Procedure For A Lost Ball

Procedure For A Lost Ball

According to the new (2019) rule Procedure for a Ball Lost or Out of Bounds: Rule 18-2 says that you have 3 minutes to search for your ball. This time starts from when you or your caddie actually start searching for the ball. If you do not find the ball within 3 minutes the ball is considered lost.

You must play a ball as close to the spot at which the original ball was played while also incurring a one stroke penalty. So you actually lose all the distance that the shot produced. Very few average golfers know this rule or what the procedure for a lost ball is. Let The Ultimate Golf School help you learn the Rules Of Golf so you can keep your playing opponents honest!

Whenever you hit a shot and you are unsure of whether or not you will be able to find your golf ball, you are allowed to hit a second shot from the same spot. This shot is called a provisional. The purpose of this shot is that in the event your ball is deemed lost you would not have to go all the way back to the original spot to hit another shot because you already did. If your ball is lost, you would then play the provisional ball to finish out the hole. You would still incur the same penalty as if you had to go back and hit another shot after you lost your ball.

Next time, if you are unsure if you can find your ball, hit a provisional just in case. It could save you some valuable time.