On a long par 4, you hook your tee shot into a large area of rocks to the left of the hole. You play a provisional ball that comes to rest on the right side of the fairway the same distance from the hole as where you estimate your original ball to be. Although spectators are already looking in the rocks for your original ball, you choose not to search for it, believing you won’t be able to play it from the rocks and that stroke-and-distance relief is your only good option. You ask the spectators to stop looking and declare the ball lost. You then make a stroke at your provisional ball, and it comes to rest on the green, close to the hole. After having marked the spot of and lifted your provisional ball from the putting green, you hear that a spectator found your original ball in a terrible lie amongst the rocks after having searched for about 10 minutes. Which one of the following statements is true?

A.  Once you declared your original ball lost, the fact that someone found it is irrelevant. You must continue with the provisional ball.

B. Your original could no longer be played when you played another stroke with the provisional ball from at or nearer to the hole than where the original ball was estimated to be, so your provisional ball is in in play.

C. Since your original was found in an unplayable position, you can declare it unplayable and continue with your provisional ball under penalty of stroke and distance.

D. You must abandon your provisional ball and proceed with your original ball. If it is unplayable, your best option might be to return to the tee to make your third stroke.

In Play Definition

The status of a player’s ball when it lies on the course and is being used in the play of a hole:

• A ball first becomes in play on a hole:
• When the player makes a stroke at it from inside the teeing area, or
• In match play, when the player makes a stroke at it from outside the teeing area and the opponent does not cancel the stroke under Rule 6.1b.
• That ball remains in play until it is holed, except that it is no longer in play:
• When it is lifted from the course,
• When it is lost (even if it is at rest on the course) or comes to rest out of bounds, or
• When another ball has been substituted for it, even if not allowed by a Rule.

A ball that is not in play is a wrong ball.

The player cannot have more than one ball in play at any time. (See Rule 6.3d for the limited cases when a player may play more than one ball at the same time on a hole.)

When the Rules refer to a ball at rest or in motion, this means a ball that is in play.

When a ball-marker is in place to mark the spot of a ball in play:

• If the ball has not been lifted, it is still in play, and
• If the ball has been lifted and replaced, it is in play even if the ball-marker has not been removed.

Lost Definition

The status of a ball that is not found in three minutes after the player or his or her caddie (or the player’s partner or partner’s caddie) begins to search for it.

If the search begins and is then temporarily interrupted for a good reason (such as when the player stops searching when play is suspended or needs to stand aside to wait for another player to play) or when the player has mistakenly identified a wrong ball:

• The time between the interruption and when the search resumes does not count, and
• The time allowed for search is three minutes in total, counting the search time both before the interruption and after the search resumes.

Provisional Ball Definition

Another ball played in case the ball just played by the player may be:

• Out of bounds, or
• Lost outside a penalty area.

A provisional ball is not the player’s ball in play, unless it becomes the ball in play under Rule 18.3c.

18.3c. Playing Provisional Ball Until It Becomes the Ball in Play or Is Abandoned

(1) Playing Provisional Ball More Than Once. The player may continue to play the provisional ball without it losing its status as a provisional ball so long as it is played from a spot that is the same distance or farther from the hole than where the original ball is estimated to be.

This is true even if the provisional ball is played several times.

But it stops being a provisional ball when it becomes the ball in play under (2) or is abandoned under (3) and therefore becomes a wrong ball.

(2) When Provisional Ball Becomes Ball in Play. The provisional ball becomes the player’s ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance in either of these two cases:

• When Original Ball Is Lost Anywhere on Course Except in Penalty Area or Is Out of Bounds. The original ball is no longer in play (even if it is then found on the course after the end of the three-minute search time) and is now a wrong ball that must not be played (see Rule 6.3c).
• When Provisional Ball Is Played from Spot Nearer Hole Than Where Original Ball Is Estimated to Be. The original ball is no longer in play (even if it is then found on the course before the end of the three-minute search time or is found nearer the hole than had been estimated) and is now a wrong ball that must not be played (see Rule 6.3c).

