Stupid Golf Question

If a golf ball bounces out of the cup, does it still count as a score or a hole or whatever it is called?

Nope, the ball has to come to rest inside the hole for it to count.

I’m still looking for the specific rule.

Ahh, here it is in under “Definitions”

I believe the ball has to come to a stop inside the cup. Otherwise, to many folks who just hit a long approach shot really close to the pin would swear that it went into the cup on the fly and bounced out.

(Later) I just looked this up on the USGA’s Web site (www.usga.org), and it looks like I was right. From that site,

"Under the Definition of “Holed,” the ball must be at rest within the circumference of the hole. "

Damn! Beaten to the puch while I was looking up the quote!

Should have gone with a different club sevenwood

What if the golf ball rests inside the hole for over thirty seconds minutes but then a gopher or hedgehog kicks it out?

How about after twenty seconds? or ten?

What is the amount of time the ball needs to stay completely in the hole for it to count?

Yeah, like maybe a 3-iron!:slight_smile:

The ball needs to come to rest. If it bounces out, it’s not at rest obviously.

Gophers and hedgehogs are outside agencies. There are rules governing outside agencies moving balls at rest (you get to replace the ball where it was). There doesn’t seem to be a ruling about a ball being nudged out of a cup by an animal, but since the holes are supposed to have a bottom, I would find it unlikely for a burrowing animal to knock the ball out of the cup.

Caddyshack notwithstanding.

Thanks, Dopers. You have satisfied my idle curiosity.

What if one of these is in the hole?

Again, an outside agency as such a device is not a normal part of the course.

However, if a tornado came by and sucked your ball out of the cup before it came to rest, you’re SOL.

In more ways than one, I’m afraid.

There must also be something that covers the situation whereby the ball lodges between the pin and the side of the cup. I’m sure that would count as “holed” also?

Very little is left up to interpretation in the rules of golf

Rule 17-4
If the ball rests against the flagstick when it is in the hole, the player or another person authorized by him may move or remove the flagstick and if the ball falls into the hole, the player shall be deemed to have holed out with his last stroke; otherwise, the ball, if moved, shall be placed on the lip of the hole, without penalty.

It’s doesn’t have to stay in for any length of time. The rule simply says:

Once the ball comes to a complete stop within the hole, it’s holed. Even if that pause only lasts 0.000000001 seconds (or anything above zero, for that matter). How anyone would verify miniscule durations like is tricky, but it’s also not relevant. If balls start popping out of cups right after they stop, you’ll need some clever officiating to know whether it was at rest. But judgement calls based on close margins are hardly new in sports (ever watch football?)

I would also state that I think it would be very difficult for a ball to hit the bottom of the cup and then bounce out unless the flagstick was already out and the ball was traveling with a lot of speed and spin, which would make it very hard to get the ball to land in the cup on the fly.

The times I’ve holed out long shots, including my hole in one :slight_smile: the ball just rolled down into the hole. But I’ve bounced a few shots off the flagstick and even had shots have rolled and hit the flagstick only to bounce out.