Hi Linda,
My opponent hit his tee shot deep into the woods and
brambles. He declared a provisional ball and struck it fine. At the point where
the ball entered it was clear from the fairway that it was highly unlikely the
ball would be found. However, he felt that because he had declared a
provisional ball he was obliged to go into the dense woodland and search for
it.
Is player therefore obliged to search for the ball and if so
what definition is attached to “search?” It was my view even from the edge of
the fairway that he could declare his first shot lost making the provisional
ball the ball in play.
Thanks,
Lou
Dear Lou,
The player is not obligated to search for his original ball.
As soon as he hits his provisional from the area his original is likely to be,
the provisional becomes his ball in play and the original is officially lost.
There are a number of reasons why a player might want to
forego searching for his original ball:
• It is clear that the ball will not be found without an
extensive search (by players wielding machetes).
• The player is concerned about the pace of play.
• The player has hit the ball so deep into a wooded area
that he realizes that if he finds it he would need to return to the tee to hit
another ball because it would require several shots to get the ball back onto
the fairway.
Don’t forget that if
you find your original, you must abandon the provisional and proceed with the
original. If you find the original and decide to declare the original
unplayable, and your only viable option is to return to where you hit your
previous shot, you must do that. You may not say: “My original is unplayable. I
will continue play with my provisional.” If you continue with the provisional
despite finding the original, you will be playing a wrong ball (loss of hole in
match play; two-stroke penalty in stroke play, plus you must go back and play
the correct ball).
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
