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How long do you look for a lost ball

Until I find it.

#havescubagear
#willdive
 
If you are looking any longer than a minute that is too long. Just IMO.
 
Depends on how crowded the course is. If there's someone behind me, not more than a few minutes...If the course is empty...I might go for a swim.
 
Varies depending on how many balls I have lost up to that point (thankfully I rarely lose more than 1). If it is the first ball I've lost, then I'll spend more time looking for it. On those days where it is the third ball I've lost, well I'll give up really fast cause I just don't care at that point!
 
I paid entirely too much money for those Dunlop DDh X-outs to let the course beat me. I will find that ball regardless of the time it takes. Go ahead, play through. I'm looking for my ball even if it takes all day.


Just kidding.

Actually, jut a few minutes is how long I look for my ball and then call it a loss... and no, I'm not going back to the tee box to hit. I'll drop a ball close to where I think the previous ball disappeared and hit from there.
 
I can usually find a ball in the rough rather quickly. Experience from all those years caddying.
If the ball goes in the woods usually I find other balls before find the lost ball. Usually spend a couple minutes looking depending how dense it is.
There should be a rule if you loose you ball in the woods or extreme rough but find a minimum of 3 other balls you can drop with out penalty. Haha

Now if it's a slow round were we are waiting I will do a little ball hunting. I find quite a bit if pro v's.
 
How long do you look for a lost ball

mpeterson said:
We usually play "PGA rules" when we play courses with ridiculous rough - if they'd find it on tour, you can drop where both player and opponent agree without penalty. For balls that go towards woods, this doesn't count. I usually spend maybe 2 minutes looking, and just hit.

Along similar lines - the worst is when you're trying to hit, and people are fishing other people's balls out of water hazards.
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This and this!

If it's outside of stakes then drop an take the stroke, if it's a foot or two off the fairway and you're both/all in agreement that's where it should be before the gopher ate it then no penalty.

I was playing with a couple strangers as a single and they kept stopping to fish balls out of the ponds and creeks and other areas normally filled with water or high weeds that was dried up and cut back. I just went on and played ahead of them after a couple holes of that. Nobody in front and people on our ass and they were grabbing dozens of balls. It was quite annoying!


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I dont.

No point in wasting time.
 
I play with used golf balls ... cost me a $1 ... so I do not look long at all, when playing a casual round ... will look longer in a league game.

Honestly a new ProV1 puts too much pressure on me not to loose it ... I am a cheap bastard and HATE loosing them!!! So I buy used ...

High HC that play a ProV1, then search for ever to find $4 dollar ball drive me crazy ... do not tee it up if you don't want to loose it ...

Remember for a lot of iSuk Golfers it is ... ProV1 of the tee, and Noodle out of the rough ... its just the way it is ... accept it ... embrace it and move on!
 
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It depends. If I'm in a group of four and can't find it after the first pass, I'll grab a few potential clubs and tell everyone else to go hit. That way I can search until it is my turn without holding anyone up. This is only if it just off the fairway and I have a pretty good idea of where it should be. If it is off the course or in a hazard I'll give it one quick look then move on.
 
I usually look 2-3 min. Depending on where it ended up or the hazard. Less if I hit a provisional longer if I didn't and thought I would find it. Nothing steams me more than not finding a ball I thought I should find.
 
Usually a couple of minutes. If it's a good ball, maybe a little more. If it's a slazenger, the search tops out at about 20 seconds.
 
If it's in a hazard or woods, I will usually just give a quick glance as I walk or ride by. If it was definitely in the rough, and just tough to find, I'll look for about a minute, then just drop and keep going.
 
A few minutes at most. I still slice often enough that its usually just a lost cause. I will look for even less time if someone is playing behind. Typically I'm usually playing relatively cheap balls for this exact reason. Not too big of a loss
 
A couple minutes tops.
 
About 45seconds.

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If its gone gone I look for a minute tops. If its "it was right here next to the fairway where the heck did it go??" I'll spend a couple minutes hunting.
 
If someone is behind me, just a quick look. If not, 2-3 minutes if I have a good idea of where it landed.
 
If I don't find it in the first 30 seconds, it's gone as far as I'm concerned. If a ball wants to disobey my commands and go flying off into the rough, then I don't want to play it anyway.
 
I rarely spend more than 2-3 minutes looking, unless I'm looking while others are hitting their balls. Once I feel I won't be ready to play when it's my turn, that is when I give up and take stroke and drop one.
 
I almost lost one in the fairway the other day, not because it was hidden, but I was looking in the wrong spot.

Fairway has a severe right to left slope and playing the proper approach shot will hit the rightmost part of the fairway and trickle down to the bottom as it runs out. Well, I hit it further right into the rough but still on the slope. I was certain that there was no way it would have kicked far enough left to get to the fairway, let alone roll to the bottom of the slope. I spent about 5 minutes walking methodically through the rough looking for the ball since I was the last one out on the course and had nobody behind me. After getting frustrated about losing a ball in the rough, I happened to look down to the bottom of the slope and noticed my ball sitting in the middle of the fairway. The only way it could have been better is if I had hit the green with the approach shot and not hit it fat.

Typically, if I know it's long gone, I'll make a pass and look for a minute to see if it's bounced back off a branch or something.
 
A few minutes. If the course is open, maybe longer. I look for it longer if I KNOW it is right here, than if I THINK it's right around here, somewhere!
 
I spend maybe a couple of minutes at most. I do my best to not hold anyone up behind me. There are those occasions that I have to holler at someone playing in my group who is taking way more than 5 minutes to look for his ball.
 
ddec said:
Usually a couple of minutes. If it's a good ball, maybe a little more. If it's a slazenger, the search tops out at about 20 seconds.
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What the hell are you doing hitting a Slazenger? Must have been a water hole, hehe
 
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