Golf rules-lost balls and provisional: opinions please!
Discussion
Hi all
I wonder if I could ask the advice/opinion of the other golfers on here…
What is your interpretation of the rule of declaring a ball lost after announcing and playing a provisional ball?
I’ll give you the scenario-I was playing on Thursday evening (2 ball) and we got to the last hole (par 3). The chap who I was playing with tees off first and puts his ball in a copse of trees with long grass on the left about 25 yards from the pin. I tee off and ended up 10 yards shy of the green. Due (rightly) to his first ball being potentially lost he announced he would play a provisional ball, which he does and sticks it 4 ft from the pin- a great shot. We walk up the fairway and there’s a cursory glance for ball number one which he then declares lost and we play on. I ended up down in 4, he holes for 4 (including penalties) and we split the point, keeping him in front and he wins the friendly game.
My question is- if I wanted to have looked more rigorously for the first ball/encouraged him to look for it, would he have had to? Just for the regulation 3 mins, but it may have meant a different outcome if that was the case.
All opinions are welcome!
Kind regards
Mark
I wonder if I could ask the advice/opinion of the other golfers on here…
What is your interpretation of the rule of declaring a ball lost after announcing and playing a provisional ball?
I’ll give you the scenario-I was playing on Thursday evening (2 ball) and we got to the last hole (par 3). The chap who I was playing with tees off first and puts his ball in a copse of trees with long grass on the left about 25 yards from the pin. I tee off and ended up 10 yards shy of the green. Due (rightly) to his first ball being potentially lost he announced he would play a provisional ball, which he does and sticks it 4 ft from the pin- a great shot. We walk up the fairway and there’s a cursory glance for ball number one which he then declares lost and we play on. I ended up down in 4, he holes for 4 (including penalties) and we split the point, keeping him in front and he wins the friendly game.
My question is- if I wanted to have looked more rigorously for the first ball/encouraged him to look for it, would he have had to? Just for the regulation 3 mins, but it may have meant a different outcome if that was the case.
All opinions are welcome!
Kind regards
Mark
Once he'd called (and played) a provisional ball, he should really have looked for the original ball for 3 minutes before being able to declare it lost.
That said, when he putted the provisional, it automatically became the ball in play.
No penalty (AFAIK), but not exactly in the spirit of the game.
That said, when he putted the provisional, it automatically became the ball in play.
No penalty (AFAIK), but not exactly in the spirit of the game.
SS2. said:
Once he'd called (and played) a provisional ball, he should really have looked for the original ball for 3 minutes before being able to declare it lost.
That said, when he putted the provisional, it automatically became the ball in play.
No penalty (AFAIK), but not exactly in the spirit of the game.
Thank you! Kind of what I thought- me searching madly for his ball while he feigns a search is also a strange concept a bit out of spirit too 🙂That said, when he putted the provisional, it automatically became the ball in play.
No penalty (AFAIK), but not exactly in the spirit of the game.
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