It's 5 minutes, full stop.

[Maninblack4612]

Lots of discussion on another thread about the timing of a lost ball. It's very simple, it's lost after you've been looking for it for exactly 5 minutes.

The ONLY way to know this is to time it with a watch which measures minutes & seconds. Anyone who goes out in a competition without the means to measure the time is laying himself open to being accused of cheating, at worst & inadvertently breaking the rule, at best.

Most of my mates fail to time their searches, I often do it for them. As soon as I start to look for my ball I glance at my GPS, which also functions as a watch, and make a note of the minutes & seconds.

I doubt whether more than 10% of players in competitions at my club time their searches properly.

 

[Fish]

Lots of discussion on another thread about the timing of a lost ball. It's very simple, it's lost after you've been looking for it for exactly 5 minutes.

The ONLY way to know this is to time it with a watch which measures minutes & seconds. Anyone who goes out in a competition without the means to measure the time is laying himself open to being accused of cheating, at worst & inadvertently breaking the rule, at best.

Most of my mates fail to time their searches, I often do it for them. As soon as I start to look for my ball I glance at my GPS, which also functions as a watch, and make a note of the minutes & seconds.

I doubt whether more than 10% of players in competitions at my club time their searches properly.

If it's not that easy to find within a minute or not ideally where I want/need it to be, then I abandon it as to find it nearer to 5 minutes means it must be deep in crap!

 

[HankMarvin]

it's not rocket science and anyone who does not time themselves is in my opinion breaking the rules, carry a watch and time it from when you start looking it's just that simple.

 

[Dasit]

No one times it I play with.

If you find the ball after searching and while walking back to bag, play it


Golf is a bit of fun. Get over yourselves.

 

[guest100718]

No one times it I play with.

If you find the ball after searching and while walking back to bag, play it


Golf is a bit of fun. Get over yourselves.

? its easy to have a quick glance at the watch and time the search

 

[rulefan]

In my experience (confirmed by many other referees), players will usually abandon their search after 3 - 3.5 minutes. When it is pointed out that they have 2 minutes or so left, they express surprise bur usually don't bother continuing.

The use of a watch may become more importannt in 2019.

 

[chrisd]

Golf is a bit of fun. Get over yourselves.

It should always be fun, but if you're playing in qualifying comps, observing the rules is crucial

 

[Dasit]

So you hit a 300 yard drive, off line into some crap.

You playing with someone in a buggy and he whizzes over to search.

You arrive with the other 3 people 2.5 minutes later, he has been looking but not found.


Do you now only get just 2.5 minutes for the 4 of you to search?

 

[HankMarvin]

No one times it I play with.

If you find the ball after searching and while walking back to bag, play it


Golf is a bit of fun. Get over yourselves.

What a stupid reply you seem to be oblivious to the rules of the game, rules are there to be followed and if you can't grasp that then you shouldn't be playing the game.


You are classic example of where the game is going wrong, unbelievable Jeff.....

 

[HankMarvin]

So you hit a 300 yard drive, off line into some crap.

You playing with someone in a buggy and he whizzes over to search.

You arrive with the other 3 people 2.5 minutes later, he has been looking but not found.


Do you now only get just 2.5 minutes for the 4 of you to search?

Are you for real or have you just landed ?

 

[chrisd]

So you hit a 300 yard drive, off line into some crap.

You playing with someone in a buggy and he whizzes over to search.

You arrive with the other 3 people 2.5 minutes later, he has been looking but not found.


Do you now only get just 2.5 minutes for the 4 of you to search?

The time starts, as I understand, when you, or your caddy or playing partner (in the same team) starts to search

 

[Dasit]

What a stupid reply you seem to be oblivious to the rules of the game, rules are there to be followed and if you can't grasp that then you shouldn't be playing the game.


You are classic example of where the game is going wrong, unbelievable Jeff.....

This the same game in which they having to change the rules as numbers are dwindling?


The rules are not a perfect science, and you are not the decider of what is good and bad for the game.

 

[HankMarvin]

This the same game in which they having to change the rules as numbers are dwindling?


