What To Do When You LOSE YOUR GOLF BALL! Rules Refresher

In this video, Golf Monthly editor Neil Tappin is joined by qualified rules expert Fergus Bisset to run through what you need to do in the various scenarios where you might lose your golf ball. A lost golf ball can be a confusing situation if you don’t know how to proceed, but thankfully we’re here to help with all the advice you need so you don’t incur any avoidable penalty shots!

► Skip to the section that interests you:
Out of bounds 0:21
Declaring a ball lost 1:47
3 minute search time 3:42
Lost in a penalty area 4:59
Ball moved by outside agency 7:30

► Did any of these rules surprise you? Let us know in the comments below! 💬

► Video filmed on location at The London Club. For more information visit the website: https://londongolf.co.uk

► Become a FREE SUBSCRIBER to Golf Monthly’s YouTube page now – / golfmonthlycoukmagazine

► Watch more on Golf Monthly…
📹 Dan Grieve On Becoming Golf’s Short Game Guru! 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re9L0A46EmA
📹 6 Rules Golfers Always Forget! 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAwxJD90Ico
📹 7 Recent Rules Changes That Will Save You Shots! 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngx63p1yQjw

🎵 Music – licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵

► For the latest reviews, new gear launches and tour news, visit our website here – http://www.golfmonthly.com

► Find us on social media:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/golfmonthly/
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@golfmonthly.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GolfMonthlyMagazine/
Twitter (X) – https://twitter.com/GolfMonthly

