This document discusses the rules for determining when a ball is out of bounds and what to do in those situations. Some key points: - All perimeter fences at Arcadia Par 3 Golf Course are considered out of bounds. Stakes and lines are used to mark the out of bounds areas. - If a ball is determined to be lost out of bounds, the player must proceed under the stroke and distance penalty, dropping as close as possible to where the original ball was last played. - A player may play a provisional ball if there is a chance the original ball may be lost out of bounds, to save time. If the original is found in bounds, the provisional ball is abandoned.

1. The Rules of Golf
Explained
Bye Bye Birdies
A Women’s Golf Club
Presented By
Lori J. Baker

2. Rule 27
Ball Lost or Out of Bounds;
Provisional Ball

3. Definition
• The definition of out of bounds is “beyond
the boundaries of the course or any part of
the course so marked by the Committee.”
• All perimeter fences bordering Arcadia Par 3
Golf Course are considered out of bounds.

4. Out of Bounds Stakes
• When out of bounds is defined by reference
to stakes or a fence or as being beyond
stakes or a fence, the out of bounds line is
determined by the nearest inside points at
ground level of the stakes or fence posts
(excluding angled supports).

5. Stakes identify OB
• Objects defining out of bounds such as
walls, fences, stakes and railings, are not
obstructions and are deemed to be fixed.
• Stakes identifying out of bounds are not
obstructions and are deemed to be fixed.

6. Lines Define OB
• When both stakes and lines are used to
indicate out of bounds, the stakes identify
out of bounds and the lines define out of
bounds. When out of bounds is defined by
a line on the ground, the line itself is out of
bounds.

7. All of the Ball Must Be OB
• The out of bounds line extends vertically
upwards and downwards.
• A ball is out of bounds when all of it lies out
of bounds.
• A player may stand out of bounds to play a
ball lying within bounds.

8. Ball Lost Out of Bounds
• When a ball is determined to be lost out of
bounds, a player must proceed under stroke
and distance (under penalty of one stroke),
playing a ball as nearly as possible at the
spot from which the original ball was last
played (Rule 27-1a).

9. Playing From Wrong Place
• If a player drops a ball and makes a stroke
from a wrong place (Rule 20-7), she incurs a
penalty of two strokes and must play out the
hole with the ball played from the wrong
place, without correcting her error, provided
she has not committed a serious breach.

10. Play a Second Ball
• If a competitor becomes aware that she has
played from a wrong place and believes that
she has committed a serious breach, she
must, before making a stroke from the next
teeing ground, play out the hole with a
second ball played in accordance to the
Rules.

11. Before Leaving Green
• If the hole being played is the last hole of
the round, she must declare, before leaving
the putting green, that she will play out the
hole with a second ball played in
accordance to the Rules.

12. Report to Committee
• If the competitor has played a second ball,
she must report the facts to the Committee
before returning her scorecard; if she fails to
do so, she is disqualified.

13. A Serious Breach of a Rule
• The Committee must determine whether the
competitor has committed a serious breach
of the applicable Rule. If she has, the score
with the second ball counts and the
competitor must add two penalty strokes to
her score with that ball.
• If the competitor has committed a serious
breach and has failed to correct it as
outlined above, she is disqualified.

14. Significant Advantage?
• Note: A competitor is deemed to have
committed a serious breach of the Rule if
the Committee considers that she has
gained a significant advantage from playing
from a wrong place.

15. Provisional Ball
• If a ball may be lost out of bounds, to save
time, the player may play another ball
provisionally in accordance with Rule 27-1.

16. Inform Fellow Competitor
• The player must inform her fellow competitor
that she intends to play a provisional ball,
and she must play it before she goes
forward to look for her original ball.
• If the original ball is not lost out of bounds,
the player must abandon the provisional ball
and continue playing the original ball.

17. Provisional Ball in Play
• If she makes any further strokes at the
provisional ball, she is playing a wrong ball
and the provisions of Rule 15-3 apply.
• If the original ball is lost out of bounds, the
provisional ball becomes the ball in play,
under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule
27-1).