“I’m Hitting a Utah!”
After seeing your ball head toward the high rough and trees on the left side of the fairway, it is always wise to consider playing a provisional ball. How well do you know the requirements of Rule 27-2, Provisional Ball? Here are a few situations to test your knowledge of this useful Rule.
Situation 1: Thinking my ball might be lost I tell my fellow-competitors, “I better re-load,” or “I’m hitting another one as that could be lost” or “I’m hitting a Utah.” (Yes, as in Provo, Utah). Is the ball I am about to play from the tee a provisional ball?
Situation 2: Thinking my original ball might be lost I play a provisional ball and have the same result with my original ball. I find both balls within a few paces of each other in the rough. Unfortunately I cannot tell my original ball from my provisional as both are the same brand and number and both have my same personal marking. Are both balls considered lost?
Situation 3: I do not hit my provisional ball very well. When I get to the place where it lies on the fairway, about 50 yards short of where my original ball should be in the rough, I play a second stroke with the provisional ball hitting it well beyond the spot where the original ball is likely to be. May I still play my original ball if I find it?
Situation 4: I do not play a provisional ball because I think I will find my original ball in the rough. After searching for two minutes, I declare my original ball lost and start walking back to the spot in the fairway where I last played. Before the five minutes for search has expired and before I can drop and play another ball, fellow competitors find my original ball. Because I have declared the original ball lost, am I prohibited from playing it?
Situation 5: I do not play a provisional ball. After searching for the original ball for a few minutes I return to the tee and play a provisional ball. When my original ball is found within the five minutes allowed for search, may I continue with the original ball?
And now for the ANSWERS!
Answer #1: No. A player must inform his opponent or fellow-competitor that he is playing a provisional ball. If he fails to do so he is putting another ball into play under penalty of stroke and distance. In this case he is hitting 3 from the tee unless an opponent or fellow-competitor stops the player and asks if this ball is intended to be a provisional ball. Decision 27/17(c).
Answer #2: The Rules allow the player to select either ball, but whichever one is chosen, it is considered to be the provisional ball. When playing a provisional ball, a Rules-savvy player should announce the difference between his original ball and the provisional ball. Decision 27/11 Situation 5.
Answer #3: Yes. The original ball must be played if it is found. The provisional ball does not become the ball in play until the player has made a stroke with it from a place equal to or nearer the hole than where the original ball is likely to be or if the five minutes allowed for search has expired. Rule 27-2c.
Answer #4: No. The original ball is not lost just because the player declares it lost. If the five minutes allowed for search have not expired before the original ball is found, and the player has not put another ball into play, the original ball is in play. Decision 27/16.
Answer #5: No. The purpose of playing a provisional ball is to save time. A player can only play a provisional ball before he goes forward to search. When the player returned to the spot in the fairway where he last played, dropped and played another ball, that ball was his ball in play. Rule 27-2a.
Save time. Announce and play a provisional ball properly if you believe your original ball might be lost outside a water hazard or might be out of bounds.
I had the following experience: Player hits tee shot hits cart path and we do not see which way it goes. Player declares and hits provisional ball into the fairway. He looks for his original ball while walking up to his provisional and declares he is hitting the provisional because he hasn’t begun his search yet. His logic is that his original ball landed at least where the provisional landed and should have bounded forward at which point he began his search. His provisional ball lands on the green, and as he is walking up to the green he finds his original ball. He then proceeds to play his original ball and birdies the hole and picks up his provisional.
I felt that once he struck his provisional, his original ball was out of play.
Please clarify, thank you.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:24 pmThe original ball is in play. The provisional ball was advanced from a position farther from the hole than the original ball, and the original ball was apparently found within 5 minutes since the provisional ball was advanced without an initial search for the original ball.
October 30th, 2007 at 1:01 pmGood Rul;ing Art! A player may play his provisional ball until he gets to the point on the course that is equal to or nearer the hole than whee the original ball is likely to be. If he plays the provisional ball from that point forward, it makes his original ball lost.
October 30th, 2007 at 1:23 pmIn this case, the player may make a stroke with the provisional ball becuase he believes the original ball is nearer the hole than the point where he plays his second shot with the provisional. When he finds the original ball, it is the ball in play.
I need a little more clarification for Situation 3 – Hitting a Provisional Ball.
Situation 3: I do not hit my provisional ball very well. When I get to the place where it lies on the fairway, about 50 yards short of where my original ball should be in the rough, I play a second stroke with the provisional ball hitting it well beyond the spot where the original ball is likely to be. May I still play my original ball if I find it?
Answer #3: Yes. The original ball must be played if it is found.
What is the stroke count when the original ball is played. Do the strokes of the provisional ball count?
September 8th, 2008 at 9:04 amHi Joe,
First,you have played the provisional ball properly.
Second, when the original ball is now found in the rough, you must proceed with it. You would be hitting your second shot. Strokes made and penalty strokes incurred solely in playing the provisional ball do not count in the player’s score for the hole.
Gail
September 8th, 2008 at 9:35 am