Local Rules in Britain During World War II

The list that appears below has something of an "urban legends" feel about it. But it isn't an urban legend; it's a real list of temporary local rules put in place at Richmond Golf Club in 1941, taking into account that little inconvenience called World War II.

Temporary Local Rules at Richmond Golf Club During World War II
1. Players are asked to collect bomb and shrapnel splinters to save these causing damage to the mowing machines.

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

3. The position of known delayed action bombs are marked by red flags at a reasonable, but 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 move accidentally.

5. 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.

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. Penalty one stroke.

Ah, those Brits: stiff upper lips, and all that.

Richmond Golf Club still exists. It's about 10 miles outside the center of London, and visitors are welcome. Its location put it in a very precarious position during World War II, when the Nazis tried to terrorize Britain into surrender in part through the "Blitz." Later, V-1 and V-2 rockets were launched across the Channel into London.

But England, Britain and Richmond Golf Club withstood the barrage with bravery. As Winston Churchill so famously put it:

"We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight on the ninth fairway, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, we shall defend level par, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in gorse and the heather and the pot bunkers, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. But we will, if playing Richmond, take a one-stroke penalty and drop a new ball if a bomb explosion interrupts our stroke."

Popular posts from this blog

Lexi Thompson Bikini Pics

Image
(Note: new pics added to the bottom.) One of the fringe benefits of the LPGA Tour playing a tournament in the Bahamas is that some of the golfers snap selfies in bikinis and share them on social media. Like Lexi Thompson. Below are three bikini photos that Lexi took while she was in the islands for the 2014 Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic. Lexi posted them on her Instagram (@Lexi) page: The golfer posing with Lexi in the middle pic is LPGA rookie Jaye Marie Green. 6-21-14 : Here's a newer one: 9-16-14 : Here's a screenshot of Lexi's photo shoot for Golf Punk magazine : 10-31-14 : Lexi at the beach: Follow GSB on Twitter | Like GSB on Facebook 2-3-15 : Lexi in the Bahamas: 3-18-15: 10-26-15: Lexi wrote about this pic, "Been working hard on my fitness and nutrition for the last 3-4 years...but now I gotta make some time to even out these tan lines." 1-28-16: 4-9-16: 8-9-16: 12-28-16: 4-13-17: 12-19-17:
Read more

Urban Legend: Mrs. Palmer on 'The Tonight Show'

Is an urban legend about golf actually a suburban legend? There's a story that's told about Arnold Palmer's wife appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson . This would be Winnie Palmer, and the time was the late '60s. According to this legend, the following snippet was part of the conversation between Winnie and Johnny: Johnny: Do you do anything for Arnold before a tournament as a sort of good-luck charm or superstition? Mrs. Palmer: I kiss his balls. Johnny: Well ... I bet that makes his putter flutter. I've heard many people tell this story. Even had one friend who insisted that he watched it in real time. But there are a couple problems with the story. First, why would Carson have Arnold Palmer's wife on the show? Winnie Palmer was not herself famous. Second, nobody who knew Winnie can imagine her going on a talk show, nor - especially - coming anywhere near such a double-entendre. And, sure enough, a check of the Johnny Carson archives
Read more

The Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan Rumor

The Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair rumor. You've heard it, right? It got started back in 2010, around the time Phil Mickelson was winning The Masters. To this day, type "Amy Mickelson" into the Google search field and Google will try to autocomplete your query to "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan" or "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan rumor" or "Amy Mickelson Michael Jordan affair." Amy is Phil's wife, of course. Michael Jordan is a good friend of Phil's main rival, Tiger Woods. I understand Mr. Jordan also played basketball, but can't really speak to that. I focus entirely on golf, you see. With a side business in unfounded, crazy rumors. Put the Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair rumor in the "you've got to be kidding" file. There's not a hint of a scintella of evidence - evidence! what a concept! - of any Amy Mickelson-Michael Jordan affair. There's barely any evidence of an Amy Mickelson-Phil Mickels
Read more