What does it mean when you play a provisional ball?

[Kilroy]

I think you are a little confused here. Seems like other people have been confused and are giving you bad advice.

Yes, but unfortunately it is you who is mistaken and dolling the misinformation in this case.

Once your original ball is found you must abandon the proivisional. If the original ball is unplayable and you need to rehit, back to the tee (or wherever you hit from).

c. When Provisional Ball to Be AbandonedIf the original ball is neither lost nor out of bounds, the player must abandon the provisional ball and continue playing the original ball. If he makes any further strokes at the provisional ball, he is playing a wrong ball and the provisions of Rule 15 apply.

I better not see you coming back to the tee expecting to re-hit.

That's pretty harsh. I hope you would be civil if it actually happened.

[spidey]

Don't ever go back to the tee box and re-tee (unless the course is empty). That is why provisionals are used.

I'm sure you're just joking. In a stipulated round (like a competition), this happens all the time. If it's just a Saturday morning round with the boys, well, you may get flak from the other guys or the marshall, but it's still the correct way to proceed.

That is right. He hit the provisional ball in case he was O.B. and would need to re-tee. He re-teed while he was at the tee-box so he would not have to return.

No. The provisional only becomes the ball in play if the first ball is lost. If it's not lost, then the provisional cannot become the ball in play.

Wrong

Not wrong. Once he finds his ball, he may declare it unplayable. If so, he may return to the tee and re-tee under penalty of one stroke.


....jmr73.... Gary already answered all these questions. How did you come to these conclusions???????

[jmr73]

[QUOTE=Dan Kilbank]Yes, but unfortunately it is you who is mistaken and dolling the misinformation in this case.

Once your original ball is found you must abandon the proivisional. If the original ball is unplayable and you need to rehit, back to the tee (or wherever you hit from).

c. When Provisional Ball to Be AbandonedIf the original ball is neither lost nor out of bounds, the player must abandon the provisional ball and continue playing the original ball. If he makes any further strokes at the provisional ball, he is playing a wrong ball and the provisions of Rule 15 apply.

That's pretty harsh. I hope you would be civil if it actually happened.

Sorry. Understood he was O.B. in the woods.

I am always civil on the golf course. Competition is one thing but I would not be very happy to see this in a Saturday morning round. And in this case it was non-competition. Some people should worry a little less about the rules and a little more about learning the basics so they are not losing balls on every hole. Have seen too many 25+ handicappers slowing down play because they have a little money on the game.

[Kilroy]

That is a separate issue. My concern was that you were claimning that the written rule is misinformation, and that your way is the correct way. Play any way you want. If someone out there is playing by the rules I hope you understand and cut them some slack.

[jmr73]

That is a separate issue. My concern was that you were claimning that the written rule is misinformation, and that your way is the correct way. Play any way you want. If someone out there is playing by the rules I hope you understand and cut them some slack.

I am only looking at it from the context in which the question was posed. This was not competition. I am not staing the rule is misinformation just that it really should not have applied here.

The person hit a ball and it went into the woods. He knew there was a chance he would not find it or even if he did he would not be able to play it. So he plays a provisional and is lying 3.

By deciding his ball is unplayable and choosing to go back and re-tee he would end up with the same result as his provisional ball.

I told him I he had played it wrong and that next time if time is an issue I don't have a problem with dropping one where it went out of bounds IF he would agree that he is shooting 4 but he said no, he would be shooting 3.

My statement about the confusion was because the argument seemed to be going in circles. Was he O.B. or not? If he was dropping due to an unplayable lie would he not be shooting 3? If he decided to re-tee (or play the provisional ball in this case to save from going back), would he not be shooting 4?

[el tigre]

I am always civil on the golf course. Competition is one thing but I would not be very happy to see this in a Saturday morning round. And in this case it was non-competition. Some people should worry a little less about the rules and a little more about learning the basics so they are not losing balls on every hole.

Some people should worry a little less about the skill level of other players on the course and a little more about why their quest for the fastest-round record is so important to them that they are counselling other players to cheat.

Have seen too many 25+ handicappers slowing down play because they have a little money on the game.

Have seen too many single-digit handicappers slowing down play by waiting 10 minutes for the guy who's furthest away to find his ball, analyzing a 6-foot putt from 27 angles and then marking and lifting his ball when it goes 6 inches by the hole instead of putting out - all because they have a little money on the game.

[el tigre]

By deciding his ball is unplayable and choosing to go back and re-tee he would end up with the same result as his provisional ball.

...or hitting it into the woods again, or into a water hazard, or into a bunker, or in the right rough instead of the left rough, or 20 yards less, or 200 yards more (because he duffed his provisional), or...

If he decided to re-tee (or play the provisional ball in this case to save from going back), would he not be shooting 4?

No, he would be shooting 3 from the tee once again. The provisional has never become the ball in play, so none of the strokes taken with it are counted.

[Kilroy]

The topic of this forum is Rules not "how to kick the ball around as fast as possible". We all already know how to do that.

The question "Is the game is being played in competition or not" is irrelevant to the answer to the rules question. There is only one correct answer, and that is the one dictated by the Rules.

(Do I sound like Gary yet?)

If you choose to "drop one here and play on", for whatever reason, put an x on the card and record an ESC maximum for your handicap. If it happens a lot and you want to play for money, then play match play. Then an X does not kill your round, just that hole. If you are in that much trouble, you likely could not have won the hole anyway.

Enjoy the sunny day.

[jmr73]

...
No, he would be shooting 3 from the tee once again. The provisional has never become the ball in play, so none of the strokes taken with it are counted.

My mistake... that is what I meant. 3 from the tee or 4 where the provisional lies.

[Nic]

I enjoyed the long read...some people ignore rules and just have fun. BTW, if you find your ball which is not OB, you can't play provisional as rule 28 states:The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable. If the player deems his ball to be unplayable, he must, under penalty of one stroke: a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or b. Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or c. Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.