Did I do the right thing?

[TriggerTech]

So played this morning at Tilgate and was pulled up by a mate on a potential rules infringement.

So proceeded to slice my 2nd shot into woodland approx 150 yrds away.

I dropped a 2nd ball from last location and took my 4th shot (went on to green this time)
Mate suggest I should have gone and looked for ball to determine if lost and or unplayable.
I told him I was under the impression that I had 3 options

1) Play ball 1 as it stands
2) Declare ball 1 unplayable and get two club lengths (not nearer to hole)
3) Replace from original location with 1 shot penalty.

With this in mind, I consider that I can deem my ball unplayable at anytime and take any of the 3 options (Correct?)

In order to save time (2 groups behind) and not undertake a 300 yrd round trip plus 5 mins searching, I took option 3, on the grounds that in the unlikley event that I found the ball it would be more than 2 club lenghs within an unaccessable / unplayble wooded area.

He told me members at his home course, don’t like it if you don’t make an effort to locate ball, however if option 3 is available, surely its up to me what I do?

Views Welcome,

Cheers

 

[Alex1975]

Hmm, interesting... I look forward to the replys. I thought the same as...

 

[Imurg]

I think you did the right thing - especially if the woods are thick. You don't have to look for it if you don't want to. You can just drop another ball down and it becomes the ball in play. But if someone finds your ball, or aball they think might be yours, before you've re-played you must go and check it.
Sometimes it's better to not find the first ball - could take 4 or 5 shots to get back to safety.

 

[richart]

As soon as you play a second ball without declaring it a provisional, it is the ball in play.

 

[USER1999]

You can't 'declare it lost', but if you put another ball into play without declaring it to be a provisional, then this is then the ball in play.
If you do declare it to be a provisional, it is then bad form not to look for the original ball.

 

[Alex1975]

You can't 'declare it lost', but if you put another ball into play without declaring it to be a provisional, then this is then the ball in play.
If you do declare it to be a provisional, it is then bad form not to look for the original ball.

Bad form but not rule breaking?

 

[HogansAlley]

I believe you can that. But you had more than three options.

In addition to the three mentioned…

4. Play a provisonal ball then look for your original. Bear in mind that the minute you find the original the provisional ball must then be picked up.

5. If you find the original unplayable you can drop as far back as you like so long as you keep a line between the position of the found ball and the flag.

Anyone agree?

 

[thecraw]

I'd find a new mate. I bet its a great laugh playing with him for a £1,£1 &£1!


NOT.

 

[Imurg]

More poor ettiquette I guess. If you're declaring a provisional and then don't look for the first one then you're wasting your breath declaring a provisional in the first place - just drop another down and play on.

 

[HogansAlley]

Bad form but not rule breaking?

I've thought a lot about this over the years (sad I know) and I really don't think it is.

 

[USER1999]

But in declaring it a provisional you are hedging your bets. Hit a good one, and it's the ball in play, hit a bad one, and it's 'let's go back and look for the original' time.

 

[HogansAlley]

More poor ettiquette I guess. If you're declaring a provisional and then don't look for the first one then you're wasting your breath declaring a provisional in the first place - just drop another down and play on.

Me again, I'll stop soon.

If you hit it in the trees, play a declared provisional, hit it a good shot, THEN declare the first one lost without looking for it, that would be bad manners. I would try to declare lost before hitting another.

It's a minefield.

 

[bladeplayer]

More poor ettiquette I guess. If you're declaring a provisional and then don't look for the first one then you're wasting your breath declaring a provisional in the first place - just drop another down and play on.

Me again, I'll stop soon.

If you hit it in the trees, play a declared provisional, hit it a good shot, THEN declare the first one lost without looking for it, that would be bad manners. I would try to declare lost before hitting another.

It's a minefield.

I agree.. it would be bad manners if you declare a provisional you SHOULD at least look for the origional, we all know the ones that wont tho ..

 

[TriggerTech]

Thanks for the feeback guys, happy as it looks like I got it right!

I didn’t call a provisional and just took the penalty as if I had found the ball then the provisional would have become redundant and I would be back at sqaure 1.

From my part, should I have made it clear I wasn’t playing a provisional? Its my understanding that unless I declare provisional, by default the shot become in play and under penalty?

 

[barrybridges]

More poor ettiquette I guess. If you're declaring a provisional and then don't look for the first one then you're wasting your breath declaring a provisional in the first place - just drop another down and play on.

Me again, I'll stop soon.

If you hit it in the trees, play a declared provisional, hit it a good shot, THEN declare the first one lost without looking for it, that would be bad manners. I would try to declare lost before hitting another.

It's a minefield.

I agree.. it would be bad manners if you declare a provisional you SHOULD at least look for the origional, we all know the ones that wont tho ..

Really? Sometimes I do this though - and I'd hate for people to think I'm rude.

