Lost ball - stroke and distance, or 2 strokes?

Junior Golfer Posts: 221 Join date: 2009-06-22

I know officially if you've lost your ball, you take a one stroke penalty, and have to play another ball from the last played position - hence the stroke and distance penalty.

In my casual games, we usually search for the ball first, and if it's really lost, a ball is dropped where the last one roughly landed, and take a 2 stroke penalty. Of course this saves time since we don't have to go all the way back to where the last ball was hit. I've been searching the net for this rule, and i can't seem to find it anywhere.. have we been cheating ourselves all this while? Or is there some provision to the lost ball rule which i just can't find?

Bro, that's what I've been told and what I've been doing. I'm sure there's a rule about this (and I may be wrong too) but I'm happy to know that I'm not the only one with this approach to lost balls.

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"A ball will always come to rest halfway down a hill, unless there is sand or water at the bottom." Henry Beard

You are always suppose to hit a provisional if you suspect that ur ball is lost. There is no rule on dropping and adding 2 strokes.

Sometimes, its done because its oni a social round and failure to hit a p ball means having to walk all the way back to where u last hit a shot. Not very practical if there is already bunching up of flights and golfers behind alr.

Out of curiosity, S70B, what happens if your provisional ball also goes wayward and you think that it too may be lost? Does this mean you take a 2nd provisional ball?

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"A ball will always come to rest halfway down a hill, unless there is sand or water at the bottom." Henry Beard

Do it till its right. Thats how some people rack up huge scores esp in club medals. Its also why its very common to have 5h+ rounds esp when the format of play is strokeplay.

Helps to carry more than 1 extra ball in the pocket.

Understood. Thanks, bro!

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"A ball will always come to rest halfway down a hill, unless there is sand or water at the bottom." Henry Beard

And what you may not be aware is.... if you find your orginal ball the provisonal no longer exsists....

So if you find ball 1 and it is in a terrible place, you cannot elect to play the provisional, once you find the first one it is still the ball in play....

You can however elect not to even look for ball 1 if you think it is in a bad spot.....

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www.2telgolf.com

That was what I was told too, SH. I think some people don't realize that and elect to play what they believe is the better lying ball which isn't correct.

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"A ball will always come to rest halfway down a hill, unless there is sand or water at the bottom." Henry Beard

Technospaz wrote:

That was what I was told too, SH. I think some people don't realize that and elect to play what they believe is the better lying ball which isn't correct.

A lot easier, but not correct... Very Happy

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shorthitter wrote:

Technospaz wrote:

That was what I was told too, SH. I think some people don't realize that and elect to play what they believe is the better lying ball which isn't correct.

A lot easier, but not correct... Very Happy

One of those situations where it depends on your flightmates. If your flightmates are happy to disregard the rules, then it's your advantage. However, it doesn't make you a better golfer. If you're going to play, play right. (A lot easier said than done though)

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"A ball will always come to rest halfway down a hill, unless there is sand or water at the bottom." Henry Beard

If the 2nd ball is beautifully in the middle of fairway, you can 'help' your opponent find his ball that is in terrible lie.

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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

There is a rule that says "you cannot agree to disregard the rules" Very Happy

not in those words but you get the idea... you either want to play golf or you dont....

Can you imagine a Mahjong game where at the beginning you say.. " no rules today"... lol!

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sunny wrote:

If the 2nd ball is beautifully in the middle of fairway, you can 'help' your opponent find his ball that is in terrible lie.

This raises a good question. As SH said, the golfer can elect not to look for his first ball BUT, can the opponent insist and what happens if the opponent does find the first ball (whether through insistence or by accident)?

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"A ball will always come to rest halfway down a hill, unless there is sand or water at the bottom." Henry Beard

Newbie Golfer Posts: 16 Join date: 2009-07-02 Age: 47

hi,
From what i understand(correct me if i'm wrong, If your ball is lost into a hazard marked by red stake then you get one stroke penalty and to take a short closest to the point where you lost the ball. If your ball enter and area that is marked by white line and stakes then you are penalize 2 stroke and to retake the shot closest to the spot where you last hit.

lt

sunny wrote:

If the 2nd ball is beautifully in the middle of fairway, you can 'help' your opponent find his ball that is in terrible lie.

You can, but it is his choice, "dont look I declare it lost "is his call, the same as the only person that can decide if a ball is unplayable is the player, not an opponent....

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www.2telgolf.com