Ask Linda #1117-Ball found after player hits under stroke and distance

Ms. Miller,

In a recent tournament, I hit a second shot to a downhill par 5 that we could not find. We spent 2 or 3 minutes looking for it (we didn't have stopwatch) before I proceeded back up the hill so as not to unduly delay the play of others behind me because I knew it would take a few minutes to get back up the hill (and they were already waiting). I did not say that I was abandoning the ball.

Before I had hit my next shot and before the five minutes were up, they had found the ball in a greenside bunker, but I was too far away to hear or see them. I hit my shot from back up on the hill and played that ball out.

Did I have the option of playing my original ball since it was found before the five minutes were up and they could not contact me? (This, of course, doesn't happen on television where they have walkie-talkies for communicating). If not, when was the original ball considered lost? When I left to go back up the hill, when I hit my replacement shot, or some other time? If I had said I was going back up the hill to hit a "provisional for lost ball" instead of just heading back up the hill would that have made a difference? If, before I hit the ball from the top of the hill, I said this is a "provisional for lost ball" but nobody could hear me, would it still count as a provisional?

Thanks.

Lou in Pennsylvania

Dear Lou,

As soon as you drop another ball under stroke and distance, your original ball is “lost” under the Rules [Definition of “Lost Ball”]. You do not have the option to play the original ball. It is officially lost; the ball you drop is your ball in play [Rule 27-1a; Decision 27-1/2].

You may not state that you are going back to hit a provisional ball. Once you have gone forward more than 50 yards to search for your original ball, you lose the option to hit a provisional ball [Rule 27-2a].

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1116-Match play from different tees

Hi Linda,

Thanks again for a marvelous and informative service!

I had an unusual situation on Sunday in our club match play championship. My opponent was an elderly gentleman with an 18 handicap. In normal conditions our club allows players over 60 years and 18 or higher handicap to play off forward tees if they reduce their handicap by 2 strokes. He elected to play off these forward tees.

So a question in two parts:

First, should this option apply to a competitive match play game? Or should players be obliged to play off equal tees?

Second, if he is able to play off the forward tees, then when he has the honour can I request that he tees off before I tee off from the tees further back?  If I have to tee off first on every hole then I lose the ability to adapt my strategy based on the tee shot he has just played.

Either way, he whipped me fair and square! I would just like to understand the options for future reference.

Many thanks

Lou from South Africa

Dear Lou,

It is up to the Committee to assign tees. They may certainly permit players over a certain age and/or over a certain handicap to move up to the senior tees, adjusting their handicap accordingly. I play matches against men quite often, and I can assure you I rarely play from the same tees as the men. My handicap will be adjusted by the difference in the slope rating between the two sets of tees and the difference in the course rating. You may not have course and slope ratings in South Africa, but there will be some fair way to decide how many strokes will be deducted from the player hitting from the shorter tees.

Order of play should be strictly observed in match play. If your opponent has the honor, he should tee off before you. As you suggest, your strategy on a hole is often determined by what your opponent has done. You are entitled to that knowledge.

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1115-Return to tee for unplayable ball

Linda,

In a recent tournament my drive hit a tree and careened back over the tee box and landed in the fairway of the hole we just finished playing. The ball was at least 50 yards behind and to the left of the tee where I just hit from. Could I have deemed the ball unplayable and used the option to replay the shot from the tee box with a one stroke penalty? The ball was in the previous hole's fairway and was not interfered with by any objects. The concern was that replaying the shot would have been closer to the hole than where the errant "tree" shot landed.

Thanks!

Lulu from Maryland

Dear Lulu,

Option “a” under Rule 28, Unplayable Ball, permits the player to hit a ball from the spot where the original ball was last played. Regardless of where your ball ended up, you always have this option when you declare your ball “unplayable.” When you hit again from the tee, you may re-tee the ball, and you may tee it anywhere within the teeing ground. Don’t forget to add a one-stroke penalty to your score.

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1114-Carry both right- and left-handed clubs

Linda,

Is it legal to carry and use a right-handed driver and also a left-handed driver in the same game which consists of only 14 clubs in the bag?

Lou from Hillcrest, Queensland, Australia

Dear Lou,

Yes.

Players may carry up to 14 clubs per round. There is no requirement that they all be right-handed.

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1113-GUR near green

Hi Linda,

At our golf club bare patches at the side of some of our greens are marked as GUR. The problem is that the nearest point of relief is quite often behind the marked area. As this is close to the green, I usually putt from that position, but I now have to putt through this GUR area, which seems to me to make the marking of the area rather pointless. Is this the correct interpretation of the GUR rule, or would it be reasonable to drop the ball out of the GUR such that I would not have to putt through the GUR marked area? Also, sometimes having to drop behind the GUR marked area means dropping the ball in longer grass.

Thank you in advance.

Lou from South Africa

Dear Lou,

Relief from GUR must be within one club-length of and not nearer the hole than the nearest point of relief [Rule 25-1b]. If the nearest relief is in longer grass behind the GUR, that is where you must drop. You do not get to choose where to drop the ball.

The only time you are entitled to relief on the line of putt is when your ball is on the green [Rule 25-1a].

Don’t forget to assess your relief option before you lift your ball. If might be preferable to chip or putt the ball from the GUR rather than take it out and drop it in long grass.

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.

Ask Linda #1112a-Follow-up to #1112, Finding the Nearest Point of Relief

Hi Linda,

I have two questions that are related to this subject as follows;

1. Assuming that the ball is in a certain position on the buggy track that mandates a right-handed golfer to drop it on the left side because the left side happened to be the nearest point of relief but this very position at the same time mandates a left-handed golfer to drop the ball on the right side of the fairway. Under the said situation, may a right-handed golfer invoke his rights to play left-handed so that he can take the free drop on the right side of the fairway so as to get away from the trees on the left that may obstruct his swing.

2. Assuming he is allowed to do so and after dropping the ball, he decides to play right-handed but his feet are still on the buggy track, is this golfer entitled to drop the ball again so that he can have complete relief. 

Trust you would shed some light on this matter which I believe has been a subject of argument among many golfers.

Best regards,

Lou from Johore, Malaysia

Dear Lou,

Absolutely not! While a right-handed golfer may play left-handed any time he wishes (reverse this for a left-handed golfer), he does not have the “right” to relief for an abnormal (left-handed) stroke if his reason is to escape a poor lie. Please read Decisions 24-2b/17 and 24-2b/18.

Linda

Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.