Everything You Need To Know About Golf’s Out Of Bounds Rule
Our Rules Expert Fergus Bisset gives you a guide to the Rules surrounding out of bounds in golf. Get them right and you could save time and strokes.
Out of bounds (OOB) may be defined in a number of ways – white stakes, lines on the ground, fences, walls, railings. We give you the lowdown on out of bounds within the Rules of golf.
However it is defined, if your ball has strayed beyond the limits of the course, the first thing to remember is that there is no option within the Rules to drop a ball under penalty at the point where your ball crossed the OOB line, as you could with a penalty area.
If your ball is definitely out of bounds, under Rule 18.2 you must play another ball from where you last played, under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 14.6), whether from the tee or fairway or any other spot. So, if it was your tee-shot that had gone OOB, you would now be playing three off the tee.
If you are uncertain whether your ball has gone out of bounds, you can declare that you are playing a provisional ball (Rule 18.3).
And, to play a provisional you must clearly state this intention. You must announce before making the stroke that you are playing a ball as a provisional, or make a statement to indicate that is your intention. If you don’t, the second ball you hit will become the ball in play.
A ball is in bounds if it lies on or touches the ground or anything else (such as any natural or artificial object) inside the boundary edge. If it’s in the air above the boundary edge, suspended in a bush for instance, if any part of the ball overhangs the course, it’s in!
There are exceptions when you may substitute another ball when it is known or virtually certain what has happened.
If you know your ball came to rest in bounds but it was moved out of bounds by an outside influence – say you saw a dog pick it up and run away with it before dropping it out of bounds. In that instance, you place that or another ball back on the spot where it was originally and play on without penalty.
Where out of bounds is defined by white stakes or a fence, the out of bounds line runs between the nearest inside points at ground level of the stakes or fence posts.
If white stakes are used at intervals, the out of bounds line is the direct line from the course side edge of one stake to the next.
When a line on the ground is used, the line itself is out of bounds. However, a ball is deemed in bounds even if a small part of it lies on the course side of the boundary line.
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