Quote:
Originally Posted by Jules150  im pretty sure you have the right not to look for the ball... |
This is Decision 27-2b/1:
Q. At a par-3 hole, a player hits his tee shot into dense woods. He then hits a provisional ball which comes to rest near the hole. In view of the position of the provisional ball, the player does not wish to find his original ball. He does not search for it and walks directly towards his provisional ball to continue play with it. His opponent (or fellow-competitor) believes it would be beneficial to him if the original ball were found. May the opponent (or fellow-competitor) search for the player’s ball?
A. Yes. In equity (Rule
1-4) he may search for five minutes provided that in the meantime the player does not play a stroke with the provisional ball, it being nearer the hole than the place where the original ball is likely to be. The player is entitled to play such a stroke. If he does, the original ball is then lost under Rule
27-2b and further search for it would serve no purpose. In match play, if the player so proceeds and his provisional ball is closer to the hole than his opponent’s ball, his opponent may recall the stroke (Rule
10-1c). However, recalling the stroke would not change the status of the original ball, which was lost when the provisional ball was played out of turn. See also Decision 27-2c/2.
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I read this to mean that the player who hit the provisional was entitled to hole out for a score of four, if he could have done so before his opponent found his other ball.
Something else I learned while looking this up - your provisional ball is not in play until it reaches the point where it is closer to the hole that your original ball, provided that the original ball is not lost outside a water hazard or is out of bounds. In either of those cases, the provisional is in play after it is first struck, and the original ball is not found. But if you hit a ball into what you think may be an unplayable lie, you can hit a provisional ball, take six strokes to reach the original ball, then decide to play your original ball without penalty.