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During a match, my opponent hit his second shot way into the woods. He then played a provisional, which he hit four feet from the pin — and immediately declared his first ball lost, without searching for it. I saw his ball as I walked to the green, grabbed it and gave it to him, but he refused to identify it. He recorded a 5, but was that allowed? —David Pulcini, via email
Is your opponent’s gambit cunning? Yes. Is it allowed? Goodness, no.
See Clarification 18.3c(2)/2 regarding a player searching for/an opponent finding their ball as well as the last paragraph of Rule 18.3, which puts failing to make reasonable efforts to identify a ball that may be one’s original into the category of potential serious misconduct, with a penalty of disqualification. Ours is the great game of honor, not stratagems.
For more provisional-ball guidance from our guru, read on …
Rules Guy: Can you put a provisional back in play after accidentally picking it up?
My friend drives wide right. Presuming it is lost, he hits a provisional, which also goes far right. We eventually found both balls in bounds. Problem: the balls were identical, and neither was marked, so we couldn’t determine which was the original and which was the provisional. He was advised to play the one further from the hole as his first ball, then take a two-stroke penalty at the end of the hole. Was that correct? —Bart Calvanese, Denver, Colo.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we neglect to mark our golf balls differently.
Bart, when a player can’t distinguish between original and provisional, and both balls are found on the course, the player must choose one — either one — and treat it as the provisional, under Rule 18.3c(2).
Thus, your friend would have been taking his fourth stroke with the ball of his choosing. To anticipate the follow-up question, were one ball in bounds and the other OB, you’d play the in-bounds ball as the provisional.
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