Golf rules during the Battle of Britain

Even in war times life goes on, 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.

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. (source)