Balboa - 6/1/16
Provisional, provisional, provisional! That's my rule of the day. It never hurts to play a provisional (Rule 27-2). I sliced my tee shot OB on #8. So I hit another one. I was pretty sure that my second ball would be found and playable, but I wasn't certain. So I hit a provisional. I could see that one from the tee, so I knew that it would be playable. When I got to where I thought my second ball would be, it was nowhere to be found. It could have been under leaves, or it could have trickled through the boundary fence (though I didn't see it OB either). So my provisional became my ball in play, and I was laying 5. But at least I didn't have to do the walk of shame back to the tee box.
Per Rule 27, a lost ball is the same as out of bounds. It is not the same as a ball hit in a hazard. The penalty for a lost ball is stroke and distance. You can't just drop one where you think the lost ball should be.
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ReplyDeleteThis brings up a good point about playing a provisional, you must announce you're playing a provisional to a playing partner or fellow competitor. If not, it is deemed you have declared the ball OB or lost.
ReplyDeleteThis happened to me once in a tourney. I hit a ball off the tee that MAY have rolled OB so I said "I better hit another one". When we got down the fairway we found my first ball. A fellow competitor said I was required to play the second ball and take the stroke and distance since I hadn't announced my intention to hit a provisional.
I was steemed but when I checked it he was right. He was an asshole, but right.
There is an exception to this rule, when a player has to take the walk of shame and no one is around to hear him. But he then must announce as soon as possible when he rejoins the group.
Lesson learned, ALWAYS say "I'm hitting a provisional".
Caption Provisional agrees - ALWAYS announce. And that guy was an asshole.
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