Ruling

Question
What options are there if a ball is lost in a clump of grass in a bunker?  If you look for it and it rolls out what is the penalty and do you replace it?  Match play and stroke play please.

Answer
Jenny,

If the ball cannot be found after 5 minutes the penalty is stroke and distance.

There is no penalty for accidentally moving a ball while searching for it. The ball would then be replaced. This is for both match and stroke play.

Thanks,

Michael Hoffman