I am not sure that I have understood your question but cannot find any inconsistency in my answer to the original question, or my replies to Jules Lewicki and Tim Grover. In fact, I have re-read all three and am confident that my answers do reflect the Rules and Decisions.

First, my reference to Decision 27/16 was to provide evidence from the Rules that a player cannot render a ball lost by a declaration, which was the heading for this blog item.

Second, if a ball is found there is an obligation on the player to identify it as theirs, or not. They cannot refuse to identify it, as per Decision xxxxxxxxxx.

Finally, let me summarise the main points of these questions and my answers;

* A ball is only lost if one of the five requirements set-out in the definition of ‘Lost Ball’ has been met (which I listed in the original answer).
* One of these requirements is that the player has put another ball in play before the original ball has been found.
* If anyone finds the player’s ball before he has put another ball in play then he must abandon any provisional ball.
* A player does not have to search for his ball.
* A player may not deem his ball unplayable unless he has found and identified it.

If I have not clarified this matter for you to your satisfaction please email me at rules at barryrhodes dot com.

Barry

Yes, you offered the right rulings in this episode a) a player does not have to search for their ball (Rule 27-1a), b) they may not play their provisional ball once the original ball has been found on the course, even if it is unplayable (Rule 27-2c), and c) they are entitled to go back to where they last from when they declare their ball unplayable (Rule 28a).

Regards,

Barry

When he got up to the green I asked him why he didn’t just choose to not look for the first ball and take his provisional sitting 3 on the green. He told me he thought he had to make a reasonable effort to find his ball. I told him that is not the case at all. He disagreed with me, but after reading this article I KNOW I was right – he most likely would have taken a 5 with a two-putt if he had done so.

Nice try, but no, you would be playing five off the tee!. Decision 28/2 explains;

“Q. A player hit his tee shot deep into the woods on the right. The player then hit a provisional ball into the same woods. The player did not search for either ball.

The player deemed his first ball unplayable, said he was abandoning his provisional ball and hit a third ball from the tee. The player maintained that his third ball was in play and that he was lying 3. He based his argument on Rule 28, which states that the player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable, and on Decision 28/1, which says in effect that a player may proceed under the stroke-and-distance option of the unplayable ball Rule without finding his ball. The Committee ruled that the player’s stroke with the third ball was his fifth stroke, but the wording of Decision 28/1 leaves a little doubt. Did the Committee rule correctly?

A. Yes. The player may not deem the first ball from the tee unplayable, disregard the provisional ball and put another ball into play under a stroke-and-distance penalty because, having played the provisional ball, he must find the original ball before he can declare it unplayable. Unless the original ball was found, the provisional ball would automatically become the ball in play.”

Regards,

Barry

You are absolutely right. Well summarised. Your last point is important, as it is an illustration of the principle that a player shall not have a choice as to which ball to play.

Barry

Yes, a player may always put another ball into play under penalty of stroke and distance. As you say, in the circumstance that you describe the second ball played from the teeing ground would be the player’s third stroke on that hole and would be the ball in play. The original ball is now lost, even if it is subsequently found within the boundaries of the course.

Barry

http://www.barryrhodes.com

If a hit my tee shot into the rough, can I just hit another ball under the stroke and penalty rule without declaring it a provisional in case it is lost or O.B. or unplayable?
Does that mean that the second (third) shot from the tee box becomes the ball-in-play as soon as I hit it without declaring it a provisional and for no apparent reason?

Thank you in advance for clarifying this point.

Randy

No you acted perfectly within the letter and spirit of the Rules. You do not have to look for your ball, nor do you have to invite your opponent(s) or fellow competitor(s) to look for it. Of course, they may decide to go and look for it of their own accord, even if you ask them not to.

There is one point that I should mention. You used the word opponent, indicating that you were playing match play. If you played your provisional ball out of turn then your opponent had the right to recall your stroke. However, by playing your provisional you had put that ball in play thereby changing the status of your original ball to a lost ball. In stroke play a fellow competitor may not recall a stroke played out of turn.

Barry

What you say above is not quite correct. If the player played a provisional ball (i.e. he had declared it a provisional before making his stroke at it) then if the original ball is found within 5 minutes of searching for it, the provisional ball is no longer in play and must be picked-up. It is only when a player does NOT declare that the next ball he is playing is a provisional ball that the original ball is lost under the Rules as soon as the stroke is made, and it cannot then be played even if it is found in bounds.

Barry

BarryRhodes.com