Thursday, September 8, 2016

Ask Linda #1375-Original and provisional in same area

Linda,
Player hits original ball and a provisional ball into same general area off tee.
After looking for 5 minutes, he cannot find his first ball.
Is he entitled to another 5 minutes to try and find his provisional?
Lou from Howth, Ireland (near Dublin)

Dear Lou,

If both the original and the provisional were hit into the same area, the player has only five minutes total to search for both balls. In this situation, the search for one ball is, in effect, a search for both.

If the two balls were hit into distinctly different areas (e.g., one in the right rough, the other in the left rough), the player is entitled to two five-minute searches [Decision 27/4].

I sincerely hope other players in any group aid in the searches if there are two areas to comb through. Please bear in mind that those of us playing behind you would like to finish our round the same day we started!

Linda
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