A player thought his ball may be lost outside a water hazard
or out of bounds and played a provisional ball from the tee box. Although he
found it within the allocated 5 minutes, when it was found he declared it
unplayable and wanted to use the provisional ball as a substituted ball. His fellow
competitor said that to put another ball into play he had to either drop a ball
no nearer the hole or as far back as he wanted in line with the pin
or return to the tee. Was he correct, or could he continue play with the
provisional?
I was neither the player nor the competitor. I just listened
to the argument afterwards!!
Many thanks.
Lou from Oman
Dear Lou,
I have answered this question before, but the Rule bears
repeating.
If the player finds
his original ball, and it is not lost or out of bounds, he must abandon the
provisional and continue with the original [Rule 27-2c].
If the player continues with the provisional ball after
finding the original, he is in big trouble. He has played a wrong ball (two-stroke/loss
of hole penalty under Rule 15-3, and disqualification in stroke play if you
don’t return to play the original ball before teeing off on the next hole).
The player in your scenario found his original ball on the
golf course in an unplayable lie. He must abandon the provisional and proceed under
Rule 28, “Ball Unplayable,” with the original. His three relief options, all of
which will add a one-stroke penalty to his score, are:
• Play a ball (the original or a substituted ball) under
stroke and distance (which means a return to where he hit his previous shot).
• Drop a ball on the line-of-sight to the hole (this is the
imaginary line that begins at the hole, passes through the spot where the
unplayable ball lies, and continues to infinity).
• Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the unplayable ball
lies, no closer to the hole.
Linda
Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
