Provisional ball lost, but first one was found.

[Rrav]

I played a round with my friend and we approached short par 3 with the green on the hill separated by the water from the tee. His first shot went left to the green and he thought it was OB. He decided to play provisional but that shot went to the water. Then he decided to use the drop point closer to the green. On the way to that drop point we spotted the first ball somehow in the play. He then decided to play first ball. Can he do that and if yes, how would he calculate his next shot ?

Edited April 28, 2019 by Rrav

[iacas]

His next shot is his second. That’s all.

This assumes he declared the second ball a provisional.

[David in FL]

The whole idea of a provisional is to save time and not have to return all the way back to the prior shot location, in this case, the tee box in case the first ball is lost.  In this case, the first ball wasn’t lost, so the provisional is not in play, regardless of what happened to it.

As @iacas said, a provisional must be declared as such before the stroke though.  If not, then it is the ball in play, even if you were to subsequently find the first ball.

[chspeed]

I know this is an old thread, but I never understood the purpose of having to say "provisional". Why isn't it just assumed?

In other words, what advantage would I get by not saying it, and then finding my original ball?

[iacas]

20 minutes ago, chspeed said:

I know this is an old thread, but I never understood the purpose of having to say "provisional". Why isn't it just assumed?

In other words, what advantage would I get by not saying it, and then finding my original ball?

You could have two balls in play to choose from.

Saying provisional makes clear you’re not taking stroke and distance.