Definition: Known or Virtually Certain
The standard for deciding what happened to a player's ball - for example, whether the ball came to rest in a penalty area, whether it moved or what caused it to move.
Known or virtually certain means more than just possible or probable. It means that either:
- There is conclusive evidence that the event in question happened to the player's ball, such as when the player or other witnesses saw it happen, or
- Although there is a very small degree of doubt, all reasonably available information shows that it is at least 95% likely that the event in question happened.
"All reasonably available information" includes all information the player knows and all other information he or she can get with reasonable effort and without unreasonable delay.
When searching for a ball, only information discovered within the three-minute search time is considered when determining whether knowledge or virtual certainty exists.
[+] Known or Virtually Certain/1 - Applying "Known or Virtually Certain" Standard When Ball Moves
When it is not "known" what caused the ball to move, all reasonably available information must be considered and the evidence must be evaluated to determine if it is "virtually certain" that the player, opponent or outside influence caused the ball to move.
Depending on the circumstances, reasonably available information may include, but is not limited to:
- The effect of any actions taken near the ball (such as movement of loose impediments, practice swings, grounding club and taking a stance),
- Time elapsed between such actions and the movement of the ball,
- The lie of the ball before it moved (such as on a fairway, perched on longer grass, on a surface imperfection or on the putting green),
- The conditions of the ground near the ball (such as the degree of slope or presence of surface irregularities, etc.), and
- Wind speed and direction, rain and other weather conditions.
[+] Known or Virtually Certain/2 - Virtual Certainty Is Irrelevant if It Comes to Light After Three-Minute Search Expires
Determining whether there is knowledge or virtual certainty must be based on evidence known to the player at the time the three-minute search time expires.
Examples of when the player's later findings are irrelevant include when:
- A player's tee shot comes to rest in an area containing heavy rough and a large animal hole. After a three-minute search, it is determined that it is not known or virtually certain that the ball is in the animal hole. As the player returns to the teeing area, the ball is found in the animal hole.
Even though the player has not yet put another ball in play, the player must take stroke-and-distance relief for a lost ball (Rule 18.2b - What to Do When Ball is Lost or Out of Bounds) since it was not known or virtually certain that the ball was in the animal hole, when the search time expired.
- A player cannot find his or her ball and believes it may have been picked up by a spectator (outside influence), but there is not enough evidence to be virtually certain of this. A short time after the three-minute search time expires, a spectator is found to have the player's ball.
The player must take stroke-and-distance relief for a lost ball (Rule 18.2b) since the movement by the outside influence only became known after the search time expired.
[+] Known or Virtually Certain/3 - Player Unaware Ball Played by Another Player
It must be known or virtually certain that a player's ball has been played by another player as a wrong ball to treat it as being moved.
For example, in stroke play, Player A and Player B hit their tee shots into the same general location. Player A finds a ball and plays it. Player B goes forward to look for his or her ball and cannot find it. After three minutes, Player B starts back to the tee to play another ball. On the way, Player B finds Player A's ball and knows then that Player A has played his or her ball in error.
Player A gets the general penalty for playing a wrong ball and must then play his or her own ball (Rule 6.3c). Player A's ball was not lost even though both players searched for more than three minutes because Player A did not start searching for his or her ball; the searching was for Player B's ball. Regarding Player B's ball, Player B's original ball was lost and he or she must put another ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 18.2b), because it was not known or virtually certain when the three-minute search time expired that the ball had been played by another player.
