Provisional if tee shot is OB/lost

[walk18]

Most golfers I see either ignore this rule or are simply not aware of it, and they take a drop near where they think it was lost. Do you all notice this too, or am I the only one? Also, if you didn't know about this rule, please be honest. I'm just curious as to how many people are actually aware of it.

[Eeryck]

The response you will get here and the response from your average hacker will be greatly different. In the world of "golf" in casual America a fair number of folks have no regard for the rules, no real serious commitment to improve and treat golf as a beer drinking social past time.

The folks on this forum tend to be more rules aware and though this debate has been hashed out here before the general tendancy is for hitting a provisional, re-hitting from near the original spot if lost and the worst that seems to get begrudging acknowledgement is taking a 2 stroke penalty and dropping where you went out of bounds(this being a breach of the rules).

So "joe the plumber" that plays golf casually may think that lost ball is a one stroke penalty because he never bothered to find out the rules to the game he is playing and that is what all his buddies do or he may consider it the thing to do playing ready golf and being concerned about pace of play.

Hope that helped.

-E

[PiKapp23]

Honestly, I think 2 factors are in play here. The first being that people do not know that if ball is lost/OB that they must return to spot of previous shot. The second factor is that those who do know the rule either don't realize they have lost ball or gone OB so they didn't hit a provisional and do not want to return to tee for the purpose of pace of play.

It's hard to argue with the second set of people because play is already slow enough. There are times where we have all lost a ball or gone OB, but had no idea this happened until we started looking. An amateur league I play in has a local rule for this that the player it to take a drop near the spot ball crossed OB or where nearest spot they suspect ball was lost, plus add 1 penalty stroke (so it's a 2 stroke penalty - drop plus penalty). That ruling probably saves 10-15 minutes each time this occurs. I sometimes think this might be a good rule for the USGA to consider to help speed up play.

[Razorhog]

Takes too much time to go back that 350 yards to the tee box

[Fourputt]

If you've hit a shot that you feel might be OB or lost, you play a provisional ball. If you also think that there is a chance that the first provisional ball is OB or lost, you just play another provisional, and so on, making sure that you can identify each one from the others. Then if you don't find the original ball, you fall back to the first provisional. If you don't find that one, then you go to the next, and so on.

Simple solution.



Of course by now someone in the group behind you has broken his driver over your head..... It's ok, because hit couldn't hit the damn thing anyway.

[RocktimusPryme]

OB I always hit a a provisional of course. The lost thing is a bit sketchy, most places out here play "desert areas" as lateral hazards anyway. But the thing is theres alot of cases where Im sure if I were willing to waste 5 minutes searching and hold up play I could find my ball. Problem is most of the places where you would lose a ball out here are colored damn near the same color as the ball. But I wont do that, if its in a place thats not OB and Im positive I could find it given the time Ill take a penalty drop from the area.

When I travel and play though I dont see it near as much. its just easier to find balls on more normal course settings, because the colors are all greens and browns. The other big issue out here because its mostly rock, is where you balls lands isnt necessarily on the path where it will end up, things take insane bounces.

That being said I havent lost a ball where I didnt know where it went, such as the water in a long time. It might happen once a month. In my last 3 rounds Ive lost 6 balls. 2 of them I hit in the water. The other 4 I threw in the water myself. If theres water on a hole, and I three putt. Im going to be minus a ball.

[microcrayfish]

I had to explain to one of my mates that lost a ball that if he was going to drop one it'd be his 4th not his 3rd. I've also tried to explain that dropping a ball and hitting your 4th is actually against the rules to another mate who stone cold refused to believe me .

I don't have a problem if people don't want to go back to the tee or original spot to hit another ball in a casual game because it does speed up play.

[RemyM]

I always hit a provisional, becasue if I don't the ball is sure to be lost or OB and I will have a long walk back or will be DQ'ed. If I hit a provisional then 9 time out of 10 I will find the first one in a playable situation.

[David in FL]

I think most casual golfers simply don't understand the rule.......especially as it applies to lost balls.

