By Senior Rules Officials, Pete Scholz and Terry McEvilly
Summer is here! Hurray! July is National Hot Dog, National Watermelon and National Ice Cream month. Bring it on! Happy Independence Day everyone. Keep enjoying those hot dogs all the way to the 19th, which happens to be National Hot Dog Day.
One quick message to Dads with daughters; July 7th is Father-Daughter Take a Walk Together Day. What better place to do that than on the golf course of her choosing. After all, she has to tolerate the 24th of the month, which is Tell an Old Joke Day. Oh wait! She has to tolerate your old jokes 365 days a year, doesn’t she?
Pandemonium Day is July 14th and the golf course is not the place to celebrate it. Play well, but if chaos threatens your peace and harmony, the following questions might help put you at ease. Test your knowledge regarding provisional ball confusion on the course with the following questions.
Questions: True / False
1) If a player is uncertain about whether his or her ball is lost in a penalty area, or another area of the course, he or she may play a provisional ball.
2) Continuation of Question #1. The player finds their ball in the penalty area. They may continue play with the original ball or take relief from the penalty area, but must not play the provisional ball.
3) Continuation of Question #1. After a 3-minute search for the ball, the player is uncertain whether the ball came to rest in the penalty area, or is lost in the rough surrounding the penalty area. The player is not allowed to take penalty area relief and must continue with the provisional ball.
4) Continuation of Question #1. The ball is not found, but the player is virtually certain that the ball is in the penalty area. He or she may continue play with the provisional ball, or take relief from the penalty area in regards to the original ball.
5) A provisional ball may not be played if the only place the original ball could be lost is in a penalty area.
6) Before making a stroke at a provisional ball, the player must announce to someone that they are going to play a provisional ball.
7) The original ball is hit towards an area of rough in the general area. The player properly announces and plays a provisional ball. When arriving in the area where the original ball is believed to be, the player discovers that part of the rough has been marked as ground under repair (GUR). The player is unable to find the original ball and it is virtually certain that the ball came to rest in the GUR. Because the player is virtually certain that the ball is lost in the GUR, he or she must abandon the provisional ball and continue play by taking free relief from the GUR.
8) A player properly plays a provisional ball from the tee into the same area as the original ball. The player finds both balls, but is unable to identify which is the original or which is the provisional ball. Since the player is unable to identify either ball, both balls are considered out of play and the player must return to the tee and put another ball into play.
9) In stroke play, when playing a provisional ball from the teeing area, all players in the group should make their first stroke on the hole before any player plays a provisional. When playing a provisional ball from anywhere else on the course, the order of play is to play the provisional ball right after the previous stroke and before any other player plays a ball.
10) Team Pete/Terry are playing in a Foursomes (Alternate Shot) competition on July 30th, International Day of Friendship. Pete hits a drive into an area where the ball might be difficult to find. If the team decides to play a provisional ball, it must be played by Pete.
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Answers:
1) True. Rule 18.3a. In the situation presented, the ball could have been lost in an area of the course other than the penalty area and the player is allowed to play a provisional ball even though the ball could be in the penalty area.
2) True. Rule 18.3c(3). When the original ball is found anywhere on the course, the provisional ball must be abandoned and the original ball is the player’s ball in play. If the original ball is found in the penalty area, he or she may play it or take relief. The provisional ball is now a wrong ball and must not be played.
3) True. Rule 18.3c(2). Since the player didn’t have knowledge or virtual certainty that the ball was in the penalty area, he or she may not use penalty area relief (Rule 17). Therefore, the ball is treated as lost elsewhere on the course and the player must continue play with the provisional ball and accept the one-stroke penalty associated with the stroke and distance procedure.
4) False. Rule 18.3c(3). If the player is 95% certain that the ball is lost in the penalty area, he or she must abandon the provisional ball and take relief under Rule 17 for a ball lost in a penalty area. Further play with the provisional ball is play of a wrong ball.
5) True. Rule 18.3a. If the only place the original ball could be lost is in the penalty area, the player is not allowed to play a provisional ball. If the player does so, the second ball is in play under penalty of stroke and distance and the original ball must not be played if found.
6) True. Rule 18.3b. We can’t stress this enough. The player must announce and use the word provisional or clearly indicate that they are playing the ball provisionally under Rule 18.3. Simply having the intention to, but remaining silent, will put the second ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance and the original ball must not be played.
7) False. Rule 18.3c(2) Exception. It is true that the player may take free relief from the GUR, but they are not required to do so. In this situation, they may treat the provisional ball as the ball in play and accept the stroke and distance penalty, or they may take free relief under Rule 16.1e for a ball lost in an abnormal course condition.
8) False. Rule 18.3c(2). This unique situation highlights the importance of marking your golf balls with not only an identification mark but also with some way to distinguish which ball is the original or provisional. Fortunately, the Rules cover this very situation and the player may choose one of the balls and must treat it as the provisional ball. Likewise, if only one of the balls is found, it must be treated as the provisional. In either case, the player’s next stroke will be their fourth.
9) True. Rules 6.4c and 6.4d(2). If more than one player in a group decides to play a provisional ball from the teeing area, the order of play should remain the same as before. However, there is no penalty for playing a provisional ball out of order.
10) False. Rule 22.3. The provisional ball must be played by the partner whose turn it is to play the side’s next stroke. Therefore, Terry must play the provisional ball. If the original ball is found in bounds, it remains Terry’s turn to play and he must make the next stroke at the original ball. The provisional ball must be abandoned.