How long would you have looked for this ball?

[MEfree]

"Casual" round- 18th Hole on a backed up golf course (the group in front of you has not finished teeing off 5 of the last 6 holes when your group reaches the tee, including the 18th).  A par on 18 matches your best score ever for the back 9 (an even par 34).  With OB tight right, you put your ball into the edge of the forest on the left which has a severe slope back to the fairway.  50% of the time the shot will kick back into the fairway or light rough, and you will find the ball within 5 minutes about 80% of the time as the forest has limited ground cover.  Your provisional is hit deeper into the forest.

It starts raining just after you hit your tee shot.  The group behind arrives onto the tee just after you have teed off with two of the players in your group catching trees that lead to very short drives so that the group behind is watching them hit their 2nd shots before you even have a chance to start looking for your first.

How long do you look for your original shot?

[heggis]

the allotted 5 minuets. i hate playing slow but in this case i will take a full (timed) 5 minuets. i will not let other peoples enjoyment for the game rush my own personal goals as long as your not doing anything outside of the rules or purposely being a nuisance

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[iacas]

Five minutes.

Wave the other players through if you want. People seem to forget they have that option in situations like this (looking for a potentially lost ball, etc.).

[ditchparrot19]

Five minutes. Wouldn't going outside the rules make the whole personal-record thing null and void anyway? I know it would for me.

Just wondering about cases in which a provisional ball is hit -- if the first ball is not located in the initial five minutes, do you then get another five to find the provisional, or is it five total? If the provisional appears even less likely to be found, should the player keep hitting provisionals from the tee until he hits one that's certain to be found?

[ghalfaire]

If it was me and I didn't see either my ball or the provisional when I arrived where I thought they were,  I'd offer the group behind to play though while I looked for my ball (if OK with my playing partners).  I would not look more than 5 mins or when the group behind us cleared their second shots, which ever was shorter.  If had not found the ball by then I would take the "walk of shame" or just drop one on the fairway and finish the hole and score whatever gross was a net par for the hole with an asterisk on the card.

[Patch]

Perhaps my idea of a "casual round" is different than yours. When I play casual, I am just out there to have fun, and the score is of no consequence. Sometimes I don't even bother to keep score in some of my rounds. Since, as you posted, the course is "backed up", I'd probably go look for the ball where I think it should be, but if I don't find it post haste, I am probably just adding a penalty stroke, and dropping another ball in the general area. In other words I'd treat it like a lateral water hazard. Now if the score was important, then of course I would go by the rule  book all the way. If the folks waiting on the tee box, for me to get out of their way,  were not on board with me playing by the rules, it would be their problem, not mine. If some one were to have a problem with me skirting the rules to save time, then again, that's their problem.

I for got to add that I would wave folks through if my playing by the rules were holding them up, which falls under pace of play. http://www.usga.org/Rule-Books/Rules-of-Golf/Etiquette/

[Zeph]

If it meant as much as it seems to have, I wouldn't worry about spending five minutes on it. You've been out there for ~4 hours and played some of your best golf ever. You can take those five minutes.

Everyone going out on a golf course will have to plan for rain if it is a potential issue. Looking for your ball for five minutes on the last hole is fine. Looking for five minutes on every second hole, when you'll be shooting over 100, not so much. Unless you don't hold up anyone behind or in your group of course.

For me, it's more about the general attitude towards pace of play through the entire round, not individual events.