Rules question #1

[AuburnWarrior]

OK, Saturday morning, first round of the club championship.

2nd hole

I hook my drive left into the trees. It's fairly open and we see the ball bounce so I decide not to play a provisional.

Of course, get up there and can't find it. We look for a while before I decide to go back and play another.

I get back to the tee when my playing partner finds my ball.

I run back down the fairway and hit my second.

I'm in the clubhouse on Sunday morning and the club President tells me that as soon as you take one step back towards the tee to hit another drive then the first ball is out of play and cannot be hit, even if found. Is that correct?

Moral of the story is, of course, to always hit a provisional......

 

[Imurg]

Surely if it was within the 5 minutes then the ball is found and you play on.

 

[jammydodger]

As Imurg says , as long as its found within 5 minutes then you are ok to play it. The club President is wrong and should know better

 

[ADB]

Agreed, and the 5 minutes does not include the time taken to return to the ball if you started walking back to the tee.

 

[medwayjon]

I thought that once a ball has been declared lost, it is out of play.

Havent got the book here to check.

 

[JT77]

You cant declare a ball lost.

If a playing partner finds it and it is inside 5 mins, you have to play it.
Unless you did not declare your second ball from the tee provisional, if you did this, then regardless of what happens to the first, meaning if you find it, you have to play the second ball, as you did not declare it a prov.

Not sure about the op though, I think that as long as you never hit a second ball from the tee, and it is inside 5 mins, then you are good to play it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I guess it comes down to whether the 2nd ball was declred a provisional in which case it becomes irrelevant once the original ball was found providing it was within the 5 minute time limit. If in the excitement you just went back and hit another ball without declaring it a provisional to your partners beforehand then I'd say the 2nd ball would be the one in play. It has nothing to do with making any sort of move back towards the tee so from that perspective your President is totally wrong.

I seem to recall an incident similar a few years back in one of the Opens (think it was Birkdale) when a guy started to walk back and his orginal ball was found with seconds remaining. As he hadn't played another shot he could carry on.

 

[clubchamp07]

The club President is wrong and should know better

Why should the club President know better than anyone else?

if your with-in the 5 minutes its ok to go back to the tee.

 

[DCB]

You can't go back to the tee and play a provisional. If you go back to the tee, and play another ball the ball you put into play becomes the ball in play.

Rule 27-2 is clear on this.

27-2. Provisional Ball
a. Procedure
If a ball may be lost outside a water hazard or may be out of bounds, to save time the player may play another ball provisionally in accordance with Rule 27-1.The player must inform his opponent in match play or his marker or a fellow-competitor in stroke play that he intends to play a provisional ball, and he must play it before he or his partner goes forward to search for the original ball. If he fails to do so and plays another ball, that ball is not a provisional ball and becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance
(Rule 27-1); the original ball is lost.

 

[JustOne]

I get back to the tee when my playing partner finds my ball.

I run back down the fairway and hit my second.

I'd have walked
If it was found within 5 minutes then you're fine. End of.

 

[USER1999]

Does anyone actually time looking for a ball, or just go with the 'look for a bit, and see if any one is on the tee yet?'

 

[Smiffy]

Does anyone actually time looking for a ball

Bobmac does at Forest Pines

 

[bobmac]

the club President tells me that as soon as you take one step back towards the tee to hit another drive then the first ball is out of play and cannot be hit, even if found

I assume the President has been playing a while and has access to the club pro, so I agree, he should know the correct ruling before correcting someone.

What was the outcome of his "ruling" and if your were dq'd, why were you playing on Sunday?

 

[bobmac]

Does anyone actually time looking for a ball

Bobmac does at Forest Pines

And I still couldn't beat you
Full handicap my a**e

 

[Smiffy]

And I still couldn't beat you

Trust me Bob.
You will get over it, but it could take a little while longer.
If you want to talk, you know where I am

 

[Ethan]

The Club President may have been playing since Harry Vardon was a boy, but he probably didn't know the rules properly at any time. He was wrong, of course. Once the OP struck the second tee shot, or 5 minutes elapsed, whichever was sooner, the first ball was lost.

You can email the R&A with rules queries if you want confirmation.

http://www.randa.org/en/FooterSection/Contact%20Us.aspx

 

[CliveW]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but who said a second ball was put in play? The OP states he decided to go back to the tee and play another (ball), whilst there the original ball was found so he runs up the fairway and plays his second (shot?). My assumption then is NO second ball was ever in play.

 

[bobmac]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but who said a second ball was put in play? The OP states he decided to go back to the tee and play another (ball), whilst there the original ball was found so he runs up the fairway and plays his second (shot?). My assumption then is NO second ball was ever in play.

Correct

 

[Ethan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but who said a second ball was put in play? The OP states he decided to go back to the tee and play another (ball), whilst there the original ball was found so he runs up the fairway and plays his second (shot?). My assumption then is NO second ball was ever in play.

Correct

Good work, pedants.

Hitting a second ball describes a circumstance which renders the first out of play. I think most of the rest of us can read too.

 

[The_LHC]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but who said a second ball was put in play? The OP states he decided to go back to the tee and play another (ball), whilst there the original ball was found so he runs up the fairway and plays his second (shot?). My assumption then is NO second ball was ever in play.

Correct

Good work, pedants.

Hitting a second ball describes a circumstance which renders the first out of play. I think most of the rest of us can read too.

Apparently not, given that a number of people in this thread referred to a second ball being in play, when there wasn't one, so wind yer neck in luv.