INDENTIFYING YOUR GOLF BALL
RULE 6.5 (BALL) Each player should put an identification mark on their ball.
RULE 12.1 (SEARCHING FOR BALL; SEEING BALL) In a searching for heir ball,
the player may touch or bend long grass and the like, but only to the extent
necessary to find and identify it, provided that this does not improve the lie of
the ball, the area of intended swing or their line of play.
A player is not necessarily entitled to see their ball when making a stroke.
RULE 12.2 (IDENTIFYING BALL) The responsibility for playing the proper ball
rests with the player. Each player should put an identification mark on their ball.
If a player has reason to believe a ball at rest is theirs and it is necessary to lift
the ball in order to identify it, they may do so without penalty.
In this scenario the follows must be observed:
Before lifting the ball, the player must announce their intention to their
opponent (in matchplay) or their marker/fellow playing partner (in
strokeplay) then mark the position of their ball.
They may then lift their ball and identify it, provided they give their
opponent, marker/fellow competitor an opportunity to observe the lifting
and replacement.
The ball must not be cleaned, beyond the extent necessary for
identification.
If the ball is the player’s ball it must be replaced in the same lie.
If the ball is the player’s and they fail to comply with any part of this
procedure, or they lift their ball to identify it when it is not necessary to do
so, they incur a penalty of one stroke.
RULES APPLICATION
LOST BALL
RULE 27 (BALL LOST OR OUT OF BOUNDS; PROVISIONAL BALL) If your ball is
lost in a hazard, proceed under RULE 26 (BALL LOST IN A WATER HAZARD).
By definition elsewhere on the course, a ball is lost in the following circumstances:
If it is not found or identified as “theirs”, by the player within 5 minutes
after the player, player’s side, or their caddies have begun to search for
it.
The player has made a stroke at a substituted ball.
Has played any stroke with a provisional ball from a place where the
original ball is likely to be, or from a point nearer the hole than that place
is likely to be. The provisional ball becomes the ball in play.
PROCEDURE
Should a player consider doubt the ball may be lost or out of bounds, a player
may elect to play a “provisional ball” (saving time). Additional strokes with the
provisional ball are permitted provided such strokes are not made at or beyond
where the original ball is likely to be.
If subsequently the “original ball” is not lost as defined, then strokes taken with
the “provisional ball” are discounted and play shall continue with the original
ball.
If a ball is “lost or out of bounds” the player shall (under penalty of one stroke)
play a ball as nearly as possible from the same spot from which the “original
ball” was played.
If the option of a “provisional ball” was taken then the provisional ball becomes
the ball in play (i.e. stroke & distance)
Players please note, having lost a ball in a hedge, or found it beyond the out of
bounds, you are not permitted to drop adjacent to the spot whence the ball was
seen to enter a hedge or out of bounds. You must return and play from as near
to the same spot as the original ball was last played (stroke & distance).