Question About The Rules

O.P.H

So you're on the tee box of a par 4 or par 5 and you drive one off, you slice or hook and the ball goes into very heavy rough, basically you know for a fact you won't find it, so what do you do now, hit a provisional and say you're out there in 3? Ok, lets say you reackon your hook or slice is actually findable but when you get out there you can't find it, what do you do then, because if you were to take a drop in the general area you think the ball would have gone into the heavy rough you'd be out there in 2 and this would give you a shot advantage on the guy who hit a provisional.

KOJAK_1

If you can't find the ball then you face the dreaded walk back to the tee to play the third shot. Cannot drop where you think the ball is.

stringy

if you cant find your original, your provo is now the ball you play and you're there in 3

Aesop

If you can't find it and you haven't hit a provisional you have to go back to the tee and hit again. Hitting it from where you think it might be is not an option.

If you have hit a provisional, as stringy says you play the provisional and you are there in 3

One Cold Hand

If you can't find your original ball, it is a 'lost ball' The ruling is that you have to go back and hit from the spot the original shot was taken, with a 1 shot penalty. Your not allowed to just drop the ball in the general area of the first ball. The reason people play a provo is to save time walking all the way back to the tee.

Trampas

If you can't find your ball you must go back and play it again from where you last played from.

You should do is hit a provisional but you must declare it is a provisional otherwise you have deemed your ball lost. It doesn't matter if you find your first if you haven't declared the 2nd ball as a provisional

You can drop a ball down there if you and your playing partners are sure that it went into a hazard playing your 3rd.

I know some people do in a friendly game is drop a ball for down there but instead of playing 3 they play 4 to save going back to the place last hit.

If your ball goes into GUR I think you still must find your ball to gain the free drop rule otherwise its back to the last place again with penalty

milltown

The penalty is shot and distance. If you take a drop where you think it went missing you have still gained the distance of the errant shot.

Golf Ninja

I think your best bet is allways hit a pro vo out it this way if you feel akward about saying to the guys i am going to hit another one just imagine how you will feel about the long walk back the only situations that dont require the long walk back are
1 when you hit a ball into a water hazard
2 when you hit into ground under repair.

Hope that helps

AndyP

Trivial point, make you you say the word 'provisional'. If you don't declare it properly, it becomes the ball in play, ask Christy Jr, he pulled a Jap in the Dunhill Cup years ago for this. Okay, it might not be likley to happen, but be careful.

Trampas

Golf Ninja wrote:

I think your best bet is allways hit a pro vo out it this way if you feel akward about saying to the guys i am going to hit another one just imagine how you will feel about the long walk back the only situations that dont require the long walk back are
1 when you hit a ball into a water hazard
2 when you hit into ground under repair.

Hope that helps

You and your playing partners have to be sure that it went into the hazard and you must find your ball in GUR. If you dont find it, its a lost ball

O.P.H

Ya what we have decided to do when playing compeditive friendlies is that if you drive and you know its lost (not talking about hazards or GUR) we don't bother playing a pro vo we just give the guy a drop at where we reckon it went in and then hes playing his third, I know its totally wrong but we are playin this way because we've come to the conclusion that if you were playing in a PGA event one of the fans WOULD find the ball

PhilipMarlowe

Anything that can keep things moving in a social game is not a bad idea... like i've heard of people having a 'leaf rule' in the autumn - you know it's thereabouts under those leaves in the rough but you just can't see the damn thing without spending all day looking, drop one down and on ya go...

Golferx

Remember, Rule 1.3 of Golf forbids any players agreeing to waive any of the rules of golf.

Even in a friendly match. Should someone lose a ball, and then decide to drop it out the course, they should be deemed to have scratched that hole.

I was in the last group out in a Society outing recently.

Group ahead of us spent a lot of time looking for a ball, then dropped one out the course.

When the cards were submitted the player had himself down for a 7, one point on a Par 5. I told him he couldn't score on that hole having lost a ball.

Bad enough him doing that, but he had three playing partners, including his marke, who saw nothing wrong in what he did.

Mister Sifter

Trampas wrote:

You and your playing partners have to be sure that it went into the hazard and you must find your ball in GUR. If you dont find it, its a lost ball

hmmm... i always thought you just had to know for certain that your ball went into GUR to take relief?!

