Rules of Golf

Golf Rule 27 - Ball Lost, Out of Bounds, Provisional Ball

BALL LOST, OUT OF BOUNDS, PROVISIONAL BALL: A ball can be lost in a variety of situations, such as:
* a ball lost in ground under repair, the player must play according to the rule covering abnormal ground conditions.
* a ball lost in an immovable obstruction, the player must play according to the rule covering obstructions.
* a ball lost in a water hazard, the player must play according to the available options in the rule covering water hazards.
NOTE---There must be reasonable evidence that the ball is lost in one of the above conditions to proceed accordingly.

LOST BALL: a ball is declared lost if
(i) the ball is not found within five minutes after the player or his side have started to search for it
(ii) another ball is put into play even if the player didn't search for his original ball, and
(iii) the player plays a stroke at his provisional ball from a spot where the original ball is likely to be or a spot nearer the hole.
NOTE--if a wrong ball is played, the time spent in playing this ball does not count against the time the player is able to spend to search for his original ball.

OUT OF BOUNDS--when defined by stakes or a fence, the line is determined by the inside points at fround level. When defined by a line, the line extends both up and down, and the line is out of bounds. When all of a ball lays out of bounds it's considered out of bounds. If part of the ball is touching the line or inside points, the ball is in bounds.

PENALTY--If a ball is deemed out of bounds, or lost outside a water hazard. If reasonable evidence does not exist that a ball is lost in an abnormal ground condition, an immovable obstruction, or a water hazard. The player is penalized one stroke and must play another ball as nearly as possible to the spot the original ball was last played.

PROVISIONAL BALL--is played to save time and is played only if the player's ball may be lost outside a water hazard or may be out of bounds.

PROCEDURE FOR PLAYING A PROVISIONAL BALL: (i) announce clearly to his opponent, marker, or fellow competitor that he is going to play a provisional ball; the player must inform his opponent, marker, or fellow competitor prior to playing another ball (saying "I'm re-loading" is not acceptable).
(ii) Play in the correct order, which is after the other player's play their first ball first.
(iii) The player may take additional strokes at his provisional ball as long as it's further from the hole than the spot the original ball is likely to be.

THE PROVISIONAL BALL BECOMES THE BALL IN PLAY (add one-stroke penalty) if any of the following take place.
(a) If the player plays the provisional ball from a spot where the original ball is likely to be or from a spot nearer the hole
(b) the player plays a provisional ball without properly announcing it
(c) the player plays a provisional ball without having reasonable evidence that the ball was lost outside of a water hazard or out of bounds.

WHEN THE PROVISIONAL BALL MUST BE ABANDONED: If the original ball is found before the provisional ball is played from a spot nearer the hole than where the original ball lay. If the player does play the provisional ball after the original ball is found further from the hole, the player would be penalized for playing a wrong ball.