You saw your ball land, but now it has disappeared beneath a carpet of leaves. Can you drop another without penalty? Here are the rules worth knowing before your next autumn round.
You hit a decent shot, watch it land and walk towards the spot. A few minutes later, you are still searching through fallen leaves.
It is one of autumn golf’s frustrations. But a ball disappearing beneath leaves does not automatically mean you can drop another for free.
Is there a special “leaf rule”?
There can be. Under Model Local Rule F-14, a club can treat temporary accumulations of leaves in the general area or a bunker as ground under repair.
The important point is that the club must have introduced the Local Rule. Check the noticeboard, club website or competition instructions, including which holes and areas it covers. Fallen leaves alone do not make an area ground under repair.
What if I cannot find my ball?
If the leaf-covered area is treated as ground under repair, you may take free relief when it is known or virtually certain that your ball came to rest there.
That is stronger than “it probably went in”. If it could be somewhere else and you cannot establish the required certainty, you cannot claim this relief simply because leaves are nearby.
For a ball that has not been found, use the estimated point where it last crossed the edge of the ground under repair to work out the relief. Rule 16.1e explains the procedure.
Where do I drop?
For relief in the general area, find the nearest point of complete relief. Drop within one club-length of that point, no nearer the hole, remaining in the general area and taking complete relief.
If the ball is in a bunker, free relief must stay in that bunker. Where complete relief is impossible, the rules allow maximum available relief within it. The leaves Local Rule does not apply in penalty areas. See Rule 16.1.
What happens if there is no Local Rule?
The normal lost-ball rules apply. You have three minutes to find your ball from when you or your caddie starts searching. If it is lost outside a penalty area, the usual requirement is stroke-and-distance: add one penalty stroke and play again from where you made the previous stroke.
A provisional can save the walk back when your ball might be lost outside a penalty area. Announce it as a provisional before playing it. See Rule 18.
Can I move leaves to find or play my ball?
Yes. You may move leaves while fairly searching. If you accidentally move your ball during that search, there is no penalty, but you must replace it on its original spot, estimating the spot if necessary. See Rule 7.
Once you have found it, loose leaves may also be removed, including in bunkers. Take care: if removing them makes your ball move in the general area or a bunker, you normally receive one penalty stroke and must replace the ball. See Rule 15.1.
Before teeing off, one quick check of the day’s Local Rules could spare you a difficult decision among the leaves.
READ MORE: When Can You Actually Touch Your Golf Ball? The Rules Explained
