Just to be clear, Provisional Rule and unplayable Options

[ezra76]

A guy I was playing with yesterday seemed to be really certain on a provisional rule but I disagreed. Long par 3 I totally heeled a choked 5W left into the treeline. I hit a provisional with my hybrid, said "might as well hit a prov. just in case". So I find my ball under some briars in the leaves. He says "why don't you just play your 2nd one" since it was right near the front of the green. I told him that if you find the 1st ball, you have to play it. He disagreed.

Next, since the ball was in the briars, I took out my driver and said I was going to take an uplayable. I dropped the ball one club length back and a little right. I was still standing in the leaves but the ball was just on the edge of the leaves in the rough. Is this the correct way to take an unplayable? I ended up with a triple anyway but he was like "I guess that's a 6 doing it your way", like I'd done something wrong.

[dukedsp]

You are correct that the provisional is no longer an option. Once found, you have to play that ball. From that point you have some options if you deem the ball unplayable.

1) Stroke and distance - go back and re-tee in your case (you can't use the provisional as this option).

2) Stroke and dropping anywhere along a line that intersects the ball and the flag no nearer the hole.

3) Stroke and dropping within 2 club lengths of the ball no nearer the hole.

Sounds like you were fine in your decision.

These are off the top of my head so I may be off on one or two.

This post has been edited by dukedsp: Jun 11 2009, 07:30 AM

[Freddie Klien]

Once you have declared your ball unplayable you have three options

Option one keeping the point your ball lay between you and the flay go back as far as you want

Option two drop within two club lenghs of where the ball lay no nearer the hole

Option three go back and play another ball from the original spot - It sounds like your playing partner was trying to get you to take this option, but he was mistaken in thinking you could play your provisionall ball, this was clearly stated to be a prov ball and as found you intial ball could not be used. You would have had to go back to the tee and played a third ball.

[jjj912]

You are correct, you must play the original ball if you find it.

Your ball unplayable procedure sounds correct. Note that you could have dropped within two club lengths (this might have gotten you out of the leaves).

[ezra76]

I've played with this guy before, he just happens to show up in the late afternoons around the same time as me. He's a decent enough guy but the type that "thinks" he knows everything, the kind you're better off not arguing with I guess.

So as for the provisional, I dropped actually back and out of the junk, 1 club. So essentially, since the ball was left side, I did give myself a better shot at the hole by moving it out right. This is OK? I was on at least a 45* angle so like about 2feet further from the hole.

If that's OK, let's throw another wrench in the works. Had I used 2 clublengths I'd have had to drop onto the cart path... now what?

[alittleoverpar]

As long as you dropped WITHIN 2 club lengths no nearer to the hole you did the right thing.

[BugsyinNC]

Just to add another option, you are not obligated to look for your lost ball. Lets say you holed your provisional, you could walk up and remove it from the hole and you just scored a 3 the hard way. Rule 27-2b/2
So in your case with your provisional on/near the green, you could have not looked for your first ball and played your provisional into the hole (with the penalty of lost ball).
This happened a few years ago during a playoff in San Diego at the Buick with Mickelson, he didn't want anyone to look for his first ball because he knew if found it was not going to give him a better option than where his provisional lay. Someone looking for it found it and he was obligated to play it (he ended up taking the option of an unplayable and went back to the tee and rehit and ended up winning anyway).

[dukedsp]

If that's OK, let's throw another wrench in the works. Had I used 2 clublengths I'd have had to drop onto the cart path... now what?

You drop on the cartpath. If, after dropping, it rolls closer to the hole or outside of the two club lenghts two times you would then place it on the cart path. You then have the option to take relief from the path. But remember that it is FULL and NEAREST relief. This could possible put you right back into the unplayable lie you just dropped from.

This post has been edited by dukedsp: Jun 11 2009, 07:52 AM