Two easy golf rule questions?

Question

I think I know the answer to these but I want to double check.

1. A player on the fairway hits his ball towards an area surrounded by trees. None of our group saw the ball land and we cant find it. He takes a drop from where he believes it went out. I think thats a 2 stroke penalty and he says its a 1 stroke because he feels his ball is in the tree and is an unplayable lie. Who is correct? Also if time allowed, is he allowed to run back to the fairway and re-hit from his last spot?

2. The first guy teeing off hits a wicked slice. To save time he goes ahead on his own before everyone can tee off. Is that allowed? I think it is, but i think it shouldn't be allowed because an unhonest golfer can move his ball while the others are still teeing off. Can he go ahead? also note his provision sliced just as bad.

Answer 1

1) His ball is lost.  Everyone saw where it went, but no one can find it so it is lost.  You did not say the area where he hit it was out of bounds or in a hazard, so it is just a lost ball.  He MUST hit from the original spot plus take a stroke penalty.  So if his original shot was his second, he drops another ball on that spot, the penalty means he now lies three, and when he hits it it's his fourth shot of the hole.

2.  There is no rule about when you can leave the tee, and in the interest of keeping pace it might be wise for him to leave early and start searching.  But proper etiquette would be for him to wait until everyone hits.  A provisional ball should only be hit after the other players have hit anyway.

Answer 2

HE HAS TO REHIT FROM THE LAST SPOT BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THE BALL LAST CROSSED THE MARGIN OF THE FAIRWAY (STROKE AND DISTANCE).  HE MAY LEAVE THE TEE BOX TO FIND HIS BALL (IF YOU DON'T TRUST HIM, DON'T PLAY WITH HIM!)   "HIT 'EM STRAIGHT"

Answer 3

First and foremost, the player you describe needs a good lesson in golf etiquette. If a ball is lost and cannot be found within a 5 minute search, the player must abandon the ball, go back to the spot where the lost shot  was played, with a penalty of stroke and distance. One cannot assume the ball is lodged in a tree. There must be visual proof and positive identification to declare a ball unplayable. As for the other player starting ahead while others have yet to tee off,He needs lessons in etiquette and notice that he is not welcomed to play in your group again, until he knows and abides by the rules. No one needs that type of selfish distraction , and if you don't trust him, all the more reason not to include him in a friendly game.

Answer 4

1. It is considered a lost ball. He must go back to the original spot and re hit, with a 1 stroke penalty. It's just like hitting it OB. The only way it can be played as an unplayable lie, is if he finds the ball in the tree, and he must identify it as his ball. That happened to Nick Faldo 10-15 years ago. He climbed the tree to identify it.

2. There is nothing in the rules prohibiting him to go ahead. That is more of an etiquitte thing.

Answer 5

(1)  The ball is lost, but if it is lost in a hazard or ground under repair you get to drop where it entered the margin of the hazard.  The people you are playing with must have witnessed it entering the hazard.  If the ball is not in a hazard then another ball must be dropped as near as possible to its origional position with one penalty shot (stroke and distance) and that ball is now in play.  To save walking all the way back and speed the game up in this situation you should always hit a PROVISIONAL BALL.  You can hit the Provisional ball up level with the position of your origional ball then go and look for it.  After 5 Min. if the origional ball is not found the Provisional is the counting ball.  If you do find the origional ball you must play it and pick up the Provisional ball, but if you find it and still cannot play it you will need to take a penalty drop.

(2)  Etiquette in golf would expect the player to wait for all the players in the game to tee off then go and look for the ball.  I would say it is very dangerous for any preson to be in range when other players are hitting balls.  The only time I have seen this type of thing being done is when the ball has been hit into heavy rough very close to the tee.  I like to believe that most people that play golf are honest and would call penalties on themselves and the rules are only brocken through ignorance of the rules rather than outright cheating.