Some perspective

Anyone who has played golf for a period of time will be very aware of the highs and lows of the wonderful game.

There are times when you feel as if you are in complete control of your ball and there is nothing you cannot do. Equally, there are times when nothing goes your way and you feel as if the golfing gods have turned against you.

You feel like the unluckiest golfer in the world and ask yourself why you keep subjecting yourself to the relentless torture that the sport entails. However, in order to put things into perspective, I’d ask you to spare a thought for the members of Richmond Golf Club back in 1940 who had to adhere to the following rules, pictured right.

So, the next time you get a terrible bounce, an unfair lie or the putts keep lipping out, just remember that it could be a whole lot worse. Happy golfing!

Richmond Golf Club

Temporary Rules, 1940

* Players are asked to collect bomb and shrapnel splinters to prevent damage to the mowing machines.

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

* The positions of known delayed action bombs are marked by red flags at a reasonably, but not guaranteed, safe distance therefrom.

* 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.

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

* A player whose stroke is affected by the simultaneous explosion of a bomb may play another ball from the same place incurring a one stroke penalty.