Special rules of war-time golf
'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 but incur a one stroke penalty.'
Golfers at Cowdray Park Golf Club, near Midhurst in Sussex, will be issued with special War-time rules this weekend to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of D-Day.
The "Temporary Provisions", published by The Golfer's Handbook during the Second World War, will be pinned up outside the recently restored Golf Lodge on Sunday, when former pilot John Moffatt (86) will be guest of honour.
Mr Moffatt a former Fleet Air Arm pilot, is credited with launching the torpedo which helped sink the German Battleship Bismarck - a key moment in bringing the cessation of hostilities. He also served at HMS Daedalus, a naval shore base at Cowdray Park, during the 1940s.
The Temporary Provisions included:
*Players asked to collect bomb and shell splinters to save causing damage to mowing machines.
*In competition, during gunfire or while bombs are falling, players may take cover without penalty for ceasing play.
*The position of known delayed action bombs are marked by red and white flags placed at a reasonably, but not guaranteed, safe distance.
*A ball lying in a crater may be lifted and dropped not nearer the hole without penalty.
*A ball moved by enemy action may be replaced as near as possible to where it lay or, if lost or destroyed, a ball may be dropped not nearer the hole without penalty.
*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 but incur a one stroke penalty.
Cowdray Park's general manager Phil Stevens, said: " These rules were introduced during the Blitz. It seems only right that we should observe them on this important occasion."
