Hi Linda,
Yesterday Jeff, John and I were playing a par 3 with a pond
in front of the green. My ball went into the pond. We all saw the splash. I
thought it might have bounced off the water and out, since it was a low shot,
but a quick view of the 15 yards of land between the pond and the green did not
reveal it. I played another ball from the tee, which landed right next to the
hole, and when I reached the green I saw my original ball, which had bounced
out of the pond and was hiding under a leaf.
Nobody knew what to do. I decided I must finish the hole
with my original ball, and then add a two-stroke penalty for either hitting the
wrong ball or practicing during the round. Was I right or wrong?
Lou from Morganton, North Carolina
Dear Lou,
You are entitled to hit a provisional ball when a ball may
be lost outside a water hazard [Rule 27-2a]. If this was the situation
you faced and you had announced that the second ball was a provisional,
you would have had to continue play with your original when you found it
obscured by the leaf; you would be required to abandon the provisional, and
would accrue no penalties.
Since there was no announcement of a provisional, the second
ball you hit was played under penalty of stroke and distance; it was your ball
in play, and your third shot on the hole [Decision 26/6]. Assuming you holed
the short putt, your score would have been 4.
When you abandoned your ball in play (the second ball hit
from the tee) and continued play with the original ball that was “lost” under
the Rules [Definition of “Lost Ball”], you hit a wrong ball. The penalty is two
strokes, and the error must be corrected, meaning you must complete the hole
with the ball that was in play (your second shot from the tee that landed next
to the hole). If the mistake is not corrected before you tee off on the next
hole, you are disqualified [Rule 15-3b]."
Linda
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