The Match Committee regularly gets asked to provide clarification on the Rules of Golf. It was recently brought to our attention that some members may be wrongly dealing with how a penalty is applied when a ball is lost. Apparently, some members, when deciding after their three-minute search that a ball is lost, have been dropping a ball near where they assumed the ball was lost and applying a two-stroke penalty.
In 2019 when the R&A issued a major rules update an optional local rule was introduced which did allow a ball to be dropped for a two shot penalty, but MGGC chose not to adopt this rule. This was communicated to members at the time.
As a result, rule 18.2B continues to apply at MGGC. So, when a ball is lost in the ‘general area’, if the member has not played a provisional ball, the only option is to apply a stroke and distance penalty. This means that the member must return to the point where they played the shot that resulted in the lost ball and take their next shot from that point, adding one stroke to their total for the hole.
It is worth reading rule 18.2b as it is a situation that we all commonly encounter. Of course the best solution is to play a provisional ball whenever you hit a shot that no one in your group sees landing – this helps us keep the field moving along and means you don’t have to take ‘the walk of shame’ back to the tee!
Happy golfing!
MGGC Match Committee