[zRam]

Most people don't understand the rules.
I didn't. The rule book can be confusing at times. The people I play with all just drop where it went out and add a stroke. If everyone is doing that I don't see the problem it keeps things even.
Since I've decided to join a league I figured I needed to learn the rules properly, and only recently saw this rule.

[PiKapp23]

Since I've decided to join a league I figured I needed to learn the rules properly, and only recently saw this rule.

If you want to learn the rules and have a nice quick reference book for them, check this out:

http://www.amazon.com/Golf-Rules-Qui...1424281&sr;=1-1 It's only $10 and it's the best quick reference book I've ever seen.

[Snake]

A couple of Qs from the beer drinking, casual golfer crowd: 1) When you hit a provisional, do both shots count toward your score for that hole? 2) Can a provisional be hit from anywhere or only from the tee (ie. the second shot on par 5 goes out of bounds)?

[zeg]

The provisional is just that, provisional, until you reach the point where your original ball is likely to be found. So if you shank your provisional, you can continue taking strokes on that until you reach the area where you think your original wound up. At that point, you can begin your five minutes (or less, at your option) searching for the original ball. If you find it, then you completely forget the provisional(s) and those strokes are not counted. If you don't find it, you count the original stroke, the penalty, and any strokes on the provisional.

You can play a provisional from any point, not just the tee. On the tee you can re-tee anywhere in the tee box. Other places you have to drop as near to the original point as possible, I believe.

[glebert]

If my ball was heading OB I'll hit a provisional, but if I can't find a ball that should be in plain site I will just drop one in the area. I don't play organized golf or carry a handicap, though, so I can play by my own rules.

[Fourputt]

A couple of Qs from the beer drinking, casual golfer crowd: 1) When you hit a provisional, do both shots count toward your score for that hole? 2) Can a provisional be hit from anywhere or only from the tee (ie. the second shot on par 5 goes out of bounds)?

Any strokes made with a provisional ball only count if it becomes the ball in play, i.e. the original ball is lost or OB. You can play a provisional ball from anywhere on the course if you think that you ball may be lost or OB. You may continue to play the provisional ball without penalty until it lies at a point nearer to the hole than where the original ball is thought to be lost.

You are not allowed to play a provisional ball when you think that the original ball may be lost in a water hazard. A second ball played in that situation immediately becomes the ball in play under Rule 26-1a and you are penalized stroke and distance.

[PiKapp23]

A couple of Qs from the beer drinking, casual golfer crowd: 1) When you hit a provisional, do both shots count toward your score for that hole? 2) Can a provisional be hit from anywhere or only from the tee (ie. the second shot on par 5 goes out of bounds)?

1). Both shots do not count if you find your original ball. The provisional shot is then picked up and the original ball is played out from where it lies. If the first ball is in fact lost or OB, then your provisional ball is 'lying 3', which means you next shot with that ball will be your fourth shot.

2). A provisional ball can be hit from any location of on course from where you have just hit a ball and either know or suspect that shot may have ended OB or be lost. The same rules apply as above. When taking provisional from fairway/rough/bunker/etc. you are to drop the ball as close as possible to the location of the previous shot (and yes, technically this means if you took a divot, the ball should land in that divot or very close to it). The loan exception to the provisional rule is water hazards. If a ball has gone into water hazard and you have hit a provisional, then your provisional ball is in play automatically (even if you could play the original but it's inside the hazard stakes). If the original is outside the hazard then it is still the ball in play, even if you did hit provisional.

[Eeryck]

I thought you could repair your divot then drop the provisional, is this not correct? -E

[PiKapp23]

I thought you could repair your divot then drop the provisional, is this not correct?

No, you are not allowed to repair your divot prior to drop - doing so is a penalty (I believe 2 strokes, but I'm not sure of the top of my head). The exception to this is if you hit your shot, repair divot then go to your ball only to find it's lost/OB/unplayable. If that occurs, you are not penalized upon returning to previous spot which you have already repaired. I do not agree with this rule, but I understand why you're not allowed to fix the divot. It falls under the 'improving your lie' rule. It's not as bad a rule as not being allowed to fix spike marks on green, but it's still kind of a bad rule.