Hello Linda,
We were standing on the tee box at No 17. A player hit his
tee shot towards an area demarcated as out of bounds. He then went to his bag
to take another ball out to hit what would be his provisional ball. He hit the
“provisional” ball without announcing to the group that it was a provisional. He
claimed that he whispered that to one player but that player denied such. We
then asked him to identify both balls. He informed us that both balls were
Srixon #3.
He went to look for his original ball to see if it was out
of bounds and we also joined him. We “stumbled” upon a Callaway ball and he
claimed that it was the first ball that he hit off the tee (he said he was just
joking when he said his original ball was a Srixon). We told him that it could
not be but he insisted and went on to play his second shot (the ball had not
gone out of bounds).
Here are my questions:
1. Is it compulsory that a player indicates/announces that
he is playing a provisional ball? If not, is there any sanction?
2. What is the rule if a player claims a ball that is
different to the one that he had claimed was his? In this case, he told us that
he was playing a Srixon 3 but then claimed that the Callaway was his.
Regards,
Lou from South Africa
Dear Lou,
The player must announce that the second ball he is
about to hit is a provisional ball [Rule 27-2a (i)]. Since this player made no
such announcement, the second ball he hit from the teeing ground is his ball in
play and is his third stroke on the hole under stroke and distance [Rule 27-1].
The original ball is lost and may not be played [Definition of “Lost Ball”].
Thus, the Callaway he claimed was his first ball is a lost ball and he may not
play it. When he hits the Callaway, he has played a wrong ball. He incurs a
two-stroke penalty [Rule 15-3b] and must abandon that ball and continue play
with the second ball he hit off the tee (Srixon 3). If he does not complete the
hole with the Srixon 3, and he tees off on the next hole, he is disqualified.
If he cannot find that Srixon 3, he must return to the tee to hit his seventh
shot on the hole.
If the player had properly announced his provisional, you
now have another problem. The player stated his original ball was a Srixon, and
then claimed that the found Callaway was his original ball. Unless he can prove
that he misspoke in stating his original was a Srixon, he cannot claim the
Callaway is his. Does the Callaway have his personal identification mark? Did
he have both a Callaway and a Srixon in his pocket, such that when he checked
his pocket he discovered that the Srixon was still there so he must have hit
the Callaway?
You could avoid all these problems by asking all players to
identify what ball they are hitting when they start the round. When a player
hits a provisional, ask him to identify the provisional and explain how it
differs from his original. If a player claims both his original and his
provisional are the same brand and number, he had better have different ID
marks on the two balls (perhaps green dots on the first and red dots on the
second). If he cannot distinguish between the two balls, you should ask him to
put down a different ball to hit or take a marker and put a distinguishing mark
on the provisional ball.
Linda
Copyright © 2017 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
