blcorn80

Agreed. It's one of those situations where hindsight is 20/20. Sometimes as golfers I think we fall into the trap of assuming we are always going to execute the shot we are attempting. I suppose it's a fine line between envisioning yourself successfully executing a tough shot and ignoring the potential setbacks from executing the shot poorly.

Take a look at my example with Mickelson earlier in the thread. He didn't want anyone to look because if he took stroke-and-distance, he wasn't guaranteed to end up in as good a spot as his provisional. He would have rather been able to use the provisional that was in a great spot.

I'll give a quick example that I actually saw happen in a tournament round: Player A is faced with a 10-foot downhill (I think birdie) putt to a hole on the precipice of the false front of an elevated green. The player misses the putt, the ball rolls down the false front and comes to rest some 25-30 yards off and 20 feet below the green. The player chose to play the ball as it lied, but left the pitch shot about 10 feet short and the ball rolled all the way back to his feet. He is now hitting 5 from 25 yards off the green whereas he could have declared it unplayable from the get-go and played his 5th shot from 10 feet (and much more carefully this time). Within the rules? Yes. Would it be frowned upon by the other players? Perhaps -- I guess it depends on where he finished.

I think that what we have to remember sometimes is that it is not the sole purpose of the ROG to punish players for bad shots. Quite often the ROG can be used to a player's advantage and every player is well within their rights to use them to their advantage if the opportunity presents itself (which is why you can sometimes see some pretty awkward stances/swings from pros campaigning to get free relief from cart paths or other obstructions).

No. You may only play a provisional for a ball that may be lost outside a water hazard or OB. You may not play a provisional for a ball that may or may not be unplayable.

Correct. However, I don't think you can hit a ball into a bad spot, hit a provisional, look for and locate your original and then declare it lost and chose to play your provisional.

You always have the option of taking a one-stroke penalty and hitting another from the spot of the last shot. The ball does not have to be lost, in a hazard, or OB.

I agree. Nice to see someone on the internet that understands the purpose of discussion forums.

I'm going to have to agree with mruseless on this one. It is my understanding that a provisional can only be played in the case of a ball thought to be either lost or OB. Since the original ball was found in a hazard (not lost nor OB), then the provisional ball is disregarded and the player must proceed under the rules and options pertaining to hazards. One of these options would be to return to the spot of the last shot, drop, and play his fourth. However, he cannot simply treat the provisional as his fourth ball played under hazard rules. A good example of a similar problem occurred on tour a few years ago. I can't remember the tournament or hole, but the gist of the situation was this: Phil Mickelson had hit his drive way off the fairway into some pretty long fescue grass. Thinking the ball might be lost he hit ( bombed ) a provisional right down central. Phil realized that even if his original ball was found there was a high probability that he would not end up laying 3 in as good a position as his provisional ball put him (i.e. he might have to take an unplayable but still have to hit out of the fescue). If his original was found he would, of course, have the option of returning to the tee, taking a penalty, and hitting his third shot (in hopes of ending up in a similar position as his provisional). Of course, Phil being Phil, the odds of him blasting another tee shot down the middle were not guaranteed - it would certainly be nice if he could just play his provisional. Therefore, he practically begged the spotters and spectators not to look for his original ball, knowing that if they found it he would not longer have the option of simply playing his provisional. Clearly if the rules allowed Phil to proceed as the OP would have liked to in his situation (i.e. deciding whether or not to use the provisional as his third only after discovering the position in which his original ball lay) he would have tried his hardest to find the original shot, and then decided whether he wanted to try to pull off some super-heroic and near-impossible shot or simply play the provisional ball. If memory serves me, I believe the original ball was found by a spectator and Phil was forced to take an unplayable. He was not happy.

Much rather putt on fast greens than slow ones. I agree with Marinemike in that faster greens allow the ball to roll more truely and hold its line much better. I also think it is much easier to start your ball on the correct line if you are able to hit it softer than a slower green requires. A smooth stroke is just so much easier to execute when you can hit a 10-footer without having to hit it with the power normally reserved for 30-footers. Side note: My statistics for this year seem to back up my feelings. My home course has a new superintendent this year whose main goal was to get the greens running a little faster. My putts-per-round this year have gone down to 31.2 from around 34 last year. I've also had far fewer three-putts this year.

I've had several (some of them "cheaper" than others): Highland Park Golf Course (Bloomington, IL) - #4 (290 yds), #9 (257 yds), #14 (258 yds), #15 (262 yds). Prairie Vistia Golf Course (Bloomington, IL) - #1 (382 yds -cut the corner and got a bounce off of a cart path), #2 (322 yds - again cut the corner pretty good), #17 (295 yds). The Den at Fox Creek (Bloomington, IL) - #15 (304 yds), #16 (337 yds) Weibring Golf Course (Normal, IL) - #15 (309 yds) LeRoy Country Club (LeRoy, IL) - #7 (~285 yds) Oakbrook Golf Course (Edwardsville, IL) - #6 (310 yds) Oak Terrace Golf Course (Pana, IL) - #12 (300 yds), #15 (238 yds - all carry over water with a slight fade required, but still pretty cheap) Ironhorse Golf Course (Tuscola, IL) - #9 (346 yds - one of my favorite holes I've ever played) The sad thing is, I didn't make the eagle putt on any of them!

Well, with the heat and humidity we've been having for the past few days I took a few days off from golf. I also did some stretching and alternating ice and compression for a few hours each night. Yesterday I played nine holes with a cart and, lo and behold, no pain at all. Granted, it was only nine holes and no walking involved (and I'm sure the 3 ibuprofen I took beforehand helped as well), but that kind of play would have certainly caused some significan pain two or three weeks ago. I'm looking at it as a positive step forward. BTW, the stretch that pittpanther suggested really seemed to help.

I really like this idea. My home course has had a real problem to start the season with people not fixing ball marks. I would have to think that if each hole had 4-5 members "responsible" for keeping it looking nice, the overall effect would be pretty noticeable. Of course, it's a shame to have to rely on others going above and beyond the golfer's call of duty just to cover for things the everyday golfer should take care of, but that's for another thread...

Thanks for all the good suggestions folks. I am definitely going to look into some orthotics and see where that gets me. I have noticed that riding in a cart doesn't really make it any better. It doesn't make it worse, necessarily -- but it doesn't really make it go away either. If the orthotics don't do the trick then I suppose a doctor's visit is next on the list. We'll see...

Well, I teach high school if that helps. I'll try the toe raises, though. Anything to get my leg to stop feeling like it's being crushed.