Every golfer knows that they've got three minutes to search for a golf ball, but how many of us truly knows how long three minutes is?

It might be how long it takes to cook a (very) soft-boiled egg. It might be how long you dream you'd last in a dalliance with Paige Spiranac. But unless you've actually timed three minutes yourself, you don't really know - and that's a problem.

For a start, I wouldn't mind betting that you have never actually timed three minutes when you've searched for a lost ball. Most likely you'll have a desultory poke around in the grass or gorse and after what seems like a few minutes, you give up out of boredom because you just want to get on with the game. That's fine when you're looking for your opponent's ball and you don't care about finding it, but it's bloody annoying when your mates give up hunting for your ball when you're sure you've got time left.

Let's be honest, you'd have to be a bit of a chump to make a show of timing the search on your watch - have you ever seen anyone do that? In fact, when was the last time you used your watch to time anything? Or used the stopwatch function on a digital watch? Probably about the same time you masturbated over the lingerie pages of the Littlewoods catalogue.

You could use the timer function on your phone but that isn't practical because while you're wandering around in the trees or the bushes or the long grass, your phone is probably in your bag back on the fairway. And anyway, everyone knows you shouldn't get your phone out on the golf course.

The upshot of all this is that you give up looking for your ball too soon. You lose your ball when you might have found it if you had taken all your three minutes.

And there's another very good reason why you should always have a Pocket Timer to hand when you play. It's for when you come up against that annoying matchplay opponent who calls time on your search when you feel certain you've got longer to look. Wouldn't you like to be able to prove to him that you've got a bit more time left? Yes, you would.

Or when that same guy spends ages looking for his ball and doesn't have the decency to call time on himself. Inevitably he finds the ball around the five minute mark and proceeds to play on and win the hole. Wouldn't you like to prove to him that his three minutes are up so you can send him back to the tee? Yes, you would.

This is why I invented Pocket Timer - to help you win matches and get lower scores.

Lightweight, discreet, effective, and easy to use, Pocket Timer is the perfect way to make sure you search for the three minutes that you are allowed - and your opponents don't take longer.

Let's be honest: you probably wouldn't use your full three minutes with Paige Spiranac, but there's no reason why you shouldn't use them on the golf course. Get your Pocket Timer today.