Dear readers,
I have received a different ruling from another official via a reader in Florida that is in line with my original opinion. He cited the Exception to Rule 27-1c, which allows a player to drop another ball (under Rule 18-1) if it is known or virtually certain that the original ball was moved (or stolen, as in #1838) by an outside agency. He did not believe that the five-minute search limit was pertinent.
My advice would be to take advantage of the opportunity provided by Rule 3-3 to play a second ball and let your Committee sort out which ball to count. There is no downside to playing a second ball, and the upside of scoring a bogey versus an 11 would be well worth the trouble.
Linda
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