If the player plays a provisional ball into the same general location as the original ball and is unable to identify which ball is which:

• If only one of the balls is found on the course, that ball is treated as the provisional ball which is now in play.
• If both balls are found on the course, the player must choose one of the balls to be treated as the provisional ball which is now in play, and the other ball is treated as lost and must not be played.

Exception – Player May Substitute Another Ball Under Other Rule When It Is Known or Virtually Certain What Happened to Ball: The player has an extra option when his or her ball has not been found and it is known or virtually certain that the ball:

• Came to rest on the course and was moved by an outside influence (see Rule 9.6),
• Came to rest on the course in or on a movable obstruction (see Rule 15.2b) or an abnormal course condition (see Rule 16.1e), or
• Was deliberately deflected or stopped by any person (see Rule 11.2c).

When one of those Rules applies, the player may either:

• Substitute another ball as allowed under that Rule, or
• Treat the provisional ball as the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance.

(3) When Provisional Ball Must Be Abandoned. When a provisional ball has not yet become the ball in play, it must be abandoned in either of these two cases:

• When Original Ball Is Found on Course Outside Penalty Area Before the End of the Three Minute Search Time. The player must play the original ball as it lies.
• When Original Ball Is Found in Penalty Area or Is Known or Virtually Certain to Be in Penalty Area. The player must either play the original ball as it lies or take penalty relief under Rule 17.1d.

In either case:

• The player must not make any more strokes  with the provisional ball which is now a wrong ball (see Rule 6.3c), and
• All strokes with that provisional ball before it was abandoned (including strokes made and any penalty strokes solely from playing that ball) do not count.

Penalty for Playing Ball from a Wrong Place in Breach of Rule 18.3: General Penalty Under Rule 14.7a.

This was a tough outcome in which the player could have altered the course of events. As you didn't search for your original ball it remained the ball In Play as its important to remember, a Provisional Ball only becomes a ball in play per the guidance in Rule 18.3c(2), that states:

1. The original ball is Lost or Out of Bounds

2. The Provisional Ball is played from a spot closer to the hole from where the original ball is estimated to be

Fact vs Fiction!

Fact 1 - Having hit their ball into a bad position our player properly announces that they will play a provisional ball under Rule 18. (See Definition of Provisional Ball)

Fiction 1 – Not liking the location that the original ball would be located in if found, the player declares the ball lost and proceeds to play on with the provisional.

Fact 2 – The provisional ball was played from the fairway at the same distance from the hole as where they estimated the original ball to be.

Fiction 2 – Believing they won’t be able to play it from the rocks and that stroke-and-distance relief is their only good optionthe player has declared his ball lost. (See Definition of Lost and when the Clock Starts)

Fact 3 – The players provisional ball now lies on the golf course closer to the hole than the original.

Fiction 3 – Having played the provisional ball onto the green the player believes that this ball is in play. (See definition of In Play)

Fact 4 – Once the ball was found some 10 minutes later, this ball was still In Play, under Rule.

Fiction 4 – The player believes that his ball is lost and that their ball on the green is now in play.

Again, and I know this sounds like a broken record but the definitions will guide you to the correct answer and in this case very easily and quickly, for what would seem like a complex ruling.

In this instance, our player has 2 balls on the course but only one of which is in play, his original tee shot, as it has not been holed, lifted from the course, lost, came to rest out of bounds, or substituted for.

When the provisional was played from a location in the fairway at the same distance from the hole as where it’s estimated their original ball to be, the status of this ball never changed, it’s still a provisional.

Having not gone to the location of the original ball the 3-minute clock has not started. This clock is only activated once the player, caddie, or partner, or partners caddie, starts the search. In our case the player declared the ball lost, which is not allowable under the rules, so this ball is still the ball in play.

With the original ball being found by spectator this forces the player to identify their ball in a timely manner, Rule 7.2. Once the player arrives at the spot of the ball the 3 minute clock starts. Upon arriving at the ball, the player confirmed that this was their ball, meaning that the provisional ball must now be abandoned, and the original ball is in play at this stage as they hadn't yet played the Provisional from that spot closer than it was estimated to be! 

Do you have a rules question that you have often wondered about? If so, please send it to dmiller@mvgolf.org for an answer and who knows it could very well be our next “Rules Question of the Week”.