Hi Linda,
Recently I hit a second shot from the fairway, which I
suspected had gone out of bounds. Therefore I hit a provisional shot and went
to look for first ball. The first ball was not out of bounds but was right up
against a metal fence (the course boundary), hence was unplayable.
My two questions are:
- Can I continue with the provisional ball (so will have
taken 4 shots so far)?
- Due to the lateral nature of the fence/course boundary, it
was not possible to take a penalty drop either backwards in line with the flag
(would be out of bounds) or two club lengths from where the ball lay as I would
have always been nearer the hole or still in an unplayable situation by the
fence. Is there any other form of relief or option here other than using my
provisional ball, as per first question?
Thanks - great blog – Lou
Dear Lou,
A provisional ball must
be abandoned if the original ball is neither lost nor out of bounds. Since
you found your original ball on the golf course, you must continue play with it
[Rule 27-2c].
You found your original in an unplayable lie. Since neither
dropping on the line-of-sight to the hole nor dropping within two club-lengths
no closer to the hole was a viable option, your only remaining choice under
Rule 28 (Ball Unplayable) was to play under stroke and distance. This means you
must return to where you hit your second shot and play another ball, adding a
one-stroke penalty to your score.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
