Rule of the Week - Lost Ball

When Can I Declare My Ball Lost

Contrary to what some golfers believe, the rules of golf do not allow you to declare your ball lost. If you have hit your ball into a particularly bad spot, you may decide not to look for it but your opponent or playing companions may still look for it and stumble across it.

If they do, you will have to deal with it from where it is found - however bad! 

Of course, you could always play another ball from where the original bad shot was taken without declaring it a provisional ball.

In this situation, the second ball automatically becomes the one in play, but beware - if your original ball had taken an unseen ricochet into a favourable spot, you would not be able to play it.

Playing a provisional Ball

Playing a provisional ball is an option taken into account in a golf game under penalty of stroke and distance to save time when the ball in play might have gone out of bounds or be lost outside a penalty area. In other words, this is the second ball you play when you believe your first ball (the one in play) may be lost but not in a penalty area or out of bounds. 

Otherwise, as defined in the Rules of golf, a provisional ball is not an option or is not allowed. Is provisional ball important or really necessary? It is one of the most useful Rules in the golf book and its ultimate purpose is to save time. 

Looking for your lost golf ball may take some time – time which the game of golf needs to keep things moving on schedule. 

How many strokes is a provisional ball? 

It is one stroke. Just one. But do note that you also get a penalty of stroke and distance with it. And there may be special cases wherein you could hit a provisional ball more than once – a scenario which is also covered by one of the questions answered here. When can you play a provisional ball? 

You can call on this option when your ball might be lost outside a penalty area or be out of bounds. That means to say you can’t play a provisional ball when you are aware that your ball is lost in the penalty area. Also, before you hit your provisional ball, it is important that you announce it to all those involved in the game and clearly state that you are playing a provisional ball. 

 When does provisional ball become the ball in play? This is actually a good question. We know a provisional ball acts as a secondary ball, but only to a certain degree. Basically, you can proceed on playing your provisional ball up until you reach the place where the first ball (the one lost) is likely to be. 

Making a stroke from that point makes your provisional ball the ball in play and the first one is rendered lost.