I think I already know the answer, but I was wondering what my options were.

The scenario: I was about 90 yards out hitting from a fairway bunker. I bladed my wedge clear across the green, over the lateral water hazard on the other side of the green, and into a concrete barrier. It bounded off the barrier back into the water hazard. I was unsure of what the ground was like back there, so I didn't know what to do. Hindsight tells me that a stroke and distance penalty would have been my best option. But I ended up going behind the hazard, fishing out my ball, and then promptly clunking three more into the hazard before I finally got a safe one over it. The ground back there was horrible. It was choppy, hard, sloped, and about any other bad lie situation you can imagine. But once I had made the 150 yard walk back there, there was really no way I could go back to the bunker to drop and rehit.

Is there anything I could have done in this situation?

Bryan K wrote:

Is there anything I could have done in this situation?

I could be wrong but my understanding is that you can't play a provisional ball when you know that you ended up in a hazard: you have to play the next shot from the hazard or using the appropriate relief from the hazard (with penalty).

Provisional balls are intended to speed up play when there is a chance (or it is known) that a ball is lost or out of bounds, AFAIK.

I agree with SJD. No provisional since you knew the ball was in the hazard. You are right that looking at it after your subsequent result, replaying from the spot of your last shot was probably the best play.

I wish I had the ability to "undo" some of my actions after getting in trouble. It seems like I realize what if should have done one millisecond after doing the wrong thing.

bkuehn1952 wrote:

I agree with SJD. No provisional since you knew the ball was in the hazard. You are right that looking at it after your subsequent result, replaying from the spot of your last shot was probably the best play. I wish I had the ability to "undo" some of my actions after getting in trouble. It seems like I realize what if should have done one millisecond after doing the wrong thing.

Is there anything I could have done here to speed up play, though? I mean, I knew the minute I went behind that pond that I wanted to go back and take stroke and distance (before I hit), but we just didn't have time for me to walk 120 yards back to the bunker. Is there some variation of rule 3.3 I could have used?

Afraid not.

Bryan K wrote:

Is there anything I could have done here to speed up play, though? I mean, I knew the minute I went behind that pond that I wanted to go back and take stroke and distance (before I hit), but we just didn't have time for me to walk 120 yards back to the bunker. Is there some variation of rule 3.3 I could have used?

Well, if you could not see your ball, you could hit a provisional for a "Lost Ball". Once you started to see the condition of the ground, but prior to seeing your ball, you could go back to the provisional and play it, taking your first effort out of play.

No. The options are quite clear: play from behind the water hazard or go back. It is up to you to decide you don't want to go back, but there was no other option. 3-3 is permissible only for situations where there is a problem with the rules and you'ld need the committee to make a ruling. You can't go out there and take that decision yourself; that would've been the same as providing you with an extra option based on the outcome of the provisional.

Bryan as you know I don't know that much about the Rules of Golf. But when you hit a provisional don't you need to say why you are hitting it? In this case couldn't you have declared that you were hitting a provisional in case you declared the first ball unplayable, then if it was unplayable take your penalty and play the provisional? Isn't one of the options when you declare a ball unplayable to return and hit again?

That's hard. Sometimes after hitting a very bad shot you are faced with a tough decision, which is hard to do when you're in the aftermath. I faced it a while ago after hitting a tee ball into the woods. I hit a provisional even though I should've known that the first ball was effectively dead. Of course I found the first ball in the woods, so deep that an unplayable drop couldn't even help. At first I thought the rule to be cruel but really its totally fair, no hedging of bets.

GrampaB70 wrote:

Bryan as you know I don't know that much about the Rules of Golf. But when you hit a provisional don't you need to say why you are hitting it? In this case couldn't you have declared that you were hitting a provisional in case you declared the first ball unplayable, then if it was unplayable take your penalty and play the provisional? Isn't one of the options when you declare a ball unplayable to return and hit again?

You cannot declare a provisional simply because your original may be unplayable. You can only declare a provisional if your ball may be lost (outside a WH) or OOB.

If you legitimately declare a provisional and subsequently find your original, the provisional becomes a stray ball and your original is confirmed as the ball in play.
If you decide it is unplayable you cannot use the provisional but may use any of the options in rule 28, including stroke and distance.

legitimatebeef wrote:

That's hard. Sometimes after hitting a very bad shot you are faced with a tough decision, which is hard to do when you're in the aftermath. I faced it a while ago after hitting a tee ball into the woods. I hit a provisional even though I should've known that the first ball was effectively dead. Of course I found the first ball in the woods, so deep that an unplayable drop couldn't even help. At first I thought the rule to be cruel but really its totally fair, no hedging of bets.

Thanks for the post, Beef. They way you put it makes sense.

Here is an interesting discussion on whether you have to look for the first ball in the woods.
http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2011-06/kaspriske-rules-lost-ball

GrampaB70 wrote:

Bryan as you know I don't know that much about the Rules of Golf. But when you hit a provisional don't you need to say why you are hitting it? In this case couldn't you have declared that you were hitting a provisional in case you declared the first ball unplayable, then if it was unplayable take your penalty and play the provisional? Isn't one of the options when you declare a ball unplayable to return and hit again?

You are right about the provisional. You have to say that you are taking a provisional and you have to do it before you hit the provisional. However, if there is a hazard involved, a provisional can not be taken. You have to base your next shot on dealing with the hazard or an unplayable lie. Each has different requirements.

Bryan K wrote:

But once I had made the 150 yard walk back there, there was really no way I could go back to the bunker to drop and rehit.

That is always an option.

Is there anything I could have done in this situation?[/quote]

If you thought that you would be in trouble before you went to examine the result, you could have simply played three off the tee. (S&D)

A provisional is only an option if you think that the ball may be OOB lost outside a WH.