Golf Rules Explained: Provisional Ball (Rule 18.3)
The provisional ball Rule is one of the most useful Rules in the book. If, after playing a shot, you think your ball may be lost outside of a penalty area or out of bounds, you should play a provisional ball. The purpose of the Rule is to save time, hence the player must inform his opponent, marker or fellow-competitor that he intends to play a provisional ball, and he must play it before he goes forward to search for the original ball.
If the player fails to make it clear that he intends to play a provisional ball and plays another ball, that ball is not a provisional ball; instead it becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance (Rule 18.3b).
There does seem to be a little confusion around what phrases you may use to clearly indicate that you are playing a provisional ball.
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Rule 18.3 states; “You must use the word ‘provisional’…”, but then goes on to say, “or otherwise clearly indicate that you are playing a ball provisionally under 18.3”. This second statement seems to introduce an element of greyness into something that could be black and white.
In the Interpretations on the Rules, you’ll see that phrases implying doubt are good enough (e.g. “I’m going to play another just in case”). But whatever you say, it must be obvious that your intent is to hit a provisional ball.
As confusing as this is, we would just advise using the word provisional so that you can remove all doubt.
If it transpires that the original ball is lost outside of a penalty area or out of bounds, you must continue with the provisional ball, under penalty of stroke and distance. If the original ball is found in bounds, you must continue with that ball and stop playing the provisional ball.
Remember, you can continue to play your provisional ball until you reach the place where the original is likely to be. If you make a stroke at your provisional ball at or beyond that point, the provisional becomes the ball in play and the original is considered lost.
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