so you’ve lost your golf ball what do you do next well it depends where you’ve lost the golf ball and exactly what the scenario is there can be a lot to know here within the rules of golf so I’m going to be joined by golf monthly golf rules expert Fergus Bisset and he’s going to tell you everything you need to know for whenever you’ve lost a golf ball right we’re here at the London Club let’s get started okay so for this one we are talking about out of bounds and we’re on the left of the sixth hole here and there’s a hedge R it says on the back of the card that the Hedge Mar Mar s the boundary of the golf course now F I can see my golf boys just the other side of that hedge and what I would love to do is take a a two Club length uh penalty drop to get myself back in play somewhere down here um tell me that that’s okay I’m sure you would love to do that NE but that is not within the rules of golf so now unfortunately um even though you found your ball um even though it’s not lost it’s out of bounds and under the rule 18 to your your option here let’s start and say hopefully you’ve already played a provisional and that that would now be in play if that isn’t the case You’ be back to the te to play stroken distance now F I need to ask you one quick question here when you have a boundary line let’s say there was a a white chalk line on the floor at what point is the golf ball out of bounds and what point is it in bounds a part of the golf ball has to be on the golf course for it to be in bounds right if there was a white line here and the ball was sitting completely on the line it would be out of bounds right okay but if it’s slightly on the line but slightly inside the line then you’re okay then you’re in you’re inbounds if any part of the ball touches the course you’re inbounds sadly that’s not the case for me I’m heading back to the tea another hole another woeful tea shot this time my ball has gone right into the middle of this gors bush somewhere behind me and uh I have on this occasion Fus you’ll be pleased to know hit a provisional it’s gone straight down the middle of the Fairway and is quite a long way way down there there’s no way I really want to find this golf ball so surely I can declare this one lost and carry on unfortunately you cannot declare a golf ball to be lost um you can ask your playing Partners not to search for this original Ball but they don’t necessarily need to comply uh I’m trying to think why when is that most likely to happen in a match play situation I would say I would say in stroke play most reasonable people would allow that to take place but in match play they might think well I’m going to find that ball I’m in the bunker for instance I need a little bit of uh assistance here extra assist so so I I might come up and and and and say Neil i’ I’ve found your ball uh and now you’re in a place where you you are obliged to play it you would then have to come and identify your ball and if you didn’t make any effort to come and identify your ball you could be in trouble the committee might might look to disqualify you for a breach of misconduct so that sounds like a massive falling I think there could be there could be fistic Cuffs in the club post just about with that one but yeah I guess the the important Point here is to remember that you can’t declare a ball lost if you’re playing in stroke play and you fit your ball somewhere like this you can say to your playing Partners I’d rather you didn’t find it but in match play that gets a little bit more complicated don’t be too offended if your opponent decides actually in this scenario I might try and find it for you I’m just going to jump in here to remind you to like video if you’re enjoying what you’re watching uh and if you do know someone who loses a lot of golf balls why don’t you share this video with them and don’t forget to subscribe to the golf monthly channel for more rules related advice this isn’t looking too good in here Fergus um I sprayed my ball up the right hand side off the te again and at what point do does this is this ball lost well it’s lost when your 3 minute search time is up now your 3 minute search time began when either you or your caddy came to the vicinity where the ball was and began to search for it okay now 3 minutes is up and I’m afraid that means the ball is now technically lost right and now the options are have you played a provisional no hasn’t played a provisional well unfortunately then it’s stroke and relief back to play from where the original ball was hit that’s that’s it I’m afraid back to the T now what happens if on my way back to the te so through here I find my original ball can you offer me any hope in that scenario I’d love to be able to but no the 3 minutes is up and that’s it it’s it’s back to tea and that that’s it yeah I guess the point here is it really pays to uh get a good line on your t-shot when you fit it into a bit of bother and then if you have hit it into a trouble like this then do hit a provisional it will save you a bit of time in the long run um and it will stop you having to make that walk of shame back to the tea to hit another t- shot right so we’re on the beautiful seventh hole here at the London Club it’s a par three overwater really difficult hole you tea up from on the the hill over there play towards the green behind us and I’ve come up short we’ve seen a big splash my Ball’s definitely in the water it’s definitely lost but because this is a penalty area I’ve got a few options haven’t I tell me what those are yeah well I mean you’re absolutely right nil the ball is lost no question about it but you’ve got two options because this is a yellow penalty area one of which is is to go back to the T um stroke and distance relief play the T Again Play The t- Shot again hopefully not do the same thing again option two is a line of sight uh relief from the between the entry point and the flag now I can see there that’s going to put you on a grassy bank so that that might not be ideal but it is an option you might want you might want to take that um so yeah there are there are two two options for you to to to to take in this scenario um but this isn’t always the case in this particular scenario and there’s a really important important phrase within the rules of golf that you need to bear in mind that is known or virtually certain explain why that phrase is important and when it comes into play well here it could come into play if the ball around the edge of this um penalty area here there’s some longer grass if the ball had sort of rolled through a bit of that grass and had maybe gone into the penalty area but maybe stayed in the grass then we would look to the term known or virtually certain what does that mean well known or virtually certain is basically are you 95% sure that what H what you think happened happened yes so here in order for this ball to definitely be in the penalty area you would have to be 95% certain that they had gone in now looking at the longer grass here I would say it’ be very difficult to say if the ball had touch down in there that You’ be 95% certain that they had gone in the penalty area now in that instance you would begin I think your three minute search for the ball in that grassy area and if you couldn’t find it it would be a lost ball and it would be back stroken Rel a distance relief to the team you would only have that one option I think as Fergus says that comes into particularly into play when there is long grass around the penalty area looking to get relief from so worth bearing in mind if you’ve lost the ball into a watery grave like this one here you might just have a few more options to play with but you have to know that it’s gone in there or be virtually certain I might go for the green here oh no no get down oh dear oops now F I’ve hooked that one onto an adjacent Fairway uh that’s the 18th Fairway this is the 10th and it raises a situation that happens to every single one of us at some point in our golfing lives that is you hit the ball onto an adjacent Fairway and another golfer playing another hole either plays your ball or picks it up Fergus what are my options in that scenario well hopefully you’ll be able to speak to the person who has either played or picked up your ball and they can confirm that they have in which case that’s fine you you they will show you where it was sitting or you might be aware of where it was sitting and you can replace it and play on as as paranormal okay fine however if you aren’t able to speak to them yeah and you can’t find it or if they deny any involvement and you weren’t able to see it down then you might be in trouble because you get to the area you think it should be in and it’s not there then you have your 3 minute search time as as for any missing ball uh and if you can’t find it your only option is is to come back and take stroke and distance relief what if you’re sure that they’ve played it so in this scenario I can actually see my golf ball from here sitting up like a coconut on the 18th Fairway I can see it yeah so if another person comes along and they play my golf that ball that I can see from here I’m sure they’ve played my ball can I then drop one in that scenar you you this is our our favorite phrase that know or virtually certain um if you’re if you if you know or are virtually certain you’re playing Partners agree with you that you you’ve seen the ball in that situation and it is no longer there I think that that is fair to say no no virtually certain that the ball has obviously been moved by an outside agency I.E one of these other players and in that circumstance you’re able to go and uh replace the ball where where where you expect it to have been and and then you can play on as normal yeah but that threshold is very high so I would finish this bit with just an appeal to every golfer out there if you find another golf ball on your Fairway sitting up like a coconut before you pick it up or you play it just think to yourself for a second could this possibly have come from a different te CU it might well have just done so and you could in picking it up or playing it just ruin somebody else’s day so bear that in mind before you do it