Golf rules during the Battle of Britain

[snopes]

During the Battle of Britain early in the Second World War, the St.
Mellon's Golf and Country Club, located in Monmouthshire, adopted a set of
unusual rules for unusual circumstances.

Written by B. L. Edsell, the club secretary, they read:

1 - Players are asked to collect the bomb and shrapnel splinters to
prevent their causing damage to the mowing machines.

2- In competition, during gunfire or while bombs are falling, players may
take shelter without penalty for ceasing play.

3 - The positions of known delayed-actions bombs are marked by red flags
at a reasonable by not guaranteed safe distance therefrom.

4 - Shrapnel and/or bomb splinters on the fairways or in bunkers within a
club's length of a ball may be moved without penalty, and no penalty shall
be incurred if a ball is thereby caused to be moved accidentally.

5 - A ball moved by enemy action may be replaced, or if lost or destroyed,
a ball may be dropped without penalty, not nearer the hole.

6 - A ball lying in a crater may be lifted and dropped not nearer the
hole, preserving the line to the hole, without penalty.

7 - A player whose stroke is affected by the simultaneous explosion of a
bomb may play another ball under penalty of one stroke.

[Andrew of Ware]

This site mentions some of the rules using the 'The Scotsman' as a source.

Hoo’s a man supposed tae putt wi’ a’ thae bluidy fishin’ boats fleein’ aboot?
"A player whose stroke is affected by the simultaneous explosion of a bomb or shell or by machine-gun fire, may play another ball from the same place. Penalty one stroke."

—Scotsman. Although Ian Wood doesn't much care for the asinine cheering in golf galleries that seems to be spreading from the US to Europe, he notes that a golfer's handbook issued by St. Mellons Golf and Country Club during the Battle of Britain shows there have been worse pressures to golf under. "In competitions, during gunfire or while bombs are falling, players may take cover without penalty for ceasing play."'

I know St. Mellons is close to Cardiff, but how much bombing went on there during the Battle of Britain? At that time, the summer of 1940, the Battle of britain was being fought over the airfields of south-east England with fighters such as Spitfires, Huricanes, Messerschmitts rather than bombers.

ETA: Just done a bit of research and discovered that there was a bombing raid on Cardiff on 24th August, 1940. (Chronicle of the Second World War, Longman)

[Bonnie]

I'm a little surprised to see that the list itself is contemporaneous with WWII.

The New York Tribune published a piece sometime in late 1940 that was reprinted by several U.S. newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times (30 December 1940, Pg. 5).

GOLF RULES REVISED FOR WAR HAZARDS

LONDON, Dec. 29. (Exclusive) A suburban golf club near London has framed a set of rules to guide players in stroking and scoring through bombs and whatever else falls from the sky.

One rule is that "in competitions during gunfire or while bombs are falling, players may take cover without penalty for ceasing play."

Another rule ordains:

"A player whose stroke is affected by the simultaneous explosing of a bomb or shell or by machine-gun fire may play another ball from the same place, penalty one stroke."

Two other paragraphs say:

"The positions of known delayed action bombs are marked by red flags placed at reasonably but not guaranteed safe distance."

"A ball moved by enemy action may be replaced as near as possible where it lay or, if lost or destroyed, a ball may be dropped not nearer the hole without penalty.

In March, 1941, the venerable Times weighed in, reporting that,

[a] well-known golf club near London [has made] some temporary rules for play in war-time. They cover almost every possible contingency and were composed, as we should judge, not without a twinkle in the official eye. After dealing with sheltering from bombs during a competition, with splinters, craters, and other things of the sort, the code lays down, first, that "a ball moved by enemy action may be replaced, or if lost or destroyed a ball may be dropped not nearer the hole without penalty"; secondly that "a player whose shot is affeect by the simultaneous explosion of a bomb may play another ball from the same place. Penalty one stroke." ["Golf from the Air," 29 March, Pg. 5, Col. D]

Three months later, several U.S. newspapers recreated the list of "temporary rules," precisely as snopes has presented it, but this time attributing the requirements to the Richmond Golf Club.

Now, it's possible that the "rules" didn't originate with the Richmond Golf Club, but were adopted (with a wink), framed, and displayed in clubhouses across the country in the years to come.

Of course, an earlier piece in The Washington Post reported that Scottish golfers had been considering alternate "temporary rules" since the previous summer,

HOOT, MON! NAZIS OUTDO THE DUFFERS

Somewhere in Scotland, Aug. 2. Some of the most sacred soil of Scotland was desecrated today by Nazi airmen.

Several high explosive bombs and about 25 incendiary bombs landed on a golf course in this northeast Scotland area.

Craters 20 feet deep and 40 feet wide were blasted by the larger bombs.
The club rules committee had not decided tonight whether these craters should be treated as natural hazards or as ground under destruction, not subject to penalty strokes.

It was suggested that the proper punishment for the fliers who did the bombing would be to make them play the bomb-altered course, without niblicks. [3 August 1940, Pg. 1]

Bonnie "Where Eagles Are Dared" Taylor

[Avril]

I ran across this today on a blog I sometimes read, so I thought I would resurrect this thread.



Link to blog here.

[Troberg]

That list was quoted in the manual to the WW2 fighter version of MS Flight Simulator (can't remember what it was called). Of course, they may just be retelling a myth, but at least it's another point of reference.