Mark the spot before lifting a ball to identify it.

The worldwide R&A/USGA baseline used here

This page applies the jointly issued 2023 Rules of Golf, effective 1 January 2023, for match play and stroke play. It was checked against the live R&A Rules and the Additional Clarifications of the 2023 Rules of Golf updated 1 July 2026. The central provisions are Rules 7.2 and 7.3 for identification and Rules 14.1 and 14.2 for marking, lifting, cleaning and replacement.

Rule 1.3a makes an adopted Local Rule part of the Rules for that course or competition. A Committee can therefore add a cleaning-ball or preferred-lies procedure, but a player must not assume that “winter rules” or lift-clean-and-place applies unless the Committee has put it into effect.

Use this sequence before touching the ball

1. Ask whether the ball might be the player's ball and whether it can already be identified as it lies.
2. Try to identify it without moving it, using its position, markings, brand, model, number, and condition.
3. If it cannot be identified as it lies, mark its exact spot.
4. Lift or rotate it to inspect it, taking care not to clean beyond what identification requires.
5. Off the putting green, clean only the area needed for identification.
6. Replace the ball by hand on its original spot, even if it belongs to someone else.
7. Remove any ball-marker before a stroke is made.

A personal mark is useful, but it is not the only proof

Rule 7.2 recognises three ways to identify a ball at rest. The player or anyone else may have seen it come to rest in circumstances that establish whose ball it is. The player may see a personal identifying mark. Or the ball's brand, model, number, and condition may match the player's ball in the area where it is expected to be.

The last two methods fail if an identical ball or an identically marked ball is in the same area and there is no way to tell them apart. Rule 6.3a therefore recommends putting an identifying mark on the ball, but the absence of a mark does not automatically make a ball lost.

A ball found before three minutes gets a reasonable identification period

Rule 18.2a(1) separates finding a possible ball from proving that it is the player's. If a ball is found within the three-minute search time but its identity is uncertain, the player must promptly try to identify it and is allowed a reasonable time to do so, including reasonable time to reach the ball. That period may extend beyond three minutes.

Clarification 18.2a(1)/3 says that when a ball is found near the end of the search time, up to one minute to identify it is normally reasonable. This is not a fresh minute for further searching: if the found ball proves not to be the player's after the original search time has expired, the player's ball is lost.

The need to identify must be real

Rule 7.3 applies when a ball might be the player's ball but cannot be identified in its present position. The player may then lift it, or deliberately rotate it, to expose enough of the surface to identify it.

If the logo, number, or personal mark is already visible and establishes identity, lifting under Rule 7.3 is not reasonably necessary. Placing a marker first does not create permission. On the putting green, a separate permission under Rule 13.1b normally allows the ball to be marked, lifted, and cleaned whether or not identification is in doubt.

Mark before lifting or deliberately rotating

Before deliberately lifting a ball under a Rule that requires it to be replaced on its original spot, Rule 14.1a requires the player to mark that spot. The player may place a ball-marker right behind or right next to the ball, or hold a club on the ground right behind or right next to it. Clarification 14.1a/1 confirms that “right next to” may be in front of, beside or behind the ball; accuracy, not a mandatory clock-face position, is the point.

A ball-marker can be a coin, tee, purpose-made marker or another small piece of equipment used for that purpose. Deliberately rotating the ball on the spot counts as lifting, so turning it to reveal a mark without first marking the spot is a procedural breach.

The player may proceed without calling someone over

The current Rules do not require a player to announce an intention to lift for identification or to give an opponent, marker, or fellow player an opportunity to watch. That requirement was removed when the modernised Rules took effect in 2019.

The player remains responsible for having a valid reason, marking accurately, limiting any cleaning, and replacing correctly. Explaining the action to nearby players can avoid confusion, but it is courtesy rather than a condition of Rule 7.3.

Expose the evidence, not the whole ball

Off the putting green, a ball lifted for identification may be cleaned only as much as needed to identify it. For example, the player may wipe enough mud from one area to reveal a personal mark or identifying print, but may not use the procedure as an opportunity to clean the entire ball.

Rule 14.1c has other no-cleaning or limited-cleaning situations: a ball lifted to check whether it is cut or cracked may not be cleaned; a ball lifted because it interferes with play may not be cleaned; and a ball lifted to see whether it lies in a condition allowing relief may not be cleaned unless the player then takes relief. A ball lifted from the putting green may always be cleaned.

Clarification 14.1c/1 warns that cleaning can happen without a wiping motion. Putting a muddy ball in a pocket, dropping it on the ground or throwing it to a caddie who catches it with a towel can remove material and count as cleaning. A player using the identification exception should hold the ball carefully and expose no more than the evidence needed.

Authorisation is normally specific to that occasion

Under Rule 14.1b, the player's ball may be lifted by the player or by someone the player authorises for that particular occasion. A general instruction covering the whole round is not enough.

