When a golf ball goes OB?

Question

Ok your golfing on the fairway and the ball you hit goes OB what do you do?, also When you are driving off the tee box

Answer 1

An out of bounds ball is a stroke and distance penalty.  You are penalized one stroke for the ball going out of bounds, and you are penalized the distance that the shot traveled.  In other words, you have to hit from the same spot that the OB ball was played from, and add one stroke to your score.

A good way to remember this is the old saying "OB, re-tee, hit three."  Your tee shot goes out of bounds, so there is the one stroke penalty.  So your next shot would be your third instead of your second.  Then you are penalized the distance, so you have to go back to where you played the original shot from and hit your third shot from there...hence the term "stroke and distance."  If you hit your approach shot OB from the fairway, go back to the same spot, and hit your fourth shot from there.

OB is one of the worst penalties in golf...along with the "lost ball" penalty.

Answer 2

Everyone posting here is pretty much correct, 1 stroke penalty plus you must REHIT from original spot (so you lose the distance your 1st ball travelled).

However, when playing non-tournament or weekend golf (i.e. when course is crowded), in order to save time, you can keep the distance by dropping a new ball 2 club lengths (no closer to hole) at approximately where the OB ball crossed the OB line AND TAKE A 2 STROKE PENALTY.

Remember:  

White stakes=OB

Red stakes=LH (Lateral Hazard, play from if possible, no penalty; otherwise 1 stroke & drop)

Yellow stakes=LH (MUST take 1 stroke penalty and drop)

Answer 3

You have only one option. Its called "stroke and distance".  Go back to the previous spot where the last shot was played and add a one stroke penalty.  Its always a good idea to play a provisional ball in the case where you think your ball might have gone OB to save yourself the walk/ride back.

Answer 4

I don't think this is the official procedure but we either take a penalty stroke and tee off again or go to the estimated spot that it went out of bounds take a drop and a penalty stroke

Answer 5

You take a one-stroke penalty and the ball is placed back where you hit it, unless the rules deem it fair to play it where it is and you have a shot.

Answer 6

The penalty is "stroke and distance":

From the USGA Rules of Golf

"27.1

• b. Ball Out of Bounds

If a ball is out of bounds, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played"

So you have to go to the spot where you hit the ball from originally, add a penalty stroke and hit again.

From the tee, that means that your second tee shot is your THIRD stroke. (Stoke one OOB, stroke two penalty, stroke three second tee shot)

To speed up play, and prevent yourself from having to go back, whenever you think a ball is OOB or possibly lost, you may hit a "provisional" -- a second shot played right after the first. Then, if you do find the original, there is no penalty. If you don't , you play the second and take the penalty strokes.That rule follows:

"27.2. Provisional Ball

• a. Procedure

If a ball may be lost outside a water hazard or may be out of bounds, to save time the player may play another ball provisionally in accordance with Rule 27-1. The player must inform his opponent in match play or his marker or a fellow-competitor in stroke play that he intends to play a provisional ball, and he must play it before he or his partner goes forward to search for the original ball.

If he fails to do so and plays another ball, that ball is not a provisional ball and becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 27-1) ; the original ball is lost."

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Don't feel bad about not knowing. There is colossal ignorance out there about this rule. Way too many players don't know it; those who know it seem to ignore it.