Hi Linda,
During play, I keep my "main" ball in my right
pocket, and I have a spare ball in my left pocket. I find this faster if I need
to hit a provisional or new ball, instead of walking to the bag and find one.
Today I found a "lost ball" on the course. As I
was a bit away from my bag, I put the ball in my left pocket, and later forgot
to put it in my golf bag. (I prefer to clean the course of lost balls when I
find them.)
A couple of holes later, I needed to play a provisional,
took a ball from my left pocket, and dropped. I then discovered that it was the
ball I found earlier, a cheap brand/type I do not like.
Do I have to play on with the ball I dropped, or could I re-drop
with the ball I intended to drop?
Regards,
Lou from Norway
Dear Lou,
The ball is in play as soon as it is dropped [Rule 20-4].
You must play on with the ball you dropped.
Don’t forget that you are obligated to announce to your
opponent, marker, or fellow competitor that you are going to play a provisional
ball [Rule 27-2a (i)]. When you make that announcement, you should include a
description of the ball that you will hit as a provisional. Had you included
this description, you would have noticed that you had the wrong ball in your
hand; you could have made the switch to your preferred ball before it was too
late.
Linda
Copyright © 2016 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
