7/5/2020 - Torrey Pines North

I was in the second group out at 5:38am.  When I got to the course, it was dark, with a full moon, complete with howling coyotes.  It was light when we teed off, but by the third hole, the fog started to roll in.  Teeing off on #3, we couldn't see the green at all.

I found that tee shot, I found my tee shot in the fairway on the next hole, and hit my approach towards the green.  I thought it was headed a bit right, and I went off in search of it.  I did not find the ball after searching for probably less than 3 minutes, but I declared the ball lost and put a new ball in play.

So what happens if you lose a ball in the fog?  Is it still a penalty?  As far as I can tell, the answer is "Yes."  There are no dispensations for fog.  The USGA recommends suspending any tournament play when visibility is limited.  But if you proceed with play, then the rules of golf say that the penalty for a lost ball is stroke and distance.  My club plays with the optional local rule that allows you to take a two stroke penalty instead (for pace of play).  So after chipping on and 3-putting, I wrote down "8" and proceeded to the next tee.

Turns out my shot didn't go to the right.  One of the members of the foursome found my ball just short of the green, but I didn't learn about that until I was on the next tee.

It wasn't a great round, but at least I got a good picture out of it.