I attended a Toy Soldier show over the weekend, enjoying my winter hobby of painting and collecting toy soldiers. And wouldn’t you know it—there, amidst the Napoleonic Lines and Crimean War Guards Grenadier were two figures of male and female 19th century golfers.

The figures are 1/32 (54mm) scale, meaning that they’re around two inches tall. That’s the scale popularized by the Britains metal toy soldiers, and the Marx plastics solders and play sets. If you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, they about the same size as those ubiquitous green plastic army men.

The man and woman golfing were part of a set of Victorian civilians that now are sadly out of production. I was sorely tempted—even at the $70 price tag, but finally decided that the last thing I needed was more stuff sitting around on my shelves.

Every guy of a certain age remembers the thrill of watching Steve McQueen evade his Nazi pursuers on a motorcycle in the classic movie “The Great Escape.” Based on the real-life mass escape of prisoners from Stalag Luft III during World War II, the movie had an all star, all-testosterone cast that included not only ultimate-guy Steve McQueen, but also James Coburn, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough and Donald Pleasance.

It turns out that digging tunnels was not the only thing the prisoners did, and that their ingenuity was not all focused on making fake passports and other gear. They also made golf equipment and constructed a golf course with the permission of the commandant.

There’s an article in the Birmingham Mail about one of the surviving hand made golf balls from Stalag Luft III. It’s in a case in a course in England.

A Coca Cola golf bag signed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet sold for $3,300 in an Ebay charity auction. It apparently was once owned and used By Buffet.

I dont’ even know where to begin on this one. At least it was for charity.

Forbes has a story on collecting classic golf clubs. Its fascinating stuff, and makes me want to start collecting classic clubs.

I’m going to have to win the lottery first, though.