Rules question

[Tommo21]

He took another ball, out of frustration more than anything else and stuck it within 3ft. He then said that he could claim the initial shank unplayable and use his second for a one shot penalty? (Basically a 3ft for par)

Hold it, his second was a shank, his dropped ball that he hit close was his fourth shot, so was it a par 5 when you say he had a par putt. If it was a par 4 he had a bogie putt.

There is no agree or disagreeing. Shank a ball, you can see where it went, even if it was on the green, if you drop another and hit it, that is the ball in play under penalty.

The only daft thing about all this is dropping the ball in the first place.

 

[Fyldewhite]

Very good question this. Can't find any decision that would cover this so here's my contribution....

I don't think Rule 27 (Ball Lost) applies at all here as the ball was clearly not lost. Even though the rule says "At any time a player can take stroke and distance" the fact that the rule is about a lost ball or ball that is likely to be lost means it would be dubious to apply it in these circumstances.

However, Rule 28 states that a player may DEEM his ball unplayable but does not say he has to announce this. It also says that when putting another ball in play from where he last played he can SUBSTITUTE it. Until seeing that I thought the requirement to keep the same ball through play of a hole would be an issue but it seems not. Therefore I would argue that by dropping another ball and playing it he has automatically deemed it to be unplayable and should play the substituted ball next as it is now in play (whether 3ft from the pin or not).

 

[backwoodsman]

It's all quite straightforward really.

He could declare it unplayable - even if he hadn't seen it close up. If he had done so, by saying "that's unplayable" or something similar before hitting the dropped ball, then the ball he dropped would be the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance.

If he didn't say "that's unplayable" (before he hit the dropped ball) then we're talking rule 15.2 and the penalty would be lose hole in match play or 2 shots in stroke play.

What he couldn't do, was play the dropped ball and only afterwards decide whether he wanted to continue with the first or second ball.

 

[viscount17]

It would be your 4th from the tee not your 3rd

correct scenario - tee shot into trees lost ball shot plus distance 3 from tee

incorrect - shot to trees, incorrect substituted ball 2 shot pen, next shot 4th

not according to the R&A rules official 'helping out' the commentary team at The Open.
'if you play a bad tee shot and don't want it found, put another in play without declaring it a provisional before some helpful soul finds it. penalty 1 shot.'