]

That was a generation who knew right from wrong, justice vs injustice, and who the real enemies of humanity really were--and they were damned to let a bomb or a crater ruin the enjoyment of their lives. And, yes, they also kept the course clean of shrapnel.  Astonishing.  

[Robert L.]

It must have been surreal to be playing golf while overhead Spitfires and Hurricanes were fighting Messerschmitts and Heinkels. There had to have been bullets raining down on them! I have to tip my hat to these wartime golfers. They were not about to let a little thing like the Battle of Britain stop them from enjoying their game.

[scomac2002]

1 hour ago, Robert L. said:

It must have been surreal to be playing golf while overhead Spitfires and Hurricanes were fighting Messerschmitts and Heinkels. There had to have been bullets raining down on them! I have to tip my hat to these wartime golfers. They were not about to let a little thing like the Battle of Britain stop them from enjoying their game.

 

I rather doubt it was anything quite like that.  When the battle was raging overhead, the vast majority were engaged in one of two things:  helping the cause, whatever form that may have taken or ducking for cover.  Now, when the worst of the raids were over and society had returned to some semblance of function, then there would have been time for golf.  No doubt the countryside was littered with unexploded ordinance, wreckage and whatnot that would have presented a unique challenge to the game of golf.  That may well have proven to be quite fun to navigate.  I'm also quite sure that during the height of the battle there would have been a few rounds interrupted by claxons calling flightcrew to the line as pilots were doing anything they could to relieve stress.

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

I am very concious that many, if not all, of the old sets of hickories that I have acquired over the years were the property of brave servicemen who lost their lives in the cause they fought for.

And just like all children born into a war zone we were familiar with unexploded ordnance and both spent and live ammo. Our knowledge of basic explosives was normal for that time and would be completely unacceptable now. As a matter of routine we would make our own exploding caps to adhere to the back of a golf ball just to liven up an otherwise dull day. It's amazing we survived.