Dear Linda,
Last Sunday in our Club Competition my group of three hit our drives up the last hole. My ball went to the right of the fairway towards a tree and the other two boys were slightly to the left of the fairway. When we reached our landing areas my ball could not be found. The other two lads then played and then they began to help me look for mine. After five minutes we still had not found the ball so I went back to the tee and played another ball. Then I played my next shot with the second ball and we all walked forward. When we reached our balls, one of the other lads discovered that he had played a wrong ball and the ball he had played was my original ball! We went back to the original landing area and we found my fellow competitor's original ball. We knew it was a two-shot penalty for him and he must play out the hole with his own ball. The question is though, Linda, "what happens to me?” Am I penalised? What do I do?
Thanks, Linda.
Regards,
Lou
Dear Lou,
I can answer your question, Lou, but I can’t promise the answer will make you happy. Once the five-minute search for your ball had expired, your ball was officially “lost.” You proceeded correctly when you returned to the tee and put a new ball into play. Your penalty for a lost ball was one stroke.
Let’s take a look at an alternative scenario. Suppose you looked for only a couple of minutes, and on your way back to the tee you found your fellow competitor's original ball. At that point everyone might have concluded that he had hit your ball. You would be entitled to place a ball on the spot where the other player hit your ball, and continue play of the hole with no penalty [Decision 27/6]. The other player would add a two-stroke penalty to his score for hitting a wrong ball, and continue play with his original ball.
The key is searching for less than five minutes Any time a search exceeds five minutes, your ball is lost under the Rules; the fact that someone else hit your ball has no relevance.
It would seem your bad luck was not seeing your ball carom off the tree on the right and settle on the left side. If you had an inkling your ball might be on the left, this fiasco might have been avoided.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
