3-Minute Ball Search Deadline Holds, Even Behind Slow Play

The Rules of Golf give players exactly three minutes to search for a lost ball, and that clock does not stretch just because a slow group ahead would have kept you waiting anyway.

Does a slow group extend the search time?

No. Once a player, caddie or partner begins searching, Rule 18.2b sets a hard three-minute deadline. If the ball is not found in that time, it is lost and no longer in play, regardless of whether the group ahead would have delayed the next shot either way. The player must return to the previous spot and replay under stroke and distance.

There is one practical allowance: if replaying the shot still leaves a player waiting on a slow group, nothing stops them from spending extra time looking for that ball afterward, since it carries no penalty once it is already out of play. The only rule is not to hold up the group behind.

Is a ball stuck in a tree lost or unplayable?

A ball hit into a tree, such as one of the palms common on Florida courses, is lost under the same three-minute search rule if it can't be located, per the Definition of Lost. If a player can find and identify the ball — binoculars are allowed, climbing is not required — they can instead declare it unplayable under Rule 19.2.

A ball you can see and identify in a tree gives you a choice; one you can't find in three minutes does not.

Unplayable ball relief carries a one-stroke penalty and three options: replaying under stroke and distance, taking back-on-the-line relief, or taking lateral relief within two club-lengths of the ball's location.