Not allowed to hit Provisional by ranger- rules/scoring question

[Elmer]

I was playing a course this weekend. 4th hole is a slight, to the right fairway.

Off the tee I pulled my ball left, far left.  Far left and 260 yards out.

Knowing that there was plenty of room to the left (the 5th tee box is over there) I did not hit a provisional and we went in search of my ball.

When we got there we found the ground was hard and the brush was matted down in what looked like work being done.

After 5 minutes we could not find my balls. We assume since the ground was rock hard it probably hit on the fly and rocketed further away to who knows where.

I tell my partner I will head back to tee and hit a provisional.

The ranger who had pulled up and watched us told me he had a tournament group behind us and the were on the tee, so I had to drop, take a stroke and keep moving.

The ranger stressed to keep moving as there were alot of people on the course.

so I dropped at a spot my kart partner agreed with and played from that spot.

I took a bogie (6) on the hole with a stroke.

But how do I score that, when the course had me violate the rules?

Know that the ranger instructed me to violate the rules, I have a decent round which I can not apply to my handicap.

What would you do/done?

[No Mulligans]

This:  http://thesandtrap.com/t/82295/par-handicap-for-holes-not-played-under-the-principles-of-the-rog

From that discussion, I like the side of that discussion that says, post what your most likely score would have been had you been able to play by the rules.

In your situation, I would have dropped on the spot and taken a two stroke penalty.  That's the best approximation I can think of if you would have been able to play by the rules.

As an alternative, par plus your course handicap for that hole plus two.

However, the other side of the discussion:

From the USGA site:  For handicap purposes, the player must record a score of par plus any handicap strokes normally received for the holes not played or holes not played in accordance with The Rules of Golf.

[DaveP043]

In this case, you started a hole, but didn't complete it, based on instruction by the ranger.  I suggest you score it as the most likely score you would have made, assuming you had hit your third shot from the tee.  As a 15 handicap, that could be par or bogey (its up to you to make this judgement call), plus your initial shot plus the penalty stroke.  You would be limited for handicap purposes to your ESC, which would be 7.

As @No Mulligans cites, we had a long discussion about this issue.  I agree with him, in this situation you should record your most likely score, or your Equitable Stroke Control score, whichever is lower.  When he suggests "par plus handicap plus 2", he's saying the same thing I suggested above. in a slightly different way.

[saevel25]

As @No Mulligans cites, we had a long discussion about this issue.  I agree with him, in this situation you should record your most likely score, or your Equitable Stroke Control score, whichever is lower.  When he suggests "par plus handicap plus 2", he's saying the same thing I suggested above. in a slightly different way.

I agree, please do not start another discussion on the subject of par+handicap versus most likely.

After 5 minutes we could not find my balls. We assume since the ground was rock hard it probably hit on the fly and rocketed further away to who knows where.

I tell my partner I will head back to tee and hit a provisional.

Just for semantics, you would not hit a provisional. You only hit a provisional if you thought your ball was originally going to be not found. You are exercising right to rehit from the previous location under stroke and distance.

I would have written down most likely score.

[Lihu]

I was playing a course this weekend. 4th hole is a slight, to the right fairway.

Off the tee I pulled my ball left, far left.  Far left and 260 yards out.

Knowing that there was plenty of room to the left (the 5th tee box is over there) I did not hit a provisional and we went in search of my ball.

When we got there we found the ground was hard and the brush was matted down in what looked like work being done.

After 5 minutes we could not find my balls. We assume since the ground was rock hard it probably hit on the fly and rocketed further away to who knows where.

I tell my partner I will head back to tee and hit a provisional.

The ranger who had pulled up and watched us told me he had a tournament group behind us and the were on the tee, so I had to drop, take a stroke and keep moving.

The ranger stressed to keep moving as there were alot of people on the course.

so I dropped at a spot my kart partner agreed with and played from that spot.

I took a bogie (6) on the hole with a stroke.

But how do I score that, when the course had me violate the rules?

Know that the ranger instructed me to violate the rules, I have a decent round which I can not apply to my handicap.

What would you do/done?

Provisional balls are hit before you search to save time. So, as @saevel25 mentioned it's basically too late to hit one. Pace of play is a mandate of a ranger, so he will tell you to do whatever makes the most sense to keep pace of play up.

Lesson learned is to just hit a provisional if there is any doubt.

http://www.randa.org/en/Playing-Golf/Quick-Guide-to-the-Rules/Ball-Lost-or-Out-of-Bounds-Provisional-Ball.aspx

Dropping was not quite right as it was a lost ball. . .

[Dave2512]

One of those bummer situations where you just have to make the best of it. Ranger or no ranger with a random lost ball not thought to be lost from the tee it's best to do what others have already mentioned and keep moving forward. The only time I wouldn't is if the course was empty enough it wouldn't impede play. You were passed provisional time and into the procedural penalty part.

[Elmer]

Provisional balls are hit before you search to save time. So, as @saevel25 mentioned it's basically too late to hit one. Pace of play is a mandate of a ranger, so he will tell you to do whatever makes the most sense to keep pace of play up.

Lesson learned is to just hit a provisional if there is any doubt.

http://www.randa.org/en/Playing-Golf/Quick-Guide-to-the-Rules/Ball-Lost-or-Out-of-Bounds-Provisional-Ball.aspx

Dropping was not quite right as it was a lost ball. . .

Not to start a cyclical debate, but the area I hit to was wide open.

My group assured me we would find it. Ultimately I had no way of knowing it would be un-findable.

Since there is no way of knowing when a ball get lost, since they can run away at any moment, we would be hitting provisionals on every hole, since the possibility for a ball to getting lost is infinite

But I got my answer, thank you!

[Dave2512]

Thankfully it doesn't happen often. I lose one, if that, WTFDIG ball a year. Usually in rough when I saw the damn thing land.

[Elmer]

Thankfully it doesn't happen often. I lose one, if that, WTFDIG ball a year. Usually in rough when I saw the damn thing land.

Unfortunately, I have bad depth perception starting about 200 yards out & I tend to hit the ball a lot further than I usually think I do.

So when I think it is a bad spot, it is not.

When I think it is good it is not!

Who knows

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave2512

Thankfully it doesn't happen often. I lose one, if that, WTFDIG ball a year. Usually in rough when I saw the damn thing land.

Unfortunately, I have bad depth perception starting about 200 yards out & I tend to hit the ball a lot further than I usually think I do.

So when I think it is a bad spot, it is not.

When I think it is good it is not!

Who knows

Exactly, and it's easier than you think to lose a ball 260 yards out, unless you are in the middle of the fairway or know the place really well. You'd be surprised how many WTFDIG occur. If the ball hits a hard slope away from you it could roll a long way. Fall is coming around here and leaves are starting to fall, which makes me scratch my head even more times. :-P

Just make your playing partners wait 30 seconds for another tee shot. . .

[DrvFrShow]

Courses up here have a local "leaf rule" in the fall where you can drop without penalty should you have one of those WTFDIG balls... unless it went in the woods or someplace where it would be obviously gone. It's restricted to the fairway or rough.