Lost Ball, No Provisional

[humblepeasant]

Hi all!

I believe if you lose your ball and didn't hit a provisional, to play by the rules you'd need to go back and hit another one from where you hit it (and incur a penalty stroke).

However, during a regular casual round on the course, that's not always practical.

I was just curious how you guys and the people you play with usually handle that situation as far as a score or friendly competition.

I always hit a provisional when I think it could be hard to find, but once in a while I can't find a ball that I would have sworn would be easy to spot!

[Hardspoon]

I only play casual games, and it's pretty much understood that you'll drop a new ball to keep the course moving...with a single penalty stroke.  I am probably one of the few people I've seen actually hit provisionals when I think there's something that might make it hard to find (caroming around in trees or whatever).

I put it in my Game Golf and handicap as +2 penalty strokes (so, as if I'd hit my third shot to that spot)...to try to keep a more accurate handicap.

[humblepeasant]

  On 8/18/2020 at 4:20 PM, Hardspoon said:

...you'll drop a new ball to keep the course moving...

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Do you drop it about where you thought it might have gone, or back in the fairway, etc.?

[Darkfrog]

I drop with stroke + distance penalty, so +2 strokes. 

  On 8/18/2020 at 4:24 PM, humblepeasant said:

Do you drop it about where you thought it might have gone, or back in the fairway, etc.?

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I believe that the new local rule for lost ball / OB states you can drop in the fairway.

[iacas]

  On 8/18/2020 at 4:25 PM, Darkfrog said:

I believe that the new local rule for lost ball / OB states you can drop in the fairway.

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Yes, please look this up, @humblepeasant.

[dagolfer18]

  On 8/18/2020 at 3:57 PM, humblepeasant said:

Hi all!

I believe if you lose your ball and didn't hit a provisional, to play by the rules you'd need to go back and hit another one from where you hit it (and incur a penalty stroke).

However, during a regular casual round on the course, that's not always practical.

I was just curious how you guys and the people you play with usually handle that situation as far as a score or friendly competition.

I always hit a provisional when I think it could be hard to find, but once in a while I can't find a ball that I would have sworn would be easy to spot!

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I do this too, and I hit as many provisionals as I need to. Usually I only need one, but there’s a few instances I can think off where I’ve hit two or three provisionals. But that was a long time ago.

[humblepeasant]

Found it, thanks!!

Local rule for out of bounds, lost ball

If a player hits a ball out of bounds or loses a ball, the general rules still require the player to return to the spot of the previous stroke and take a one-stroke penalty - a standard stroke-and-distance scenario. For example, if a player sends a tee ball past the white stakes and out of bounds, he must play another ball from the tee, which becomes the third shot after the penalty. It's the same scenario for a lost ball.

But the ruling bodies have added the option of a local rule that provides time-saving relief in such a scenario. Instead of the player returning to the spot of the previous shot in the event of a lost ball or a ball out of bounds, the player can take a drop in the nearest spot of the fairway (within two club-lengths of the edge of the fairway), no nearer the hole than where the ball crossed the OB line, with a two-stroke penalty.

The same local rule applies to a lost ball, with the player able to drop in the fairway across from where the previous ball is estimated to have come to rest.

This is only a local rule, and the course's rules committee must deem its use. This rule is not intended for high-level competitions, where the standard stroke-and-distance penalties will be in play. Consider it a gift to typical amateurs that will speed up play but not force somebody to march 200 yards or more back to a teeing area after learning that a ball is out of bounds.

Keep in mind, it's a two-stroke penalty under the local rule. If a player sends a tee shot out of bounds and proceeds under this local rule, they will play their fourth shot after dropping near the edge of the fairway (many amateurs casually throw down a ball and say they are playing their third from the new location, ignoring rules about stroke and distance). This is equitable to a player taking a stroke-and-distance penalty, then finding the fairway with the third shot from the tee. The next shot from the fairway would be the fourth.

