[VEGLAS - SPB]

We were in a tournament the other day me and my buddy in the same group. He hit his tee shot left into some trees, he was playing a Titleist Pro V1 #2. He hit his provisional onto the fairway and then went to look for his ball in the trees.

He found his ball in the trees and punched out. As he was walking out of the trees he sees another ball just past them. It was another Titleist Pro V1 #2. the balls were identical. He did not mark his ball and had no idea what to do because he had no idea which ball was actually his.

He played the first one and we were trying to spot his punch out but we lost it, so that ball was lost, and eventually he went and played the second one out. We recorded both scores but were not sure which one stands, or if there was a penalty or not.

Is this a 1 stroke, 2 stroke? Or even a disqualification? What is the ruling?

I assume since he played the first ball that was the one he declared his and should have played it out the rest of the way?

[huerta]

I'd say he should have gone back to the tee and hit another, because he could not identify his ball that he thought went into the trees (obviously so, since he found another after he hit it and didn't know if it was his or not). That should have been accomplished with his provisional. Obviously a reason to mark your ball! My guess would be a disqualification since he played a wrong ball and took a score for it (since he should have re-teed/taken his provisional, IMO) and would have signed an incorrect scorecard. What did he do with his provisional he hit into the fairway? I think that's the ball he should have been hitting.

I didn't think you could declare a ball yours, if you can't identify it between it and another ball that was also unmarked. Your ball should be considered lost in that case, even if you know that one of the two balls is yours. But if there is one ball that is the same as the one he hit, there might be a third, that he didn't find which may have been his!

Fourputt will have the best answer here. At the least, I think he should be penalized for hitting a wrong ball (since he can't identify it) and then he should have hit his provisional.

[VEGLAS - SPB]

I agree as well Smalls, as for the provisional he just picked it up. We both had the feeling it would be a disqualification. The people running the tournament had no idea what to do on this situation and assessed him a two stroke penalty.

[VanDerSmok]

I think he could have just played his provisional. Takes the penalty for losing the first ball, and now is hitting 4 with his provisional ball.

[VanDerSmok]

wait I didn't read all of smalls response. I would also charge a penalty for hitting the wrong ball.

Lesson is...always mark your ball

[mylittlejewelaa]

If a competitor makes a stroke or strokes at a wrong ball, he incurs a penalty of two strokes.

The competitor must correct his mistake by playing the correct ball or by proceeding under the Rules (i.e. provisional). If he fails to correct his mistake before making a stroke on the next teeing ground or, in the case of the last hole of the round, fails to declare his intention to correct his mistake before leaving the putting green, he is disqualified.

[NETvoyne]

I agree he should have been disqualified for failing to correct the error of playing with the wrong ball.

According the the definitions in the Rules of Golf a ball is considered 'lost' if the player can't find it or can't identify it within five minutes. So, after realizing he had played a stroke with a ball he could not identify as his, I think he should have declared the original ball lost and continued with the provisional ball with a total of three penalty strokes (one stroke for the original stroke-and-distance penalty, and two penalty strokes either for playing a wrong ball or for playing a "practice" stroke.)