A caddie may lift the player's ball without specific authorisation when it is on the putting green or when it is reasonable to conclude that the player will take relief under a Rule. Modifications in Rule 25 give additional permissions for certain players with disabilities.

Set the ball down by hand on the required spot

Replacing means setting the ball down by hand on its original spot and letting it go so that it stays there. It is not a drop. If the exact original spot is not known, Rule 14.2c requires the player to estimate it.

The spot includes the ball's vertical position. A ball that rested on, under, or against an immovable obstruction, integral object, boundary object, or growing or attached natural object must be returned to that same position relative to the object. It must not be pressed into soil or sand merely to make it stay.

Clarification 14.2c/1 allows the ball to be turned to almost any orientation when it is replaced—for example, to point a printed line in a chosen direction—provided its location and vertical relationship to the ground remain correct. The player may not use attached mud as a new pedestal if the ball did not originally rest that way.

The original ball normally goes back

When the Rules require replacement, Rule 14.2a normally requires the original ball. A different ball may be used only when the original cannot be recovered with reasonable effort and in a few seconds without the player having deliberately made it unrecoverable; when Rule 4.2c allows substitution because it can be clearly seen that the ball became cut or cracked during the hole; when play resumes after a suspension; or when another player played it as a wrong ball. A scratch, scrape, discolouration or paint damage is not enough under Rule 4.2c.

Identification alone does not allow substitution. If the lifted ball belongs to another player, that same ball is still replaced on its original spot. The separate wrong-ball and substituted-ball rules explain what happens if a player puts a different ball into play.

The player or the person who moved it may put it back

A ball that must be replaced may be replaced only by the player or by the person who lifted it or caused it to move. This is narrower than many casual groups assume: authorising someone to lift does not give every other person permission to replace the ball.

The ball is back in play once it has been replaced with the intention that it be in play, even if the ball-marker has not yet been removed. The marker must still be removed before the stroke.

Restore sand; find a similar lie elsewhere

If the original lie is altered after a ball that must be replaced is lifted or moved, Rule 14.2d changes the normal procedure. In sand, the player re-creates the original lie as much as possible and replaces the ball there; if the ball had been covered, a small part may be left visible.

Outside sand, the player places the ball on the nearest spot with a lie most similar to the original lie. That spot must be within one club-length, not nearer the hole, and in the same area of the course. If the original lie is known to have changed but its details are unknown, the player estimates what it was.

Try the original spot twice

If the ball will not remain on the original spot, place it there a second time. If it again will not stay, place it at the nearest spot where it will stay, not nearer the hole and within the location limits in Rule 14.2e.

For an original spot in the general area, the new spot must remain in the general area. For a bunker or penalty area, it must remain in that same bunker or penalty area. For a putting-green spot, it may be on the putting green or in the general area. Pushing the ball down to hold it in place is not the solution.

Rule 14.2e gives no permission to place nearer the hole. Clarification 14.2e/1 says that if no spot satisfying the area limits and the “not nearer” limit will hold the ball, the player must use an available penalty-relief Rule. For example, if no valid spot in the same bunker will hold it, unplayable-ball relief may be required.

A fair search can move the ball without a penalty

Rule 7.4 applies when the player's ball is accidentally moved by the player, an opponent or anyone else while trying to find or identify it. There is no penalty, but the ball must be replaced on its original spot, estimated if necessary. That differs from a deliberate Rule 7.3 lift, which must be marked before the ball is lifted.

If the ball had been covered by sand, the original lie must be re-created and a small part of the ball may be left visible. If the player moved the ball before starting to search or identify it, the Rule 7.4 exception does not apply and Rule 9.4b normally gives the player one penalty stroke.

Two indistinguishable balls use a special Rule

If the player sends an original ball and a provisional ball into the same general location and cannot tell them apart, ordinary matching evidence under Rule 7.2 cannot decide which is which. Rule 18.3c(2) controls instead.

If only one is found on the course, it is treated as the provisional ball and is now in play. If both are found, the player chooses one to be the provisional ball in play; the other is treated as the original ball, is no longer in play and must not be played. This is a strong practical reason to give the provisional a different identifying mark or number.

Cleaning ball and preferred lies are different Local Rules

Under R&A/USGA Model Local Rule E-2, a Committee may identify an area where a ball may be marked, lifted, cleaned and replaced on its original spot. Under Model Local Rule E-3, normally used for parts of the general area cut to fairway height or less, the Committee specifies a relief-area size and the player may place the original ball or another ball once on a chosen spot in that area, not nearer the hole and still in the general area.

Neither procedure applies automatically because a ball is muddy or because players call the conditions “winter rules.” Read the notice, scorecard or terms for the appointed course or competition: the defined area, distance and procedure are part of the Local Rule and can change the answer.

