Linda, I understand there is a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball but I'm not clear on how it is applied.
If I complete a hole and realize I did not finish with the same ball I used on the tee, do I simply add two strokes to my score? Or must I try to find my original ball? If I find the original ball, do I add two strokes before I hit it? In other words, if I thought I was hitting my second shot, does it now become my fourth shot? If I do not find the original ball, and I'm not clear when I lost it, where do I play my next shot?
Sorry to be so long winded and confusing.
Thanks
Lou Lou
Dear Lou Lou,
I answered a similar question in June of 2010. In that situation, a player hit a wrong ball on the fifth hole and did not discover the mistake until after she teed off on the sixth hole. I will give you a brief answer to your question. I also suggest that you read Ask Linda #217-Wrong ball penalty, which was published on June 30, 2010.
You must add a two-stroke penalty to your score for the hole, and you must go back and play your original ball. If you do not find your original ball, you must follow the procedure for a lost ball. This means you must return to where you hit the ball you lost, drop another, and add a one-stroke penalty to your score (you have now incurred three penalty strokes on this hole). If you tee off on the next hole without correcting your mistake, you are disqualified.
Here is how you to count your score if you hit the wrong ball on your second shot and you then find your original ball:
1. The tee shot is stroke #1.
2. Do not count the stroke you made when you hit the wrong ball.
3. Add two strokes for playing the wrong ball.
4. When you find and hit your original ball, that will be your fourth shot.
If you do not find your original ball, then your tee shot will be your fifth shot.
The answer as to what to do if you don’t know when you started playing the wrong ball is a little trickier. You are obligated to figure it out. Review your shots carefully with your fellow golfers.
In match play, you simply lose the hole. Makes you wish all play were match play, doesn’t it?
Linda
Copyright © 2011 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
