Linda,
My playing partner hit her ball into the trees. When we reached
the place where we thought her ball was, we could not find it. She in turn went
back to the tee box to hit a second ball, declaring she had a lost ball. Before
she could tee off we found her ball and tried to alert her but she could not
hear us and hit a second ball from the tee box. My understanding was that she
had to return to the found ball even though she had hit a second ball from the
tee box after declaring the first ball lost and then if she declared it
unplayable she would have to go back and hit another ball from the tee box. My
teammate said that once she approached the tee box a second time that ball was
now in play regardless of whether the first ball was found before the five
minute rule. And even if we had found it after she hit her second tee shot but
before the five minute rule, the fact that she had left the tee box once and
returned to the tee box a second time that second ball was now in play. Please
advise who is correct.
Kind regards,
Lulu
Dear Lulu,
Once a player returns to where she hit her previous shot and
hits another ball, the new ball is in play and the old ball is lost. This is
known as proceeding “under penalty of stroke and distance” [Rule 27-1a].
If the five-minute search time had not elapsed, and the
player had heard you calling her back, she could have continued play with her
original ball. As soon as she hit her second tee shot, her fate was sealed.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
