This week I received this question referring to Rule 27-2a, and thought it would be useful to share my reply with everyone:

RULES OF GOLF QUESTION:

“Hi Barry,

I have a rules question that arose in our group yesterday.

We were playing in an eighteen hole medal play contest. A guy in our foursome pushed his tee shot to the right such that none of us could see whether the ball had come to rest in bounds or just out. The player announced his intention to hit a provisional and proceeded to do so.

Unfortunately, he overcompensated and pulled his provisional to the left such that it entered a lateral water hazard not too far from the tee box. At this point, the player believed that if he hit another shot from the tee, it would be the same as if he had hit his provisional from the fairway which would preclude him from playing his original ball if it were found to be in bounds. With a foursome in front of us and one behind us as well, none of us wanted to spend the time going to the original ball and then, possibly, having to return to the tee. So we three, his competitors, convinced him to hit another ball from the tee as a second provisional. Which he did.

When we reached his original ball, we found it lying nicely playable and in bounds. So he played it and we scored the hole as if the two provisional swings had never occurred. In the end, there were no hard feelings and we all had a fun round of golf. But, on later reflection, I wondered if the player may have been right when he believed that hitting that second provisional constituted putting his first provisional in play (even though it was at the bottom of the lake) and abandoning the opportunity to play his original ball if it were found in bounds.

What is the proper ruling?

And a follow-up question: If the player’s first provisional, instead of entering the lateral hazard, had echoed the flight of his original ball and landed in an indeterminate position near the out of bounds, could he then have hit a second provisional and retained the opportunity to find and play his original ball?

And one last follow-up:

Have the powers that be in golf ever considered eliminating the stroke and distance penalty? In the 50 years I have been playing golf, I can’t remember ever seeing someone go back to the tee to hit again. And if they had, a lot of people would have been shouting at them and calling for the ranger to throw them off the course. Why not just play everything – out of bounds, lost ball, water hazards, etc – 1 stroke and drop in line, not nearer the hole? Is there a lot of resistance to this idea? Speeding up the game is a good idea.

Thanks, Barry. Keep up the good work.”

RULES OF GOLF ANSWER:

“Your friend was wrong in his interpretation of the Rules. However, he was not permitted to play a second provisional ball from the tee as his first provisional ball was known to be lost in a water hazard. If his provisional ball had come to rest (in the water) short of where his original ball may have been lost then the correct procedure was to have played another ball under penalty of one stroke under one of the options under Rule 26-1 Relief for Ball in Water Hazard (behind the water hazard or from the teeing ground). If his provisional ball had been lost in water at a point nearer to the hole than where his original ball may have been lost he should have searched for his original ball before playing another ball under penalty from a point on a line behind where the ball crossed the margin of the hazard and the hole, or from the teeing area (his 5th stroke).

To answer your second point, if a player’s provisional ball could have been lost outside of a water hazard then playing a second provisional ball (5th stroke if the original ball is not found) from the tee would have been the correct procedure.

These points are covered in a note to Rule 27-2a, which states “Note: If a provisional ball played under Rule 27-2a might be lost outside a water hazard or out of bounds, the player may play another provisional ball. If another provisional ball is played, it bears the same relationship to the previous provisional ball as the first provisional ball bears to the original ball.

In my opinion the authorities are extremely unlikely to ever change the ‘stroke and distance’ penalty. It is an integral part of the game that if you do not know where your ball is lost then you have to go back to where you played your last stroke in order to complete the stipulated round. This is the reason that the Rules permit the playing of a provisional ball, in order to maintain the pace of play. Unlike you I have seen many players return to where they played their last stroke, and did so myself only two weeks ago. There is no other option if you cannot find a ball that you did not think would be lost, and you want to return a completed score card. Rangers should not have a problem with competitors abiding by the Rules of Golf, providing they play provisional balls when they think their balls may be lost, always attempt to close any gap with the group in front and allow the following group through if they are holding them up. In my experience there are many more serious causes of slow play other than the stroke and distance penalty.”

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