Tick. Tick. Tick.

The search is on for a small, round white object with dimpled skin. All that is missing is a search and rescue helicopter and a team of sniffing dogs.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

“Enough already,” said The Quarry’s head pro, Taylor Scinski. “The ball is lost. Drop another ball and move on.”

But no. While play backs up — the groups behind now starting to fume — the former owner of the ball refuses to give up. After all, not only did he just pay $6 for the ball, he is just as concerned — probably even more so — that the lost ball is going to cost him two strokes.

There is supposed to be a five-minute window for looking for a lost ball, but this guy is going to try to find his ball at any cost, no matter how long it takes. Besides, it’s been a pretty good hunting trip; while he hasn’t found his ball, he has found half a dozen other balls.

“Golf needs to have different rules for the people who are just out to have some fun and the pros who they watch on television,” said Scinski. “And the one that really needs to be changed is this one – the lost ball. Instead of spending all that time looking for lost balls, just declare everything as a lateral hazard. Drop another ball at the point where the ball went into the trees with a one-stroke penalty.”

via Golf needs to tweak rules to speed up play | Edmonton Journal.