Appleby's provisional off the tee?

[goughy]

Just watching the coverage, Apples hit a drive way right into some heavy trees. He immediately hit a provisional drive while the officials were still looking for his ball. In fact, the commentators said his ball had been found before he played another but the news hadn't got to apples and he hit his provisional drive.

I thought under the rules the only time you could hit a provisional was when your ball was suspected lost oob. You can't hit a provisional for a ball suspected lost in a water hazzard, and I'm sure you can't hit a provisional because you hit it into some trees. If you could, I'd be hitting a second ball off of every tee.

Anyway, can the rules officials answer this for me?

[AndyP]

New thread?

Of course you can hit a provisional ball if you think you may have lost it into the trees. What's the point of a provisional ball otherwise? If he finds his ball, he is playing his 2nd shot. If he doesn't then the provisional tee shot was his third.

[goughy]

So maybe it's just suspected lost in water hazzards you can't hit a provisional for? And why don't I hit more provisionals off the tee then. Could save me lots of time?

[AndyP]

Yes, why don't you? That's the reason for the rule.

I never hit provisionals because I know that slow play pisses some people off, and I get a kick out of that.

[AndyP]

I working on some new moves now. My current favourite is the 'Double Take Pickup', where I go to pick the ball out of the hole after a 2ft putt (which I'd spent a few minutes lining up), then fumble the ball and let it drop back into the cup. It's bound to get a few eye rolls between my playing partners. :smt023

[markTHEblake]

I thought under the rules the only time you could hit a provisional was when your ball was suspected lost oob.

.... lost OR oob.

Dont you remember when we played at Bribie, i asked you several times (18?) if you wanted to hit a provisional, and you said no, you preferred the nature walks.

[AndyP]

Of course. I meant just lining up the ball, such that the line on the ball is perfectly aligned with the target (which would most likely be a blade of grass overhanging the cup). This is of course, after I redid the line, as I would have noticed it getting a bit faint after hitting my 6ft putt.

[TS]

2ft putt (which I'd spent a few minutes lining up) :smt023

It is good to see that you had learned to play quicker.