What does the 10-second rule mean in golf?

How much time do you have to wait for the ball to drop into the hole when it's right on the lip?

You hit your tee shot on a par-3 hole, and the ball came to rest on the lip of the cup. Your group took a few minutes to walk from the tee to the green. When you arrived at the green, the ball had miraculously dropped into the hole. Does this count as a hole-in-one, or is it only a birdie because you incurred a one-stroke penalty for taking longer than 10 seconds?

You've probably seen golfers on TV take putts that just lip out. According to the rules, you have 10 seconds to wait for the ball to drop. If it doesn't fall within that time, you have to take a penalty stroke.

However, this situation is a bit more complicated since it's a tee shot, and the waiting time would certainly be longer than the 10-second rule for putts. In this case, would they be penalized for taking more than 10 seconds?

According to Rule 13.3(a), players are allowed a reasonable amount of time to reach the green before the 10-second rule comes into effect. In this scenario, the player wasn't on the green when the ball came to rest near the hole, and there's no evidence of time-wasting. Therefore, if the ball fell into the hole before the 10-second period expired, it would be counted as a hole-in-one from the tee.

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