HITTING A PROVISIONAL BALL

18.3 PROVISIONAL BALL

If you lose a ball or hit it out of bounds, your only option is to replay the stroke from where you last played.  When this happens, it could mean you have a long walk back to the original spot.

So, if you hit a ball into an area where it may be hard to find, or may be out of bounds, to save time in case you don’t find your ball, it is a very good idea to hit a provisional ball before you go forward to look for the first one.  This is often appropriate at Breakers, especially on 5^th and 6^th.

It is important to announce that you are “hitting a provisional” or that you will “hit another ball in case you can’t find the original.” (Otherwise you are abandoning your first ball and putting another ball into play for a one stroke penalty.)

If you don’t hit your provisional as far as where you believe your original ball to be, to save time, you may continue to play the provisional ball until you reach the area where you can start looking for the original ball.

If you find your first ball, the provisional is immediately cancelled, shots with it do not count and you must no longer hit it. The original ball becomes the ball in play.

If you don’t find your original ball within 3 minutes of starting to look for it, it is a lost ball so the provisional ball becomes the ball in play.

.
Alternatively, if you think your ball is in a terrible place and you would rather hit your provisional, if you continue to hit your provisional from a point past where the original ball is estimated to be, then the provisional ball becomes the ball in play.


If you finish the hole with your provisional ball, you must count the shots made with the original ball plus the shots made with the provisional, and add a one stroke penalty.

NOTE: You cannot hit a provisional if you think your ball is lost in a penalty area. In that case, you must use the penalty area rules. DIAGRAM 18.3c: PROVISIONAL BALL PLAYED FROM SPOT NEARER HOLE THAN WHERE ORIGINAL BALL IS ESTIMATED TO BE

A player’s original ball played from the teeing area may be lost in a bush, so the player announces and plays a provisional ball, and it comes to rest at point A. As point A is farther from the hole than where the original ball is estimated to be, the player may play the provisional ball from point A without it losing its status as a provisional ball. The player plays the provisional ball from point A to point B. As point B is nearer the hole than where the original ball is estimated to be, if the player plays the provisional ball from point B, the provisional ball becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance.

 

 

DIAGRAM 18.3c: PROVISIONAL BALL PLAYED FROM SPOT NEARER HOLE THAN WHERE ORIGINAL BALL IS ESTIMATED TO BE

A player’s original ball played from the teeing area may be lost in a bush, so the player announces and plays a provisional ball, and it comes to rest at point A. As point A is farther from the hole than where the original ball is estimated to be, the player may play the provisional ball from point A without it losing its status as a provisional ball. The player plays the provisional ball from point A to point B. As point B is nearer the hole than where the original ball is estimated to be, if the player plays the provisional ball from point B, the provisional ball becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance.