Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Ask Linda #474-Replaying a bad drive

Hi Linda,

If your playing partner takes his tee shot and drives the ball 30 yards into long grass, is he within his rights to decide to not look for the ball and declare it lost then drive again from the tee with a stroke penalty? I.e., hitting 3 from the tee?

Cheers,
Lou

Dear Lou,

Yes, although the ball is not officially “lost” until the player hits his second tee shot.

A player always has the right to play a second ball under “stroke and distance.” Count the first shot, add a one-stroke penalty, and count the second shot. As you correctly pointed out, he would be “hitting 3 from the tee.”

Linda
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