Keep a stiff upper lip and don't putt near a bomb.

Chuckle. Sure have to admire the older British generation for their dedication to golf and humor.


One evening in the autumn of 1940 bombs fell on the (Richmond, England) course and Temporary Rules were introduced to allow for the consequences.  Evidently the Club’s laundry outbuilding was a military target. The Rules inspired much humour in newspapers and magazines around the world and continue to be re-published in the 21st century.

Temporary Rules, 1940 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 cover without penalty for ceasing play. 3. The positions of known delayed-action bombs are marked by red flags placed at reasonably, 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 from the same place. Penalty, one stroke.