While visiting the USGA Museum archives I was exposed to something special that made me realize how important golf is to many of us. As an Army veteran myself, I appreciate others’ sacrifices for country both past and present. This is a short story of sacrifices past.

Many brave soldiers and airmen were captured and taken prisoner by the enemy during World War II. Many of these men were imprisoned in German prisoner of war camps, or stalags. These soldiers endured hardships many of us will never even begin to understand. Many more never made it home alive as these hardships took their toll on them, cutting their precious lives short.  For the most part, our enemies certainly did not care about the welfare of their prisoners of war.

How does golf fit into war? Well, it seems that in between the valiant struggle for daily survival, our boys found a way to play a little golf. Who could blame them? This goes to show that to many of us, golf is really more than just a game, it is a way of life and could even provide a momentary escape from a prison camp. Not an escape outside the walls, although many of those were certainly attempted. I mean an inner escape where golf became a refuge of sorts from the monotomy of prison life.

It seems that the YMCA and the American Red Cross found a way to send over many items to our brave boys. Food, medicine, clothing, shoes and in fact, golf clubs were even included in these care packages. It seems crazy, the notion of playing golf in a prison camp. It seems even crazier that the ememy would allow such a thing. One can only surmise that our boys must have had some extra time on their hands and that their captors wanted them occupied so as not to cause trouble for the guards.

I searched in vain all over the internet to see what I could learn about the POW’s and  golf. Without access to special library files,  the pickings were pretty slim. Almost all I found was a former American bomber crewmember’s personal website about his ordeal and capture which led to his imprisonment in Stalag Air Luft 3. This man is surely well into his 80’s by now, but he took the time to exchange a few e-mails with me about the subject of golf and stalags.

Arthur Starratt found it a tough pill to swallow that GI’s would even use leather from their boots to make something silly like a golf ball. According to Mr. Staratt, “It’s hard to believe guys would cut up their shoes to make golf balls. At Stalag Luft One the goons would issue a P.O.W. a pair of shoes that were never the right size. So you would walk all over the camp to find someone who had your size and than he would walk around to swap with some one that had his size. When you got a pair that fit, cutting them up to make golf balls would be the last thing I would do.”  Ahhh, obviously Mr. Staratt was never addicted to golf. My passion for the game leads to believe that all that was needed was a very small piece of leather to construct the ProV1 of the day. I don’t want to make light of others’ struggles, but during basic training we constructed a real chess board out of paper and hid it from the drill sergeants. We played chess in the barracks every chance we got, it was simply an escape from the nightmare we were in. Certainly, not the real hell prisoners of war experienced, but similar situations, none the less. I have to believe, that if the guard’s allowed it, the men would find a way to play. I did locate a short 1995 New York Times interview with another stalag survivor.  He painted a much different picture of prison camp conditions. According to POW Joseph Boyle, “Golf hazards were a little unique. If the drive went close to the fence, the golfer would signal to the watchtower, and the German guard with the gun would motion that it was all right to pick up the ball. There were no caddies in this prison camp in Poland called Stalag Luft III.” According to Boyle, in Stalag Luft III, there was time for golfing.  “We played for Canadian candy bars, recalls Boyle, 50 years after his liberation. A hole-in-one would be worth half a candy bar. Even during the worst war the globe has ever seen, captured prisoners stayed healthy with the help of games.”  This is why I believe these men played on, whatever the game might be. In this case, our beloved game of golf.

According to Boyle, “The Y.M.C.A. had sent over a few clubs and some balls, but somebody had been unable to resist the urge to whack the balls far over the fence, so there was a need to come up with a new supply, preferably less aerodynamic.”

"My friend, Harry Indierie, from Huntington, L.I., had studied engineering," Boyle said. "He was the pilot and I was the co-pilot when we were shot down over the Brest peninsula. He made a graph about one-eighth scale of the two parts of a softball. We would take the cover of an old basketball or the top of a leather boot and cut them into figure eights.”

"For the inside, we would cut off some rubber from the heel of a boot. Then we’d take the innards of a softball and wind them very carefully. Then we’d borrow a needle and linen thread from the one guy in camp who was allowed to repair boots. We sewed the two cover pieces on tightly. Then we rolled the ball on a table top to make it tight, and we dampened it so it would shrink. Then we’d wax it. It looked like a miniature baseball."

American WWII POW constructed golf balls stored away at the USGA. WOW, is all I can say.

Boyle said that the the makeshift golf balls would only fly 50-75 feet, so even the best driver in camp, Sparling Bernadotte Anderson, whom Boyle says later had a whirl as a professional — couldn’t lose them.” There are many great and historical golf balls out there, but maybe none so special as these two on display at the USGA. They look like tiny little baseballs, made out of darkened shoe leather. How did their course play? "The ground was flat and sandy, so we’d smooth it out with pine needles and make our own putting greens," Boyle said. "We made our own putters from wood trim from the barracks. We played pitch-and-putt golf, using a used milk can for the hole."

Someone spent a lot time and hard work making these limited flight POW golf balls.

After a lengthy Google search, I finally located part of an October 1944 Prisoner of War newspaper that told a neat story about American prisoners playing golf in captivity.

If you would like an interesting and historic read, feel free to download the story here.

When you have the chance, thank a veteran for their past or present sacrifices, it allows us to play real golf on real golf courses. By the way, hey Choeppner, THANKS!