I will often give up on looking for my ball quite easily - I find it awkward because I'm not a good player and I feel like often I am holding others up (even if I haven't taken 5 minutes to find my ball). I'll generally play a provisional but won't make a huge effort to find my ball if I know it is likely to have been lost.

I didn't think I was being rude by doing so, but I could see how others might construe it. I thought I was being practical by assessing the probability of finding the original.

In that situation, would it be best just to play a second ball (as the ball in play) and not declare it a provisional?

It would surely be a bit odd for the same reasons - if you're really crap (like I am) then you effectively have a '2nd chance' shot for a 1 shot penalty whereas if you hit your ball into the bad stuff you might end up with much worse than a 1 shot damage.

 

[chrisd]

Why do you want an opponent to make so much effort to find a ball that he might get lucky with and win the hole or beat you in a medal. If its not sitting up when he gets ther and he decides to play the provisional it saves time looking and you get the advantage - what's the problem?



Chris

 

[bladeplayer]

More poor ettiquette I guess. If you're declaring a provisional and then don't look for the first one then you're wasting your breath declaring a provisional in the first place - just drop another down and play on.

Me again, I'll stop soon.

If you hit it in the trees, play a declared provisional, hit it a good shot, THEN declare the first one lost without looking for it, that would be bad manners. I would try to declare lost before hitting another.

It's a minefield.

I agree.. it would be bad manners if you declare a provisional you SHOULD at least look for the origional, we all know the ones that wont tho ..

Really? Sometimes I do this though - and I'd hate for people to think I'm rude.

I will often give up on looking for my ball quite easily - I find it awkward because I'm not a good player and I feel like often I am holding others up (even if I haven't taken 5 minutes to find my ball). I'll generally play a provisional but won't make a huge effort to find my ball if I know it is likely to have been lost.

I didn't think I was being rude by doing so, but I could see how others might construe it. I thought I was being practical by assessing the probability of finding the original.

In that situation, would it be best just to play a second ball (as the ball in play) and not declare it a provisional?

It would surely be a bit odd for the same reasons - if you're really crap (like I am) then you effectively have a '2nd chance' shot for a 1 shot penalty whereas if you hit your ball into the bad stuff you might end up with much worse than a 1 shot damage.

By declaring a pvovisional (or a little gerry adams as my friend north of the border calls it) you are stating your intention to hit this one in case u dont find my origional .. to hit a good provisional & then not look would IN MY OPINION b bad manners. how hard you look for it is open to interpetation, but that is a personal opinion only tho Barry. if you have no intention of looking for it just drop a ball & play under penalty . p.s your not crap, your learning .. same as us all

 

[barrybridges]

More poor ettiquette I guess. If you're declaring a provisional and then don't look for the first one then you're wasting your breath declaring a provisional in the first place - just drop another down and play on.

Me again, I'll stop soon.

If you hit it in the trees, play a declared provisional, hit it a good shot, THEN declare the first one lost without looking for it, that would be bad manners. I would try to declare lost before hitting another.

It's a minefield.

I agree.. it would be bad manners if you declare a provisional you SHOULD at least look for the origional, we all know the ones that wont tho ..

Really? Sometimes I do this though - and I'd hate for people to think I'm rude.

I will often give up on looking for my ball quite easily - I find it awkward because I'm not a good player and I feel like often I am holding others up (even if I haven't taken 5 minutes to find my ball). I'll generally play a provisional but won't make a huge effort to find my ball if I know it is likely to have been lost.

I didn't think I was being rude by doing so, but I could see how others might construe it. I thought I was being practical by assessing the probability of finding the original.

In that situation, would it be best just to play a second ball (as the ball in play) and not declare it a provisional?

It would surely be a bit odd for the same reasons - if you're really crap (like I am) then you effectively have a '2nd chance' shot for a 1 shot penalty whereas if you hit your ball into the bad stuff you might end up with much worse than a 1 shot damage.

By declaring a pvovisional (or a little gerry adams as my friend north of the border calls it) you are stating your intention to hit this one in case u dont find my origional .. to hit a good provisional & then not look would IN MY OPINION b bad manners. how hard you look for it is open to interpetation, but that is a personal opinion only tho Barry. if you have no intention of looking for it just drop a ball & play under penalty . p.s your not crap, your learning .. same as us all

Ah no...I'm definitely crap! Don't worry!

In future I'll make more of an effort to look for my ball - up until now I've just spend a minute or so but to be honest have decided in the first few seconds whether I'm likely to find it or not.

 

[jammydodger]

I wouldnt worry about it at all Barry. I'm like you , if i'm just playing a bounce game I dont spend much time looking for my ball either. Who really cares tbh , if its a comp i'll have a good dig around though but i'm still not too fussed. I will always whack a provisional first and call it one though. Its up to me after that if I want to look hard or not and keep the pace of play moving. No-ones going to look for my ball if I say dont bother ,so they arent going to call me rude are they ??

 

[Oddsocks]

Tilgate, the place of torchure. Must get back there soon.