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Provisional ball - When provisional ball becomes ball in play
Your provisional ball becomes your ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance in either of these two cases:
- When your original ball is lost anywhere on the course except in a penalty area or is out of bounds.
- When your provisional ball is played from a spot nearer to the hole than where your original ball is estimated to be.
DIAGRAM 18.3c: PROVISIONAL BALL PLAYED FROM SPOT NEARER HOLE THAN WHERE ORIGINAL BALL IS ESTIMATED TO BE
- A player’s original ball played from the teeing area may be lost in a bush, so the player announces and plays a provisional ball, and it comes to rest at point A.
- As point A is farther from the hole than where the original ball is estimated to be, the player may play the provisional ball from point A without it losing its status as a provisional ball.
- The player plays the provisional ball from point A to point B.
- As point B is nearer the hole than where the original ball is estimated to be, if the player plays the provisional ball from point B, the provisional ball becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance.