If You Hole Out Your Provisional Ball, Can You Abandon Your Original?
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2020-10-16
“A player has a 70-yard third shot on a par-5. He hits it over the green, and it is likely lost in high grass. He plays a provisional ball and holes it. Since the provisional is in for a 5, and getting up-and-down for a 5 on his original ball is very unlikely should he find it, he opts to abandon the original without even looking for it. Can he do this, or must he look for his original ball — and if the latter, how hard does he have to look?”
There is in fact no requirement that a player look for his ball. That said, this situation brings an interesting — dare I say hilarious — scenario into play.