Five shortcuts the Rules do not allow

• “I marked it, so I may lift it”: marking preserves a spot; another Rule must permit the lift.
• “I only turned it”: deliberate rotation counts as lifting and requires prior marking when the ball must be replaced.
• “I may clean it once it is in my hand”: identification off the green permits only the cleaning needed to identify.
• “Any matching model must be mine”: an indistinguishable second ball in the same area can defeat that method of identification.
• “Replacing means dropping near the marker”: the ball is set down by hand on the required spot.

Officials look at the evidence available at the time

Whether identification lifting was reasonably necessary is a question of fact. A referee or Committee can consider what was visible, where the ball was expected to be, whether similar balls were nearby, and what the player and other people saw. A personal mark is strong evidence, but Rule 7.2 does not make it the only acceptable evidence.

When an original spot has to be estimated, Rule 1.3b accepts the player's reasonable judgment if the player promptly and carefully did what could reasonably be expected to locate it. Later video or other information showing a small inaccuracy does not by itself overturn that determination after the stroke.

Six practical rulings

• Mark hidden in rough: under the R&A/USGA 2023 Rules, the ball might be the player's but the visible surface gives no answer. Rule 7.3 allows the player to mark, lift or rotate, expose only enough of the surface to identify, and replace.
• Number already visible: under the R&A/USGA 2023 Rules, the visible brand, model, number, condition and location establish identity with no identical ball nearby. A lift under Rule 7.3 is not reasonably necessary, so lifting the player's ball for that stated reason costs one penalty stroke.
• Another player's ball: under the R&A/USGA 2023 Rules, a reasonably necessary, properly marked identification lift reveals someone else's ball. Replace that same ball on the spot without penalty under Rule 7.3; the search for the player's ball continues.
• Muddy ball on the green: under the R&A/USGA 2023 Rules, Rule 13.1b independently allows the player to mark and lift it, clean it fully if desired, replace it on the original spot and remove the marker.
• Ball found at 2 minutes 55 seconds: under Rule 18.2a(1) and Clarification 18.2a(1)/3 of the R&A/USGA 2023 Rules, the player promptly reaches the partly hidden ball and may have a reasonable identification period beyond three minutes—normally up to one minute when found near the deadline.
• Preferred lies announced for six inches: under R&A/USGA Model Local Rule E-3 as adopted with that distance, an eligible fairway ball may be placed once within six inches, no nearer the hole and in the general area. That is a Committee permission, not the ordinary Rule 7.3 identification procedure.

The consequence depends on what went wrong

• One penalty stroke under Rule 7.3: lifting the player's ball for identification when not reasonably necessary, failing to mark before lifting, or cleaning more than identification allows.
• One penalty stroke: playing a ball replaced by an unauthorised person, or playing after it was replaced in a wrong way but on the required spot.
• One penalty stroke: making a stroke with the ball-marker still in place.
• General penalty: playing from a wrong place—loss of hole in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play—or failing to re-create an altered lie in sand before playing from it.

If a ball lifted without Rule 7.3 permission turns out to belong to someone else, the form of play matters. An opponent in match play normally gets one penalty stroke under Rule 9.5b for deliberately lifting the player's ball unless an exception applies. Another player in stroke play is an outside influence under Rule 9.6, so there is normally no penalty to that other player, but the ball must still be replaced.

Rule 14.5 normally allows a replacement, substitution, dropping, or placing mistake to be corrected before the ball is played. Correction does not erase a penalty already incurred for an unauthorised lift or prohibited cleaning.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf — Rule 1.3, rules scope and reasonable judgment
• R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf — Rule 4.2c, inspecting and substituting a cut or cracked ball
• R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf — Rule 6.3a, same-ball requirement and identifying-mark recommendation
• R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf — Rules 7.2–7.4, identifying, lifting and accidental movement
• R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf — Rules 9.4–9.6, ball lifted or moved
• R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf — Rule 13.1b, marking, lifting and cleaning on the putting green
• R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf — Rules 14.1–14.5 and 14.7, ball procedures and penalties
• R&A/USGA Official Guide — Clarifications 14.1a/1, 14.1c/1 and 14.2b–e
• R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf — Rules 18.2a(1) and 18.3c(2), identification time and indistinguishable provisional ball
• R&A/USGA Official Guide — Clarification 18.2a(1)/3, reasonable identification time
• R&A/USGA Official Guide — Model Local Rules E-2 and E-3, cleaning ball and preferred lies
• The R&A — Additional Clarifications of the 2023 Rules of Golf, updated 1 July 2026
• USGA — 2019 elimination of the requirement to announce an intention to lift

Checked against the joint R&A/USGA 2023 Rules of Golf, effective 1 January 2023, the live digital Rules and Additional Clarifications updated 1 July 2026. Local Rules and Terms of the Competition adopted by the appointed Committee may supplement this baseline; this page does not assume that cleaning ball or preferred lies is in effect.