Announcing a Provisional

[hunterdog]

I don’t think this is hijacking the thread, but I have a question about announcing the provisional ball. Player A is last person in a threesome to hit a tee shot. Player A is unsure if ball will be found because original tee shot is headed to high rough. Player A decides to hit provisional but competitors have already sped away in their cart. Player A “announces”, on the now empty tee, that he is hitting a provisional which finds the middle of the fairway. Player A timely finds his original ball but competitors claim that original ball is out of play because Player A did not announce to them that he was hitting provisional. What is the correct ruling? Yes, this really happened.

[iacas]

This stuff is right in 18.3b.

Quote

But if there is no one nearby to hear the player’s announcement, the player may play the provisional ball and then inform someone of their actions when possible to do so.

Did you look @hunterdog?