The rules are not a perfect science, and you are not the decider of what is good and bad for the game.

If you want to play the game then you as a player need to know the rules just like any other game. If you just want to be a hacker and play with your mates then that's fine do what you want but if you want to play competition golf then do yourself and other players a favor and learn the rules as your ignorance may have an effect on the results especially if you have no idea what you are doing.

 

[palindromicbob]

By the time this argument ends it'll be 3 minutes.

 

[oltimer]

This the same game in which they having to change the rules as numbers are dwindling?


The rules are not a perfect science, and you are not the decider of what is good and bad for the game.

If you don`t know the rules thus unable to apply them properly then your scores are pure fiction which is unfair on others playing in the same comp

 

[Fish]

The rules are not a perfect science

I don't get what you mean by this, are you saying you don't agree with some rules or understand some and as such don't follow or enforce them?

Are you trying to interpret the rules to suit yourself or the situations you find yourself in, as again the rules are not to interpreted, they are the rules as stated and are to be followed, so whilst they are what they are currently, they are an exact science!

 

[Fish]

This the same game in which they having to change the rules as numbers are dwindling? .

I'm not sure what or how much evidence there is that the rules of golf is a reason for numbers allegedly dwindling.

But again, rules are in place now and until any changes are fully implemented then they are the current rules and have to be followed fully whether you agree with them or not.

Most of the new proposed rule changes which haven't been sanctioned yet I don't believe and are scheduled not to come in for some time yet, are, mainly based around speed of play.

So what rules do you think are not an exact science and are the cause of numbers dwindling,

I don't know anyone who has given up golf because they didn't like or agree with a rule/s!?

 

[Smiffy]

The problem is, when does the "timed" part of the search begin?
Many's the time I've been playing, somebody hits a ball which goes a bit offline but everybody has a good idea of where it has gone and starts walking towards it.
You get in the general area, all have a quick scan but you can't see it. You all look at each other in puzzlement exclaiming how bloody stupid it is, you've hit a ball out here loads and loads of times in the past and never had a problem before.
So now a little "panic" mixed with a bit of anger is creeping in. It's at this point in time that the "rules guru" in your group checks his watch. Do you start timing from there, or do you guess how long you have been looking already and add whatever is now ticking away to your guess?
Because I know for a fact that if I've hit a ball into the semi, I've started my own search for it the second I've left the tee and I can see the general area that ball landed in, hoping it's sitting up like a dogs doodah so that I can get a club to it.
The fact that it's not doesn't become evident for a good minute or so. So it's all just a guess. Unless you want to be really pedantic and pull the watch out on the tee the second the ball has landed.

 

[Fish]

The problem is, when does the "timed" part of the search begin?
Many's the time I've been playing, somebody hits a ball which goes a bit offline but everybody has a good idea of where it has gone and starts walking towards it.
You get in the general area, all have a quick scan but you can't see it. You all look at each other in puzzlement exclaiming how bloody stupid it is, you've hit a ball out here loads and loads of times in the past and never had a problem before.
So now a little "panic" mixed with a bit of anger is creeping in. It's at this point in time that the "rules guru" in your group checks his watch. Do you start timing from there, or do you guess how long you have been looking already and add whatever is now ticking away to your guess?
Because I know for a fact that if I've hit a ball into the semi, I've started my own search for it the second I've left the tee and I can see the general area that ball landed in, hoping it's sitting up like a dogs doodah so that I can get a club to it.
The fact that it's not doesn't become evident for a good minute or so. So it's all just a guess. Unless you want to be really pedantic and pull the watch out on the tee the second the ball has landed.

I don't know the exact wording because I can't be arsed to look it up but it's along the lines of once your in the area where you believe the ball landed and then start to look for it the time starts, not looking from a great distance hoping to see a little white (pink in your cae) beacon sitting waving at you.

 

[Colin L]

five minutes after the player's side or his or their caddies have begun to search for it

It's not being pedantic to time a search from the correct moment - it's good practice. If you realise you should be timing one that has already started, the honest thing to do would be to add on a estimated time.