I've played courses where retrieving your ball in GUR isn't always possible.

Maybe wrong though. If so, i stand corrected!

Golferx

The only time stroke and distance does not apply is when a ball is lost IN a hazard. Rule 26


Any other place on the course the ball must be treated as a lost ball and stroke and distance penalty applies. Rule 27


I don't know it all

http://www.randa.org/flash/rules/rules_rebrand2004_v2.html

does

Trampas

Graeme1982 wrote:

hmmm... i always thought you just had to know for certain that your ball went into GUR to take relief?!

I've played courses where retrieving your ball in GUR isn't always possible.

Maybe wrong though. If so, i stand corrected!

That would be a local rule. Where they say you can't go into retrieve your ball in place x therefore a few drop in the drop zone beside it.

ChippingSodbury

Hi GolferX,
That's not strictly true. A ball can be lost in an abnormal ground condition (an abnormal ground condition includes GUR: definition on Page 23) and not invoke a penalty. Rule 25 (pages 93 to 95 applies):

c. Ball Lost
It is a question of fact whether a ball lost after having been
struck toward an abnormal ground condition is lost in such
condition. In order to treat the ball as lost in the abnormal
ground condition, there must be reasonable evidence to that
effect. In the absence of such evidence, the ball must be treated
as a lost ball and Rule 27 applies.
If a ball is lost in an abnormal ground condition, the spot
where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the
condition must be determined and, for the purpose of applying
this Rule, the ball is deemed to lie at this spot and the player
may take relief as follows:
(i) Through the Green: If the ball last crossed the outermost
limits of the abnormal ground condition at a spot through
the green, the player may substitute another ball without
penalty and take relief as prescribed in Rule 25-1b(i).

The most important point in the above is in bold i.e. it is a question of fact: not "I think it went into the GUR" or "I'm fairly sure..."
Remember, if you look anywhere outside the GUR, it means that you're not 100% sure that it's in the GUR/ Hazard and as such you cannot claim relief.

Not to appear holier than thou or anything like that but everyone who goes out to play in a competition (Society or otherwise) should have a copy of the rules. All golf clubs give them out for free and they can also be viewed at http://www.randa.org/flash/rules/PDF/RoG2004.pdf
The rules aren't complicated but their application can be tricky and I'm far from always right (I leave that to my wife!!)

dak

ChippingSodbury wrote:

Hi GolferX,
That's not strictly true. A ball can be lost in an abnormal ground condition (an abnormal ground condition includes GUR: definition on Page 23) and not invoke a penalty. Rule 25 (pages 93 to 95 applies):

c. Ball Lost
It is a question of fact whether a ball lost after having been
struck toward an abnormal ground condition is lost in such
condition. In order to treat the ball as lost in the abnormal
ground condition, there must be reasonable evidence to that
effect. In the absence of such evidence, the ball must be treated
as a lost ball and Rule 27 applies.
If a ball is lost in an abnormal ground condition, the spot
where the ball last crossed the outermost limits of the
condition must be determined and, for the purpose of applying
this Rule, the ball is deemed to lie at this spot and the player
may take relief as follows:
(i) Through the Green: If the ball last crossed the outermost
limits of the abnormal ground condition at a spot through
the green, the player may substitute another ball without
penalty and take relief as prescribed in Rule 25-1b(i).

The most important point in the above is in bold i.e. it is a question of fact: not "I think it went into the GUR" or "I'm fairly sure..."
Remember, if you look anywhere outside the GUR, it means that you're not 100% sure that it's in the GUR/ Hazard and as such you cannot claim relief.

Not to appear holier than thou or anything like that but everyone who goes out to play in a competition (Society or otherwise) should have a copy of the rules. All golf clubs give them out for free and they can also be viewed at http://www.randa.org/flash/rules/PDF/RoG2004.pdf
The rules aren't complicated but their application can be tricky and I'm far from always right (I leave that to my wife!!)

Randa will also send you a nice free pocket sized rule book for your golf bag for the price of the postage. I got all our golf society members copies of the rule of golf for less than 30 euro postage!