The Lost Ball Rule: Not As Simple As It Seems

Deciding if your ball is lost is easy. You can't find it. Deciding what to do about it, on the other hand, isn't so easy. It's a complex decision more critical than many golfers think. Choose wrong and it can hurt. It may not cost you strokes on your golf handicap, but if you're playing in a match or a tournament, you could lose the hole, the match, or the tournament. So make sure you clearly understand the rule and its effects.

Few golf instructions sessions cover golf rules. But you can brush up on them by reading the USGA rulebook. Here's what it says on lost balls: USGA Rule 27—Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball—governs lost balls. Unfortunately, to fully understand this rule, you may also have to refer to USGA Rules 14, 20, 25, 26, and 28. And even then you may not clearly understand all the rule's ramifications.

Stroke & Distance Violation A lost ball is a stroke and distance violation. If you know your ball is lost or has gone out of bounds, you must hit a ball from the same spot and take a stroke. From the tee you can tee it up again. Through the green you can drop within one club length and from the putting surface you can place it. Of course, it you hit your ball out of bounds from the green, think seriously about taking golf lessons or reading more golf tips.

The USGA gives you five minutes to find your ball. If you can't find it after that time, the ball is lost. If you find it after five minutes and five seconds, the ball is still lost. Playing the ball costs you two strokes. In addition, you have to go back to where you first played the ball, take another stroke, and hit again.

That's straightforward and easily understandable. But a problem occurs when you don't know if your ball is lost. In deciding if it is, you must consider where it's lost. Is it lost in water or a regular hazard, in ground under repair, on or in a moveable or immoveable obstruction, or if a squirrel scampered off with it. These circumstances are covered under a different USGA Rule.

Provisional Ball Option If you think your ball is lost or out of bounds, you can hit a provisional ball. Provisional means temporary or conditional. This is your ball until and/or unless you find your original ball. Before hitting, you must declare your intention to play a provisional ball. Fail to do so and your provisional becomes your ball, even if you find the original ball.

You can continue to play the provisional ball up to where your first ball was lost. If you play your ball from this point on or a point nearer the hole, your first ball is considered lost. You hole out with the provisional ball—and the penalty. If your ball is lost in a water hazard or a lateral water hazard, however, you must proceed under USGA Rule 26-1. Under this rule it's to your advantage if the ball is lost in a water hazard because you don't have to observe the rule's distance penalty. The stroke penalty, however, is still in effect.

Abnormal Ground Conditions Distance and stroke penalties are avoided, if there's evidence that your ball is lost in abnormal ground conditions. In that case drop the ball within a club length of the point where the ball entered the hazard and hit. If a squirrel or other "outside agency" makes off with your ball, you can invoke USGA Rule 18-1 Ball Moved by Outside Agency. No penalty incurs.

By now your head is probably spinning. A lost ball does that to you. But if you play competitively, have a clear idea of what the rule says and how it's applied. If you don't, find out. Read the USGA rulebook, take golf lessons on them, or study golf tips explaining them. Knowing the rules won't cut your golf handicap, but it can save the hole and/or help win a match. Playing by the rules also makes the game more challenging.


Copyright (c) 2009 Jack Moorehouse