[mclaren4life]

When I launch one into the woods I just drop one where my son hit his. The vast majority of the time he out drives me and has his in the fairway so it works out great. 

[TourSpoon]

In absence of the provisional, it's hitting 4 from the fairway under the local rule. I have only used this once in the last 10 rounds on a busy day. Like the quote says its a gift to the player, but more importantly its a gift to all those people who would have to wait for someone that is most likely out of the hole or butting up a certain max for handicap purposes. 

[RFKFREAK]

I didn't know about this local rule.

Good to know.

[Double Mocha Man]

  On 8/18/2020 at 5:13 PM, mclaren4life said:

When I launch one into the woods I just drop one where my son hit his. The vast majority of the time he out drives me and has his in the fairway so it works out great. 

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Nice.   I always drop one where DeChambeau might have hit it.  😀

[mclaren4life]

Well that half the time isn’t any better than your ball 37 feet deep in the woods under a log. 

[knott]

That local rule should become a global rule. More fun then pretend golf when you dont find it. Of course its a bit of a cheat because why hit a provisional if you can just hit a ball from guaranteed fairway. Just bomb the driver get a more valid strategy.

Its seldom I loose both balls on provisional but it happens particularly when hitting the second in rage. Hitting a third often feels expensive and pointless. 

[iacas]

  On 8/22/2020 at 6:00 PM, knott said:

That local rule should become a global rule.

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Hard disagree there.

  On 8/22/2020 at 6:00 PM, knott said:

Of course its a bit of a cheat because why hit a provisional if you can just hit a ball from guaranteed fairway. Just bomb the driver get a more valid strategy.

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Because a ball that goes that far offline doesn't go as far as one that just finds the fairway on its own. There's still — if you can hit the next shot better — an advantage to be had to hitting a provisional over taking two penalty strokes and dropping.

It's just a local rule for leagues and daily play so people can still post a score without feeling obligated to go back to the tee. And, generally speaking, better players I know still tend to hit a provisional, for a number of reasons.

[RFKFREAK]

  On 8/22/2020 at 7:45 PM, iacas said:

Hard disagree there.

Because a ball that goes that far offline doesn't go as far as one that just finds the fairway on its own. There's still — if you can hit the next shot better — an advantage to be had to hitting a provisional over taking two penalty strokes and dropping.

It's just a local rule for leagues and daily play so people can still post a score without feeling obligated to go back to the tee. And, generally speaking, better players I know still tend to hit a provisional, for a number of reasons.

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking.  In both scenarios, I'm hitting my 4th shot, but if I use the local rule, I may be hitting from the fairway, but I'm going to be a good number of yards back from where I'd be if I hit my average tee shot and, as we all know, in most circumstances, it's better to be closer to the hole and in the rough than further away and in the fairway.

[knott]

I am seldom to far out so I would rather hit a 20 metre short drive on a teed up lie then gamble on the second shot most times. 

[gjunkie57]

  On 8/22/2020 at 7:45 PM, iacas said:

Hard disagree there.

Because a ball that goes that far offline doesn't go as far as one that just finds the fairway on its own. There's still — if you can hit the next shot better — an advantage to be had to hitting a provisional over taking two penalty strokes and dropping.

It's just a local rule for leagues and daily play so people can still post a score without feeling obligated to go back to the tee. And, generally speaking, better players I know still tend to hit a provisional, for a number of reasons.

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At my level of golf I see many players, myself included, whose provisional goes to the same spot as the original. Best to drop in the fairway and hit 4 from there instead of losing ANOTHER ball.  

[iacas]

  On 8/23/2020 at 10:55 AM, gjunkie57 said:

At my level of golf I see many players, myself included, whose provisional goes to the same spot as the original. Best to drop in the fairway and hit 4 from there instead of losing ANOTHER ball.  

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That’s why it’s a local rule. To keep people moving.