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18Stroke-and-Distance Relief, Ball Lost or Out of Bounds, Provisional Ball
18
Stroke-and-Distance Relief, Ball Lost or Out of Bounds, Provisional Ball
Purpose of Rule: Rule 18 covers taking relief under penalty of stroke and distance. When a ball is lost outside a penalty area or comes to rest out of bounds, the required progression of playing from the teeing area to the hole is broken; the player must resume that progression by playing again from where the previous stroke was made.
This Rule also covers how and when a provisional ball may be played to save time when the ball in play might have gone out of bounds or be lost outside a penalty area.
18
Stroke-and-Distance Relief, Ball Lost or Out of Bounds, Provisional Ball
18.1
Relief under Penalty of Stroke and Distance Allowed at Any Time
At any time, a player may take stroke-and-distance relief by adding one penalty stroke and playing the original ball or another ball from where the previous stroke was made (see Rule 14.6).
The player always has this stroke-and-distance relief option:
- No matter where the player’s ball is on the course, and
- Even when a Rule requires the player to take relief in a certain way or to play a ball from a certain place.
- The original ball is no longer in play and must not be played.
- This is true even if the original ball is then found on the course before the end of the three-minute search time (see Rule 6.3b).
- Announces that they are playing a provisional ball (see Rule 18.3b),
- Is playing a second ball in stroke play under Rule 14.7b or 20.1c(3).
18.2
Ball Lost or Out of Bounds: Stroke-and-Distance Relief Must Be Taken
18.2a
When Ball Is Lost or Out of Bounds
(1) When Ball Is Lost. A ball is lost if not found in three minutes after the player or their caddie begins to search for it.
If a ball is found in that time but it is uncertain whether it is the player’s ball:
- The player must promptly attempt to identify the ball (see Rule 7.2) and is allowed a reasonable time to do so, even if that happens after the three-minute search time has ended.
- This includes a reasonable time to get to the ball if the player is not where the ball is found.
- Lies on or touches the ground or anything else (such as any natural or artificial object) inside the boundary edge, or
- Is above the boundary edge or any other part of the course.
18.2b
What to Do When Ball Is Lost or Out of Bounds
If a ball is lost or out of bounds, the player must take stroke-and-distance relief by adding one penalty stroke and playing the original ball or another ball from where the previous stroke was made (see Rule 14.6).
Exception – Player May Substitute Another Ball under Other Rule When It Is Known or Virtually Certain What Happened to Ball: Instead of taking stroke-and-distance relief, the player may substitute another ball as allowed under a Rule that applies when their ball has not been found and it is known or virtually certain that the ball:
- Came to rest on the course and was moved by an outside influence (see Rule 9.6) or played as a wrong ball by another player (see Rule 6.3c(2)),
- Came to rest on the course in or on a movable obstruction (see Rule 15.2b) or an abnormal course condition (see Rule 16.1e),
- Is in a penalty area (see Rule 17.1c), or
- Was deliberately deflected or stopped by any person (see Rule 11.2c).
18.3
Provisional Ball
18.3a
When Provisional Ball Is Allowed
If a ball might be lost outside a penalty area or might be out of bounds, to save time the player may play another ball provisionally under penalty of stroke and distance (see Rule 14.6). This includes when:
- The original ball has not been found and identified and is not yet lost,
- A ball might be lost in a penalty area but also might be lost somewhere else on the course, or
- A ball might be lost in a penalty area but might also be out of bounds.
- The player may play another provisional ball.
- That provisional ball then has the same relationship to the first provisional ball as the first one has to the original ball.
18.3b
Announcing Play of Provisional Ball
Before the stroke is made, the player must announce to someone that they are going to play a provisional ball:
- It is not enough for the player only to say that they are playing another ball or are playing again.
- The player must use the word “provisional” or otherwise clearly indicate that they are playing the ball provisionally under Rule 18.3.
18.3c
Playing Provisional Ball Until It Becomes the Ball in Play or Is Abandoned
(1) Playing Provisional Ball More Than Once. The player may continue to play the provisional ball without it losing its status as a provisional ball so long as it is played from a spot that is the same distance or farther from the hole than where the original ball is estimated to be.
This is true even if the provisional ball is played several times.
But it stops being a provisional ball when it becomes the ball in play under (2) or is abandoned under (3) and therefore becomes a wrong ball.
(2) When Provisional Ball Becomes Ball in Play. The provisional ball becomes the player’s ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance in either of these two cases:
Exception – Player May Substitute Another Ball Under Other Rule When It Is Known or Virtually Certain What Happened to Ball: The player has an extra option when their ball has not been found and it is known or virtually certain that the ball:
- When Original Ball Is Lost Anywhere on Course Except in Penalty Area or Is Out of Bounds. The original ball is no longer in play (even if it is then found on the course after the end of the three-minute search time) and is now a wrong ball that must not be played (see Rule 6.3c).
- When Provisional Ball Is Played from Spot Nearer Hole Than Where Original Ball Is Estimated to Be. The original ball is no longer in play (even if it is then found on the course before the end of the three-minute search time or is found nearer the hole than had been estimated) and is now a wrong ball that must not be played (see Rule 6.3c).
- If only one of the balls is found on the course, that ball is treated as the provisional ball which is now in play.
- If both balls are found on the course, the player must choose one of the balls to be treated as the provisional ball which is now in play, and the other ball is treated as the original ball, which is no longer in play, and must not be played.
ŞEKİL 18.3c: GEÇİCİ TOP, ORİJİNAL TOPUN DURDUĞU TAHMİN EDİLEN YERDEN ÇUKURA DAHA YAKIN BİR YERDEN OYNANIRSA
- Oyuncunun başlama alanından oynadığı top çalılar içinde kaybolmuş olabileceği için oyuncu geçici top oynayacağını belirtip oynuyor. Geçici top A noktasında duruyor.
- A noktası orijinal topun durduğu tahmin edilen yerden çukura daha uzak olduğu için oyuncu topa geçici top statüsünü koruyarak vuruş yapabilir.
- Oyuncunun A noktasından yaptığı vuruş B noktasına gidiyor.
- B noktası çukura orijinal topun durduğu tahmin edilen yerden daha yakın olduğu için, oyuncu B noktasından vuruş yaparsa, geçici topun statüsü, vuruş ve mesafe cezası ilave edilerek oyundaki top olur.
- Came to rest on the course and was moved by an outside influence (see Rule 9.6),
- Came to rest on the course in or on a movable obstruction (see Rule 15.2b) or an abnormal course condition (see Rule 16.1e), or
- Was deliberately deflected or stopped by any person (see Rule 11.2c).
- Substitute another ball as allowed under that Rule, or
- Treat the provisional ball as the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance.
- When Original Ball Is Found on Course Outside Penalty Area Before the End of the Three Minute Search Time. The player must play the original ball as it lies.
- When Original Ball Is Found in Penalty Area or Is Known or Virtually Certain to Be in Penalty Area. The player must either play the original ball as it lies or take penalty relief under Rule 17.1d.
- The player must not make any more strokes with the provisional ball which is now a wrong ball (see Rule 6.3c), and
- All strokes with that provisional ball before it was abandoned (including strokes made and any penalty strokes solely from playing that ball) do not count.