Allowed a New Drop or Need to Play the Provisional?

[cdh79]

Hi all,

 

So I was playing with some friends yesterday and we came into the following situation: The hole is a dogleg to the right and one of the friends teed off and his ball went straight over the fairway (too far for the dogleg) and we can see it land in the rough and then bounce into water. We haven't played the course before, so we thought this will probably be out of bounds there as this was the edge of the premises. He verbally declares to play a provisional and tees off again and his second shot is on the fairway, so his next should would be his 4th shot (penalty is stroke and distance).

We come to the point where we saw his first ball hit the water, we notice it's not out of bounds, but it's a red penalty zone. Out of bounds only starts on the other side of the water, but we could all see that his ball ended up in the water (as it was bouncing in and we saw the splash).

This would normally mean that he'd be allowed drop there and then play his 3rd shot (penalty is stroke, but not distance). 

 

We're now wondering is he allowed to take a drop and play his 3rd shot, or is he required to play his provisional ball for 4?

 

thanks for any insight! 

[iacas]

He’s required to abandon his provisional as the ball is not lost or OB.

[DaveP043]

To add to @iacas's answer, look at Rule 18.3c(3)

Quote

(3) When Provisional Ball Must Be Abandoned. When a provisional ball has not yet become the ball in play, it must be abandoned in either of these two cases:
When Original Ball Is Found on Course Outside Penalty Area Before the End of the Three Minute Search Time. The player must play the original ball as it lies.

When Original Ball Is Found in Penalty Area or Is Known or Virtually Certain to Be in Penalty Area. The player must either play the original ball as it lies or take penalty relief under Rule 17.1d.

As soon as you realize that the Original Ball is (almost certainly) in the Penalty Area, you MUST abandon the Provisional.  

[cdh79]

Great, thanks a lot to both of you for the quick and detailed response.

My friend did the right thing (not play the provisional), but we were unclear of the exact rule, which has now been cleared up.