The Leaf Rule

When the leaves begin to fall in earnest (often starting in mid-September) many golfers consider invoking the “Leaf” Rule. Not an “official” rule under the Rules of Golf, the Leaf Rule was introduced in the United States and is widely considered acceptable in climates where trees lose their leaves and make finding balls difficult.

When considering use of the Leaf Rule it is best that golfers agree to its use before the start of the round. Once agreed to, the Leaf Rule states that if a ball is lost in the leaves, it is not treated as a lost ball, with the subsequent stroke and distance penalty.

The Leaf Rule allows someone who has lost their ball in the fallen leaves to drop a free ball at the approximate spot where the ball was lost rather than spending a lot of time looking for it and delaying the game. If your ball goes off the fairway into a leaf covered area, search the area for 5 minutes, and then drop and place a new ball into play with no penalty stroke.

However, if you are scoring for handicap purposes, until October 31st, you can not invoke the “leaf rule” - you must count all your strokes. After October 31st, go ahead, since scores after this date are not included in handicapping.