Rules of Golf

[golfnomad]

A player teeing off on a par three hole, hooks his shot badly and decides to play a provisional ball, where upon he holes out in one. (Three off the Tee.)

On finding his first ball still in play, should he:
a. Abandon the provisional ball in the hole and continue playing his first ball?

or

b. Because the provisional ball is in the hole, that is the hole over and he picks up his first ball?

[cazzz1975]

he has to play his first ball if he finds it, if it is out of bounds he plays the provisional, if the first ball is in play he has to play the shot and ignore his provisional.

so A

[golfnomad]

My thanks to both of you for your answers. 10clarionst, you didn't say which ball counted, just that his provisional ball was not a hole in one!! Did your friend have to play his first ball, always supposing it was still in play, or did the provisional ball count, as it went down the hole??

I have had two different decisions so far, one from the competition pro, stated that the provisional counted as it was holed. Second opinion from another club pro, stated the opposite. Anyone else have an opinion on this matter?

[paraffin]

It's yonks since I went out and lost golf balls, although I still watch it on telly, but isn't it right to say that you have to actually declare the original ball as "lost" before even playing a provisional?

The reason I say that is because you say that he "decides" to play the provisional. I know that may sound pedantic, but I believe that in golf there is a difference between "deciding" and "declaring it lost".

And, therefore going by my skewed logic, the golfer should carry on with the original ball if found, which you say it was.

Does that make any sense or am I just being pedantic?

[tamborine]

You shot the first ball out then played the prov ball in one.....you played the hole in 2. At the next tee you can use either ball.

[Parsfan]

The whole point of playing a provisional ball is that you have reason to believe that the first ball may be lost or out of bounds but you're not sure. It saves you walking up to where it came down, finding it is out of bounds, or lost, then having to go back to the tee to play another one. If everyone did this rounds would take even longer than they do.

When a player sees his ball heading for trouble, he has the option of declaring it lost, in which case the second ball is now the ball in play. However, if he still goes looking for it and finds it in play, he has to revert to the first ball. In the case described, you would definitely declare the ball lost and go with the second one, as you have virtually no chance of betttering the three you now have. It can be a real oain if the lost ball is a brand new Titleist.

[R1Geezer]

OK Logic alert!

The provisional ball is merely a device to speed up play, therefore if the original ball is found then regardless of what happenned to it, it is just that, provisional.

However I make no comment on how thorough a search would be in the circumstances supplied!

[golfnomad]

Thank you everyone for your contributions.Professional advice indicates; that as long as the original ball is found in bounds,that is the ball in play and the provisional ball is abandoned. If the original ball is not found, then the provisional ball is the ball in play and a hole in one becomes a hole in three.
Thanks again for the interest you have all shown.

[TCL-MUMPING]

Have a look at Rule 27 here, http://www.randa.org/flash/rules/PDF/WEB_ROG_s preads.pdf