Rules of Golf

When and How to Hit a Provisional

Here is one of the basic rules of golf. We’ve all watched one (or one hundred) of our drives head straight from the tee box to the edge of the woods or towards the wildlife preserve that your local course calls the rough. Maybe the golf ball is lost and maybe it isn’t, but it will take a lot of effort to take the cart over to where it seems to have landed and find out.

The rules of golf have an answer for this situation: hit a provisional ball.

To do so, you have to announce to the rest of your foursome what your intentions are – that you’re playing a provisional, rather than simply declaring the ball lost. That’s more than just common courtesy; it makes it official that the provisional ball doesn’t count if you find the original. If you don’t declare the ball to be provisional before you hit it, that becomes your official ball for the hole and you accept a one-stroke penalty for the lost ball.



Play the provisional until you reach the point where you think the original ball is located. That’s when you search for your initial shot. The rules say that you have five minutes to look for it, but be courteous and take into account what else is going on the golf course. If play is backed up behind you, feel free to give up sooner if it looks like there isn’t much chance you’ll be able to find that needle in the rough.

If you find your original ball, you have to play that one and pick up your provisional. Even if you liked the result of the provisional better and are willing to take the penalty, you would be considered to be playing the wrong ball. That costs you the hole in a match play situation. The rules are a little different if you find out your original ball is in a water hazard or out of bounds, so check your pocket USGA rulebook for specifics.

If you don’t find the original, finish out the hole with the provisional and take a one-stroke penalty for the lost ball. Then move on to the next hole, where things will surely be better.

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