the player hit his ball into a tree and thought it went into a hazzard ,instead of looking for it he said to his partner he would hit a provisional ball ,he hit it into the hazzard as I watched it go out. he then hit another ball from the same spot to the edge of the green . upon heading towards the green he found his original ball !  Question can he play the original after hitting a third ball from the original spot ?

Hi edrushie,

I am unable to determine what the player actually did in your post and would request you answer the following questions:

1) Did the player play the provisional ball because he thought the original ball was A) “lost inside the water hazard” or B) “lost outside the water hazard”.

2) When the third ball was played was this announced and played as a provisional ball?

3) If he did announce and play his third ball as a provisional, was it played because it was A) “lost inside the water hazard” or B) “lost outside the water hazard?”

Regards,

the first or original ball was thought to be lost inside a red latteral hazzard , the second ball ( first provisional) was known to be lost inside the red latteral hazzard , the third ball ( second provisional) was hit to the edge of the green. tehe original was found as he proceeded to the green and so he played it Should he have played it or should he have played his third ball?

Dear edrushie,

The player was never entitled to play a provisional ball for a ball that may be lost inside a water hazard (see Rule 27-2a and Decision 27-2a/2).  Thus the second ball played took the original ball out of play and the third ball took the second ball played out of play.  The player was lying 5 with the third ball and was required to complete the hole in relation to this ball.

By playing the original ball, the player played a wrong ball and incurred a loss of hole penalty in match play.  In stroke play, the player incurred a 2 stroke penalty and was required to hole out with the third ball played from the tee before making a stroke on the next hole.  If he fails to do so, he is disqualified per Rule 15-3.

Thank you for your interest in the Rules of Golf - regards,