Hi Linda,
This issue did not occur in my group, but I was asked about
it afterwards. I know it was handled incorrectly, but I'm not sure what the
penalty is.
A player hit her ball towards a hazard but wasn't sure if it
had gone in. She then proceeded to hit a provisional, which I believe is a
no-no. But hit it she did and when they got to the area where her original ball
had ended up, it could be seen in the hazard. The player decided to ignore her
original ball and finished the hole with the provisional, which she shouldn't
have hit in the first place. What is the penalty?
Thank you.
Lulu from San Diego, California
Dear Lulu,
A player is entitled to hit a provisional ball for a ball
that may be lost outside a water hazard [Decision 27-2a/2.2]. The player in
question did not err in hitting a provisional ball.
However, when she found her original ball in the hazard, she
was required to abandon the provisional ball and continue play with the
original ball. When she played her provisional ball, she played a wrong ball,
incurring a loss-of-hole penalty in match play, or a two-stroke penalty in
stroke play [Rule 15-3]. In stroke play, if she did not correct her error before
teeing off on the next hole, she would be disqualified.
The correction would be to play the original ball as it lay
in the hazard, or take relief under any of the options in Rule 26-1, all of
which include a one-stroke penalty.
Hypothetically, if it were her drive that went into the
hazard, count the tee shot, the two-stroke penalty for hitting a wrong ball
(none of the subsequent shots played with the provisional ball count), and a
one-stroke penalty (assuming she decided to take relief from the hazard). Her first
shot after taking relief would be her fifth on the hole.
Linda
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