Rules Refresher – Provisional Ball
ule 18.3 – Provisional Ball – is one of golf’s most useful Rules when it comes to keeping play moving. It allows you to play another ball provisionally from where you last played under penalty of stroke and distance in case you don’t find your original ball or you think it might be out of bounds.
Most golfers are aware of this Rule, but there are one or two little things to remember when it comes to implementing it correctly. Firstly, you may not play a provisional ball if the only possible place your original ball could be is in a penalty area. In such circumstances you must proceed under one of the options available to you for a ball in a penalty area.
The second important thing to note is that you must announce you are playing a provisional ball before playing it, either using the word “provisional” or indicating that you are playing a ball provisionally under Rule 18.3. Interestingly, in the latest Interpretations on the Rules of Golf, phrases that clearly imply you are playing another because there is some
Rdoubt that you will find the original ball are acceptable, with one of the examples given, “I’m going to play another just in case”. Phrases where no doubt is implied are not acceptable though, so “I’m going to reload” or “I’m going to hit another one” are not sufficient.
If you don’t announce your intention clearly, the second ball will automatically become the ball in play, and you won’t be able to play the original ball even if you find it in the middle of the fairway.
The third point, which is where this diagram comes in, concerns how long you may keep playing the provisional ball for. This is dictated by where you estimate the search area for the original ball to be. You may play further strokes with a provisional ball until you pass the spot where you estimate the original ball to be. In this diagram, if you are intending to search for your original ball, the provisional ball may be played provisionally from point A but not point B.
The provisional ball will become the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance if your original ball proves to be either out of bounds or lost, or when you
“You may not play a provisional ball if the only possible place your original ball could be is in a penalty area”
play it from a spot closer to the hole than where you estimated the original ball to be.
It is worth highlighting that the phrase “estimated to be” is important here. You will not be penalised if your estimation of where the original ball might be is wrong and you end up playing the provisional ball from closer to the hole than where the original ball is subsequently found.
If the original ball is found on the course outside a penalty area within three minutes, you must abandon the provisional ball – you do not get a choice over which ball to proceed with.