Where's my ball?

[Basher]

Followed a 3 ball yesterday who took an age looking for a lost ball. The rules give you 5 minutes, this lot were a good 10, rummaging about in the long stuff. They didn't find it and one of them considered going back to the tee to play another! The ball loser upon seeing me waiting at the tee thought better of it, waved me through and continued looking! What about a provisional.

During competitions I always play a provisional if I consider the ball may be lost, it saves time.

I'll look for the ball but generally only look for 2 minutes as I don't wish to be the guy accused of holding up play.

Do you look for the full 5? Give it up as lost and play the provisional? Or hike back to the tee?

 

[JustOne]

It depends whether I'm playing strokeplay or not. In stableford/matchplay I'm more inclined to look for the original ball and then decide accordingly.
I don't mind hiking back to the tee but I'm not opposed to letting groups play through either.
Ultimately it's a decision you have to make from the tee.

I do believe that provisionals actually slow play down more than just looking for balls!! You still have to look for your first ball no matter what and quite often you have to look for the second one too! ...and if there's more than one person reloading.......

If you walk back to the tee and hit another then at least you have your fellow players already down the fairway watching your second one land

 

[Bobirdie]

i play a provisional if im in doubt,but i always have a good look for my ball if im playin strokeplay.never outside the 5 mins though

 

[haplesshacker]

Nothing worse then the 'walk of shame' back to the tee though when there's another group already waiting there. Add to the presure that they know that you've already screwed one tee shot up, you're probably a little frustrated, out of breath if you've run back to the tee because of the guilt you're feeling. The embarrasment of saying 'sorry chaps' to the guys waiting on the tee. Knowing that you've now got potentially 7 pairs of eyes watching you, you stifen up so much that you feel as though you've never swung a club before, you feel the eyes behind you examining every little twitch you make. You take your shot rather hurriedly, and top it into the rough in front of the tee, or stuff it left or right! Knowing that you haven't got the club with you to dig the ball out of the rough just behind the ladies tee, you don't bother looking for it and run back to your bag, and having lost two balls, either conceed the hole, score nowt, or that's the end of the strokeplay competition for the day.

Golf eh. Gotta love it!

Hit a provisional initially if in any doubt. Chances are you'll have second shot itus and nail it 250 down the middle of the fairway!

 

[USER1999]

I never walk back. Just N/R. It is easier. Even when on a score. Just can't be bothered with it.

Often hit a provisional though. Sometimes even when it isn't necessary.

I will give it the full 5 if it is somewhere where we ought to find it, but if lost in neck deep bundu a cursory look is all.

 

[moonraker]

I always play a provisional in comps, will have a look my course as deep rough that we try to encourage new memebers to treat it like a water hazzard if you go in play provisional ball,(rough Carnossite like only allowed to cut it in september due to being a SSSI.)

 

[Herbie]

I think the problem is not in the searching for 5 mins, I think the problem is when those who lose the ball and cannot find it straight away, then fail to wave the waiting group through, or fail to give it up and continue with provisional(if they played one), thats when everything grinds to a halt.
Just because you have 5mins searching before declaring it lost, doesn't mean you cannot wave someone through.

If you have made the mistake do others have to suffer because of it?

 

[DMC]

If its a comp then i will play a provisional its common sense.

 

[funkyfred]

Nothing worse then the 'walk of shame' back to the tee though when there's another group already waiting there. Add to the presure that they know that you've already screwed one tee shot up, you're probably a little frustrated, out of breath if you've run back to the tee because of the guilt you're feeling. The embarrasment of saying 'sorry chaps' to the guys waiting on the tee. Knowing that you've now got potentially 7 pairs of eyes watching you, you stifen up so much that you feel as though you've never swung a club before, you feel the eyes behind you examining every little twitch you make. You take your shot rather hurriedly, and top it into the rough in front of the tee, or stuff it left or right! Knowing that you haven't got the club with you to dig the ball out of the rough just behind the ladies tee, you don't bother looking for it and run back to your bag, and having lost two balls, either conceed the hole, score nowt, or that's the end of the strokeplay competition for the day.

Golf eh. Gotta love it!

Hit a provisional initially if in any doubt. Chances are you'll have second shot itus and nail it 250 down the middle of the fairway!

thanks Hapless, reminds me when I was putting in my 3 cards. Couldn't find my ball on a par 3, although only in the semi rough. Sent back to the tee by my marker who said that he couldn't mark my card unless I went back and played another ball. As I started to walk back the four ball behind suddenly appeared on the tee, not sure as to what to do I made my apology and totally cocked up my next shot and as you say you then have the wrong club in your hand for the next shot. Think I finished with a 8 or 9, very embarrassing.

As it happens scored a 2 on that hole last saturday and got a share of the 2 ball club.

Any doubts about finding my ball and I hit a provisional, unfortunately this occurs far to many times for my liking.

 

[Herbie]

There are rare occasions where a provisional gets overlooked, eg. when you hit a good one into a known location where you would not expect to lose it, only to find it mysteriously gone, but generally its obvious when to play a provisional.

 

[Imurg]

I'll look for a short while. As Viscount said on another thread - you know fairly quickly if you're going to find it or not - and lets face it, if you can't find it after a minute do you want to find it? Its going to be knee deep in clag that'll break your hand if you try and hack it out.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Always play a provisional in a competition as I hate N/R'ing with a passion. I'll call the group behind through and use my ful 5 minutes.

In a roll up game on a Saturday morning we'll have a cursory look and then blob the hole. We never hit a provisional and never, ever go back.

 

[Smiffy]

In a medal I will always hit a provisional if I feel there might be doubt as to whether my ball might be found.
In a Stableford or match, it would depend on whether I was getting a shot on the hole or not.
Yesterday I was sitting on 32 points with two holes left to play, hit into the heather. Didn't hit a provisional as all three of us saw exactly where it had landed. Only just managed to find it though and must have used up 4 minutes and 57 seconds! I was shotting and still managed to blob the bloody hole.

 

[mono217]

Ill hit a provisional and look for the full five and call the group through behind if I havent found it withing 1 minute

 

[nulassilb]

I nearly always play a provisional - and rarely look for more than 2/3 minutes. At my own course, I know the "good" places to lose a ball and the "impossible". Will always look for a little longer if we feel that we should find it (never 5 minutes, though). I must have hit 4 provisionals during a round at an unfamiliar course last week - and every provisional ball was a lovely shot! Why does that happen?