KNOW YOUR GOLF RULES

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I was playing golf yesterday on a fine links course in East Lothian, the wind was getting up and my playing partner pulled a drive into the shaggy rough.  He found his ball and played up only to discover on the green that he had played the wrong ball.  This was just a friendly bounce match but we were playing doubles for cash so a discussion started regarding the rules and penalty for playing the wrong ball.  Luckily i knew, as this happened to me in a competition a few years ago.  It is a 2 shot penalty and if you find the correct ball, play it.  The maximum penalty is only two shots though.  I have made a list of some common misunderstood rules below;

Lost/Unplayable Ball

If you think your ball will be lost, play a provisional ball.  If you do not require your provisional then there is no penalty.  If you use your provisional then you will incur a 1 shot penalty plus the stroke with the provisional.  If you find your original ball you must play it.

Declaring a ball lost – You cannot declare a ball as lost, if you find your ball, you must play it.  You can opt not to look for your ball.

Lost ball – If you lose your ball (with no provisional played), you must go back to where you played your previous ball from and hit another shot with a 1 shot penalty.

Provisional - You can continue to play your provisional ball beyond the point where your original ball is likely to be or from a point nearer the hole than the place you assume it to be.  However you render your original ball lost.

Lost ball from tee – You play a ball from the teeing ground, cannot find it and decide to return to the teeing area.  You search for the ball and decide to go back and hit another ball from the tee.  If your ball is found before your tee off (your ball can be teed up) and before the 5 minute search period is up, you can play your original ball with no penalty.

Out of bounds – You must hit another ball from the original position with a 1 stroke penalty.  A stake defining out of bounds is not a movable object.

Ball unplayable – If your ball is unplayable you can opt to move it 2 club lengths, no nearer the hole with a 1 shot penalty.  If this is not possible you have to take your ball to the nearest playable area keeping the point the ball came to rest in a direct line with the Pin.  See diagram 1.

Playing the wrong ball – If you play the wrong ball you incur a 2 shot penalty no matter how many times you play the wrong ball.  You must then go back and play your correct ball.

Someone plays your ball – You incur no penalty unless you cannot find the ball.  If you can’t find the ball, you must go back to where you played your previous ball from and hit another shot with a 1 shot penalty.

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