Two 'lost' balls, one search area

clubchamp98

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If players arrive together then they have both got three minutes to search.
if they arrive at different times then the searches can overlap.
The searching starts when you or your caddy arrive not when your pps arrive.
Thats how I understand it.
 

jim8flog

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Does anyone actually check the time? I mean I’ve never set a stopwatch

When it was first reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes I started to have a watch on the buggy but it is not there now (but I should for one guy I play with regularly).
 

rulefan

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Prior to it being reduced I saw many players in county comps deciding they had had enough after about 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 minutes. When I indicated they'd got another couple they'd say 'not worth the bother' and continue with their provisional. The noticeable exceptions were the one who hadn't played a provisional.
Now they all seem far more likely to continue 'til the ref tells them 'times up'.
 

Colin L

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Prior to it being reduced I saw many players in county comps deciding they had had enough after about 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 minutes. When I indicated they'd got another couple they'd say 'not worth the bother' and continue with their provisional. The noticeable exceptions were the one who hadn't played a provisional.
Now they all seem far more likely to continue 'til the ref tells them 'times up'.

I couldn't quantify it, but my impression of more searches going to full time is similar - which does raise some concern about all the searches that go on when there's no referee around.
 

D-S

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I couldn't quantify it, but my impression of more searches going to full time is similar - which does raise some concern about all the searches that go on when there's no referee around.
Especially when the group calls the group behind through and continue to search the whole time.
 

Backsticks

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Especially when the group calls the group behind through and continue to search the whole time.
Yes. But its an unwritten rule that if you call a group through, you pretty much have until they have cleared and its your groups turn to okay, to find the ball.
 

rulie

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Yes. But its an unwritten rule that if you call a group through, you pretty much have until they have cleared and its your groups turn to okay, to find the ball.
That’s not a rule, it’s likely a breach of a Rule, and will result in a wrong ball scenario if the ball is found after the three minute search limit.
 

Swango1980

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Does anyone actually check the time? I mean I’ve never set a stopwatch
I do. But, I'm a loser and have my left wrist watch on GPS, timing my round, to go on Strava after. So, I just look at time when I arrive, and work out when my 3 minutes will be up.

However, I appreciate most people don't time it. Never played with anyone that has appeared to do so anyway, whereas played with many who would happily spend 10 minutes looking, unless someone tells them their time us up. And even then, if they find the ball after that, they'll do anything to try and play it. And I suspect most would allow them.
 

Colin L

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Yes. But its an unwritten rule that if you call a group through, you pretty much have until they have cleared and its your groups turn to okay, to find the ball.

As you see, you'll get a pretty sharp response to nonsense like this in a rules forum and rightly so. For your education, you can only "stop the clock" if you have to stop searching for your own safety while the group behind plays. As soon as they have played, the search time starts up again.
 

Backsticks

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Nonsense. There are no "unwritten" rules that reverse the game's rules.
Of course. But nobody ever times in amateur golf. So its a rule systematically ignored.

Time to look being governed more by the situation of the group behind and the chance of finding the ball. 3 minutes. 5 minutes. Its all the same. If the group behind is tight, then time taken before abandonment will tend to be shorter. If the group is let through, the time will tend to be longer.

So a 'rule' more honoured in the breach than the observance. And probably the most common one in all the rules.


Pro and elite competition I am sure are more diligent.
 
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