What happens if you declare a golf ball unplayable and then find out it wasn’t yours in the first place? Women & Golf’s rules expert Sheila Waltham explains all.
A player tees off and her shot heads into an area of dense shrubbery. She walks forward, finds a ball she thinks is hers, declares it unplayable and heads back to the tee. She proceeds to play a ball under penalty of stroke and distance.
After this shot, she walks forward and finds the original ball within the three minute search time. Can the second ball be abandoned and play continue with the original ball?
She must continue with the second ball and has now played three strokes.
The fact that the player deemed the incorrect ball “unplayable” is not relevant, as the player chose to proceed under the option of stroke and distance. To use this option, it is not necessary to find the original ball.
As soon as the player made a stroke from the tee with the second ball under penalty of stroke and distance, the original ball is no longer the ball in play and must not be played (Rule 18.1).
As the three minute search time had not expired, the player could have chosen to play a provisional ball and when the original ball was then found within the search time, it was still the ball in the play. The player must then continue to play with the original ball and abandon the provisional ball Rule 18.3c(3).
