Golf question about rules (balls, people, player, time)
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A player drives on to the fairway. His second shot goes off into the rough. Is he allowed to take a penalty stoke and hit his third shot, his fourth stroke, from the position on the fairway where he drove his ball (where he took his second shot)?
A player drives on to the fairway. His second shot goes off into the rough. Is he allowed to take a penalty stoke and hit his third shot, his fourth stroke, from the position on the fairway where he drove his ball (where he took his second shot)?
Yes. He can hit a provisional shot from there and then go see if he can find his ball in the rough and decide if he would rather play it from where it lies.
If he plays the provisional ball there is the 1 additional stroke for the 'drop'.
A provisional ball is only in play if your original ball is out of bounds or lost.
You can't just 'not like' where your ball is and take a penalty shot and hit another one.
When the player gets to where his second shot landed and declares it 'unplayable', he can drop it within 2 club lengths with a 1 stroke penalty, but, simply being in the rough does not make it unplayable.
A provisional ball is only in play if your original ball is out of bounds or lost.
You can't just 'not like' where your ball is and take a penalty shot and hit another one.
When the player gets to where his second shot landed and declares it 'unplayable', he can drop it within 2 club lengths with a 1 stroke penalty, but, simply being in the rough does not make it unplayable.
You absolutely can.
It's called unplayable lie. Which is determined by the player and the player alone. He/she can declare any ball to be unplayable and follow the unplayable rules from there. You can re-hit from the original spot, take a drop within two-club length of where the ball lies, or you can take the ball back as far as you want on the line drawn from the hole through where your ball landed. All of these incurs a one stroke penalty.
The exception to that is if the ball is hit into a penalty area. You have to follow the penalty rule for that area. Also - if your ball is in a bunker, you cannot take the 2-club drop outside of the bunker. You can, however, go back on the line and drop it with a 2 stroke penalty.
A provisional ball is only in play if your original ball is out of bounds or lost.
You can't just 'not like' where your ball is and take a penalty shot and hit another one.
When the player gets to where his second shot landed and declares it 'unplayable', he can drop it within 2 club lengths with a 1 stroke penalty, but, simply being in the rough does not make it unplayable.
Yes he can. Look up rule 18.3
The ball hit into the rough may not be findable. People hit provisional balls in this scenario quite often.
Yes he can. Look up rule 18.3 The ball hit into the rough may not be findable. People hit provisional balls in this scenario quite often.
The OP was asking about unplayable vs. lost ball/OB.
Provisional is usually a time saving measure, if you think you hit one OB** or deep into the woods where you may not find it. You just reload to save yourself the "walk of shame" of having to go back to the original spot to rehit.
In the OP's case, your ball was never lost... you simply don't think you can hit it as it lies. You declare it unplayable and follow the appropriate rule from there.
** The group of new rules a few years back included one where OB can be dropped in the fairway on a perpendicular line to where it went out (2 stroke penalty). This is actually a local rule, so it would only apply if the course allows it. For our weekend rounds, we've "self-adopted" it for time savings.
This is a great change, IMO. OB never made sense for non-competitive rounds. Just make it a hazard or environmental if it's marking a border to people's yards or places you don't want people trampling through/playing out of.
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