Rules Question - The lost ball dilemma!

Question
Hi,

I play saturday competitions at my local club and had an interesting situation arise:

On the par five tenth I hit my drive over some trees, near the green. Our foursome looked for ten minutes and could not find it (turns out it had hit the last tree and went backwards!). As a result I went back to the tee and hit a second ball.

Upon walking to my second I found my first lying three metres in front of my second. I was not sure what to do in this situation so I took my first ball and hit a birdie 4. I asked my playing partners if this was the right decision and they stated that I should have hit my second and that I would have to take a 2 shot penalty - giving me a score of 8 as I would have been hitting my third.

However I talked to a long serving member after my round and he felt that I should be Disqualified for holing out with the wrong ball!

Due to the mixed responses I did not hand my card in even though I had 2-under my handicap. I was hoping you could shed some light on this situation and let me know what I should have done and whether:

- If was in fact entitled to play my first.
- Should have taken the penalty as was originally decided.
- Been DQ for playing the wrong ball.

Thanks in advance,

Ben McMaster

Answer
Ben,

First of all, after a search of 5 minutes the ball is considered a lost ball. Stroke and distance would be the penalty and that ball is no longer in play.

Since you played your original ball which is now considered a "wrong" and a 2 shot penalty is assessed. If you do not correct the error and play the correct ball, you would have been disqualified as soon as you hit your next tee ball.

Let me clarify and answer your questions;

If was in fact entitled to play my first. NO
- Should have taken the penalty as was originally decided. YES STROKE AND DISTANCE FOR THE LOST BALL AND THEN A TWO STROKE PENALTY FOR PLAYING THE WRONG BALL.  
- Been DQ for playing the wrong ball. YES IF YOU PLAYED THE WRONG BALL FROM THE NEXT TEE.

Hope this is clearer to you. If not, please follow up with me.

Thanks for the question,

Michael Hoffman
PGA Professional