Playing another ball rule?

Question

What is the rule to where say you lost your ball, play another from the spot you last saw your ball go, but then after you make the new shot you find your original ball. Can you just play your original ball with no penalty or do you have to play your new ball with penalty?

Answer 1

well if u say u lost ur ball then u can say u r playing a provisional, which means tat ur hitting this second ball just in case u don't find ur first ball. But then u find ur first ball before u hit ur next shot for the second ball then u can hit your first ball without a penatly. But in most cases if u can't find ur first ball, then u go back to the original spot and u hit it from there and hit it again. or u can just drop a ball and take a 1 stroke penalty.

Answer 2

Rule 27 covers a lost ball and a provisional.

The penalty for a lost (or out of bounds)  ball is always stroke and distance.

If you think your ball may be lost or out of bounds, you can play a "provisional" ball from the same spot. You do not play from "the spot you last saw your ball go".

Be sure to announce that you are playing a "provisional". If you don't say "provisional", it becomes your ball in play so you can't play your original ball.

You can play this ball as a provisional until you reach the spot where your first ball is likely to be. If you find your original ball in bounds, you can then play it.  You have 5 minutes to search for the first ball.

So, if you hit your first shot 250 and your provisional only went 220, you can take your "second" shot with your provisional (it will actually be your 4th stroke). If your provisional goes farther than your first ball, and you play the provisional, it becomes your ball in play.

It's a complicated rule, but you can read it at the USGA web site

Answer 3

generally when u lose a ball, it is a stroke and distance penalty, meaning u have to rehit the ball from the original spot except it is your 3rd stroke. a provisional is basically doing that ahead of time, (mainly to save time) so u don't have to go look for your ball, deem that its lost, then go all the way back to the tee box to hit another shot.

If you end up finding your first ball, then great! just play it as normal, hitting your 2nd shot. if you can't find it then u play the provisional and it'd be your 4th stroke.

Another scenario is if u hit into a lateral hazard like water or some waste area. Since u can't retrieve your ball its like a lost ball but u can play it from where it entered the hazard and play it no closer to the hole and take 1 stroke penalty.

Answer 4

good answers

http://www.pga2be.com

Answer 5

When you have a lost ball you have to replay the shot from where you originally were before you lost it.  Once you drop the ball and hit that shot it doesn't matter if you find your other ball or not that ball is now in play.  The thing you need to do if you think you are going to lose your ball or you think it might be out of bounds is hit a provisional ball, or another ball from the spot you hit it from when you think you might have lost it.  If you play the provisional that will be with a one stroke penalty because you had to drop the provisional, meaning if you lost your 1st shot you will now be on your 3rd after the 1 stroke drop.  If you find your original ball and it is in play you can play it and pocket the provisonal without penalty.  I hope this helps, I am just trying to give you this in common terms, I am sure somebody will post the official rule on here.

Answer 6

you have to continue with the second ball and take a 1 stroke penalty.