Not to go all biblical on you, but here’s an email question about a ball in a bush…
“We were playing a hole with a water hazard. My playing partner hit his ball into the water, but it bounced into a bush on the far side of the pond.
“We looked in the bush and couldn’t find it. He thought it had gone through the bush, but we couldn’t find it.
“He asked if he could play a provisional ball. I thought it wasn’t allowed as it was a water hazard, so he played his third shot and we progressed up the hole.
“Some 100 yards beyond the bush, we found his ball. If I had allowed the provisional ball, I thought he could have played the original ball without penalty. Did I get the ruling correct?”
What’s the score then? Let’s get stuck in…
Provisional Ball Rule: Could He Have Played the Original Ball Without Penalty?
This has got a few parts to it. Let’s see what the rules allow and then how they may apply to this situation.
A provisional ball is allowed under Rule 18.3a for “if a ball might be lost outside a penalty area”. So if you’ve hit a ball towards a big pond, but you’re not quite sure where it stayed in it, it’s fine to declare a provisional.
If the ball is found in the penalty area, though, or is known or virtually certain to be in it then Rule 18.3c (3) says provisional must be abandoned.
It’s also fine to play a provisional ball after a search has started. That’s found in a Clarification to Rule 18.3a. It says you can hit a provisional for a ball “that might be lost up until the point when the three-minute search time has ended”.
If you play that provisional, and find your original ball, within the three minutes you “must continue play with the original ball”.
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Right, now let’s consider our emailer’s scenario. Is the bush part of the penalty area? Even if it was, is there enough doubt to say it wasn’t known or virtually certain the ball was in there?
It’s a judgement call. Obviously, with hindsight, it’s found 100 yards past the bush. But, as another Clarification to Rule 18.3a explains, “when a player is deciding whether they are allowed to play a provisional ball, only the information that is known by the player at that time is considered”.
But let’s say there was enough uncertainty to say taking a provisional ball is OK. If it wasn’t declared and it isn’t here – “so he played his third shot” – that shot is now the ball in play.
The player has taken relief under stroke-and-distance. It doesn’t matter whether the ball is subsequently found. If you’ve not said the magic word “provisional”, or something that is clearly indicating a provisional, it’s game over as far as the original ball is concerned. Keep calm and carry on.
Now another hypothetical. What if a provisional had been correctly played? Whether or not you can continue with the original is determined by time. This is why you need to know how long you’ve taken when searching for a ball.
In our situation, there was an initial search for a ball in the bush, the player has gone back to play a provisional, and then comes across the original ball 100 yards past the bush.
All within a three-minute timescale? There are plenty of you out there who would argue whether that was doable. I’ve been nicknamed ‘Stopwatch Steve’ on the internet (I think it’s quite catchy to be fair), but this is why you use one.
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
What do you make of this provisional ball rule? Let me you what you think, and send me your own rules questions, by emailing me at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com or by leaving us a comment on X.
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