Identifying ball problems

[Backache]

Since they can't possibly identify their ball, you can only be trusting them to abide by the rules and accept their original ball is lost whenever there is any doubt.
However, it sounds more like you just let them play on regardless with whatever ball they find, assuming it's theirs.

There are people who say, yes that's mine and no that's not mine.
Yes I believe them.

 

[wjemather]

There are people who say, yes that's mine and no that's not mine.
Yes I believe them.

Believe the latter by all means but if you believe the former, I have a bridge to sell you.

 

[jim8flog]

All lost balls are lost because the player is looking in the wrong place, surely.

No, some of mine have been lost because somebody else has picked it up or played it as their ball.

 

[Neilds]

Dont normally rise to the bait, but...

The time clock only runs out because you stopped looking. And you only stopped looking because you were looking in the wrong place. Ergo ...

But doesn't the clock only start when you get to the right area?

 

[salfordlad]

Sorry. It was a light-hearted comment through the lens of normal human existence, rather than the Rules of Golf. I'll get back in my lane.

LOL, I initially wrote "all" and then thought about it, concluding "many" is better. It is not easy trying to get the rules language precise. And I have no problem with laughing at that.

Dont normally rise to the bait, but...

The time clock only runs out because you stopped looking. And you only stopped looking because you were looking in the wrong place. Ergo ...

It's an argument...
But you can also be looking in the correct place and seeing your ball but can't identify it so it becomes lost when the clock runs out - for example, two balls, same brand and number, no markings. Or you can't distinguish your original and provisional.
Or the crow, dog, pesky kid etc has lifted it and left the course - "only because you stopped looking?" I don't think so.
I'll stick with "many" thanks.

 

[Colin L]

Dont normally rise to the bait, but...

The time clock only runs out because you stopped looking. And you only stopped looking because you were looking in the wrong place. Ergo ...

Nah. You might look be looking in the right place but not seeing. More than once I've parked my trolley and gone hunting for my ball only to come back and find it right beside the trolley. Many a time I will have stared at a clump of grass and walked on not knowing my ball was under it. Which raises the fundamental question: does "right place" mean the exact spot or a wider area and if the latter, how do we define the dimensions of the area and does the edge of it extend above and below the ground?

So much to ponder and so little time in life to do it in.

 

[backwoodsman]

Salfordlad - ok, fair enough. Colin - nah, you're still looking in the wrong place. And now, more important things beckon - like breakfast.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I'll assiduously help a playing companion hunt for a ball...in the area that he is looking. Unless he asks me where I think his ball is I'll let him lead the search. If I am feeling ultra helpful, and have a good idea he's got his search area quite wrong, then I'll tell him where I think we should be looking.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

No, a ball can become lost for reasons unrelated to a player continuing to look in the wrong place. Anytime after a search has commenced, the player can cease looking and take a range of other actions (return and play an S&D ball, continue with a provisional and so on). At the point of ceasing looking, the ball is not lost. It subsequently becomes lost when the time clock (which keeps running) ticks over the 3 minute point.

Forgive me for a late comment re this thread, but the above genuinely intrigues me.
I envisage a situation where a player has played his first ball over or possibly into some bushes. He anticipates it may be lost and hits a provisional. Which lands in the fairway.
Upon he and his group beginning the search he quickly realises that finding the ball may not be such a good idea and he is better off playing the provisional.
He ceases looking well within the 3 minutes. And plays the provisional.
However one of the group , not knowing, keeps on looking and finds the ball still within the 3 mins..
Must the player abandon the provisional ball ( that has been played and is now thought to be the ball in play) and play the original?
I thought that once another ball had been played, that that was the ball in play!

 

[Neilds]

Forgive me for a late comment re this thread, but the above genuinely intrigues me.
I envisage a situation where a player has played his first ball over or possibly into some bushes. He anticipates it may be lost and hits a provisional. Which lands in the fairway.
Upon he and his group beginning the search he quickly realises that finding the ball may not be such a good idea and he is better off playing the provisional.
He ceases looking well within the 3 minutes. And plays the provisional.
However one of the group , not knowing, keeps on looking and finds the ball still within the 3 mins..
Must the player abandon the provisional ball ( that has been played and is now thought to be the ball in play) and play the original?
I thought that once another ball had been played, that that was the ball in play!

If the provisional was played before the original ball was found and was closer to the hole than where the original ball was found then the provisional is now the ball in play. If either of these situations were not true, then the original ball is in play and the provisional is picked up.

 

[salfordlad]

If the provisional was played before the original ball was found and was closer to the hole than where the original ball was found then the provisional is now the ball in play. If either of these situations were not true, then the original ball is in play and the provisional is picked up.

And for the benefit of some readers, it is worth noting that the (former) provisional in that latter scenario, in fact, has become a wrong ball. If played again, the player gets the general penalty and is a tee stroke away from DQ unless such error is corrected.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

Thank you for the replies. I had in the meantime looked up the rule and I see the correct situation now.

 

[Oops!]

I make it easy for myself: I just want to play and have fun.

I play primarily for and against myself, not against others, which is why I don't play in any tournaments, not even handicap. The course license (“green card?”) is enough for me to play my rounds.

So I don't give a damn if my fellow players cheat - they're cheating themselves first and foremost! That's their problem to deal with.

However, I have to be able to look myself in the eye when I shave in the morning … !