What's the ruling when a ball is lost when it definitely wasn't 'lost'?

[mouth]

If you can't 'find' your ball then surely it's 'lost'. Tough luck in having to take a penalty for a good shot but that's golf. If I didn't get punished by the course for what I call a 'good shot' then I'd be scoring an average of 61.

 

[Hobbit]

Lots of old folk in Surrey

 

[CliveW]

The relevant Rules are

Ball moved by outside agency not recoverable - Rule 18-1 and Note 1
Ball in abnormal ground condition not found - Rule 25-1c

In both cases it must be "known or virtually certain" that the relevant circumstances apply.

Note that for a ball lost in an abnormal ground condition you drop within a club length of the nearest point of relief from the spot where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the condition and of course not nearer the hole.

Thank you.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As others have said given the circumstances its a lost ball. Tough break though.

 

[SocketRocket]

So I hope that clears it up for you. It's probably stolen by old people from Scotland or Surrey or it could be a fox, seagull, badger, magpie or dog, maybe even Rumanian Gypsy children. It could be in a bunker, lake, ditch or rough (I guess you checked the hole) or down a rabbit/badger/vole/ferret/meerkat hole.

 

[duncan mackie]

So I hope that clears it up for you. It's probably stolen by old people from Scotland or Surrey or it could be a fox, seagull, badger, magpie or dog, maybe even Rumanian Gypsy children. It could be in a bunker, lake, ditch or rough (I guess you checked the hole) or down a rabbit/badger/vole/ferret/meerkat hole.

excellent sumary; and well done for not adding including stolen by aliens!

why I have this image of Marlene Dietrich saying 'let's face it - it's lost' I simply don't know

 

[joma1108]

If memory serves me correct this happened on the pro circuit a few weeks back (going from memory so dont shoot me if its not quite correct) Branden Grace was playing to a Par three and lost it in a greenside bunker, morrocan open i think,
It went so high i think it came down with snow on it,

they searched the bunker for 5 minutes but couldnt find it and he went back to the tee to play his third.

I think he finally ended up with a bogey four which was good going, and i think he also won the competition

 

[williamalex1]

in his case it was probably a meerkat that stole it, simples

 

[stevelev]

If you think it may be in the bunker you are able to search the bunker for it without incurring a penalty.

Also looking at your course, the green is nowhere near 150 yards past the bunker, from the start of the bunker to the boundary past the next tee it is 150 yards.

Maybe you are visualising the shot in your head way too much......... and seeing things :ears:

 

[upsidedown]

How about it hit the downside of the bunker and headed off to the trees on the right?

 

[SocketRocket]

Was there a smell of wee in the air?

 

[barrybridges]

Thanks for replies guys - some v.entertaining!

I'm absolutely confident that the ball didn't go OOB, nor did it reach the bunker to the left of the green.

I don't have the ability to drive the green on this hole (although others do) and I know I couldn't have reached the green.

I saw it clear the first bunker, but where it then went is a mystery.

Oh well!