Linda,
I'm taking you back to the last weekend of the old rules. I hit a ball into the rough and decided to hit a provisional. The area I hit into is really bad and most of the time you cannot find your ball and if you do it is not playable. I looked for the ball a couple of minutes and I declared the ball lost. At the same time another player came over and found the ball after I said, “declare it lost.” A couple of guys in the group said I had to play the original ball because it was within the five minutes of looking for a ball even though I had declared it lost. Was wondering what the rule is here.
Many thanks for your great web page.
Lou from Perth, Australia
Dear Lou,
Other than the reduction in search time from five minutes to three, the Rule has not changed as it pertains to your question. Declaring the ball lost does not make it so. If it is found within the three-minute search time (and before you have put another ball in play or played a provisional ball from closer to the hole than where the original ball was estimated to be), you must continue play with the original ball. If that original ball is unplayable, you may, of course, choose one of the penalty relief options available in Rule 19 for an unplayable ball.
Linda
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