Is it 5 minutes to look for a lost ball and does this rule aply to members aswell as visitors ?

yes its five

AN, 5 mins to look for ball on the same hole, if you lose it again you have to deduct the minutes you spent looking for it first time round, i.e. 3 mins spent first time only 2 mins to look second time.

Wasn't aware of that rule....

New one on me Tim

The five minute rule should be changed to 2 minutes in my opinion. I give up very quickly and take the penalty.

I agree, John. I often too find myself giving up - feeling like i'm slowing play down.

If you can't find it in a couple of minutes, you know its almost certain to be unplayable.

The Rule is 5min search time to locate a ball. That is each ball, and it starts when you begin to search and includes your caddiepartner.

AN, apologies, bit of usless duff information on my part, i swear blind i had read it somewhere that if a 2 ball was lost on the same hole them minutes were included in that find, so apologies for the usless info, John agree with you totally, if you havent found it after 2 mins, drop another and crack on stops the slow play.

That's another new rule. Can't find it so just drop another. I get so much grief in my work society when I tell people they can't do that!

Agree 100% in reducing search time to 2 minutes. Quick look and move on.

And don't get me started about people walking back to the tee. Should have played a provisional.

My experience tells me that when a bad shot is heading towards the rough a lot of players just turn away in disgust instead of marking the line with something on the same line so that searches are carried out in the most likely spot to find the ball.

The rough at my club is currently very punishing, balls are hard to find and if found almost unplayable, yet constantly all I see is searching nowhere near where the ball actually went, a failure to have played a provisional and a complete disregard for those having to wait behind.

As with others, I usually tend to spend 2 mins looking for a ball before considering it lost and dropping another in a solo knock / going back to re-play if it won't unduly hold others up.

If I have stuffed it into the cabbage, I will almost always play a provisional to try and speed up play.

I tend to think though that the 5 minutes are there to be fair to all. Several times, in a comp, I have spent the whole 5 minutes searching and have found the ball towards the end of that time.

Often this is when you have witnessed the ball land in what should be a safe location and are damn sure where the pesky little thing should be but it is hiding. In this case, they do tend to unhide after about 4 minutes and 55 seconds of looking.

Any more would be too long and hold up play, any less would be unfair when you are looking to make a score.

There is nothing worse than losing a ball in plain sight that you witnessed land.... (OK there are lots of things that are worse, but this one is pretty bad during that 5 minutes of searching)

Bob

I had to take the walk of shame (back to the tee) on the 18th in the monthly medal on Saturday. Bit of a pull and the ball kicked left into the trees after two bounces. The rough in there is very sparse so we were all confident we would find it but when we got down there it was nowhere to be seen. We waved the group behind us to play through and I passed them as they walked to their tee shots and I walked to the tee

I almost always play a provisional if I think there is any danger the ball will be lost. With the rough at our place at the moment that can be anything more than five yards off the fairway. Sometimes though you do get caught out

What a frustrating round I had last night!! Played with one "beginner" and one guy who is right off form at the moment. I think we spent half the round looking for their balls. The "off" guy kept looking and looking even when I told him his time was up. Puts you right off your game I find. Managed to get my golf head back on from 11 onwards though and returned 33... never give up (unless you are looking for your ball!!)

It is also worth remembering that any group behind are not supposed to have to wait for those 5 minutes while you look. The idea is that if a ball is lost and there are players waiting you should wave them through, and then have your 5 minutes looking. This normally gives the following group time to play past you and then you can continue with either your original ball or a new one. I am no great player but I hate waiting behind groups where they all think they can take 5 minutes each to look for a ball, and then again on the next shot!!