unplayable versus lost.

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I was wondering if you could help me out.  If you hit a ball from a tee box or any part of the course and it goes into a group of trees that are not out of bounds, can you declare it lost straight away or do you have to hit a provisional?  I live in UK just in case our rules are different....Many Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Yvonne:
Good question.  A player has 5 minutes to look for a ball that they think might be lost.  I would think in the situation you described, you would want to at least go take a look for it.  But, if you were going to hit a provisional ball, it MUST be played BEFORE going to look for the original one, and you MUST inform your playing partners you are hitting a provisional ball in case your first one is lost.  If you were to just hit another ball and not say anything, you have just deemed the first ball lost.  The second ball you just hit then becomes the ball in play and you would incur a penalty of one shot.  So for example, if you hit the ball from the tee box and just assumed it would be lost, or out of frustration, you just hit another ball and DID NOT declare it a provisional ball, you would be lying three in the fairway or wherever that ball comes to rest.  So you hit the first one over in the group of trees, you take a penalty stroke for a "lost ball", and then you hit your third shot from the tee.  That ball becomes the ball in play.  Most players would hit a provisiobal ball to save time, but then they would take a look to see if they could find it, because you don't want to sacrifice the distance you may have gotten.  If your ball is lost, you MUST hit the next shot from the same place as the previous one.  If your ball is unplayable, you then have three OPTIONS, with one of those options being to go back and hit the next shot from the same place.  Grab a Rule Book and check outthe differences.  Hope this helps.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for that...but the crux of my question is ..can you legally deem a ball lost without looking for it and put another in play?  I thought that you HAD to play a provisional and HAD to look for the first unless it was out of bounds?  We cannot find a definitive answer..thanks Eddie.

Answer
Yvonne:  On page 10 of a Rule Book, under Definitions, under Lost Ball, it says:  "A ball is deemed lost if: a: it is not found or identified as his by the player within 5 minutes after the player's side or his or their caddies have begun to search for it; or b: The player has made a stroke at a substituted ball; or c: The player has made a stroke at a provisional ball from the place where the original ball is likely to be or from a point nearer the hole than that place.  So when I read the statement of letter b: it leads me to believe that a player may deem his ball lost at any time.  I doubt you will find those exact words in the Rule Book, but that statement leads me to say Yes to your question.  Because the statement of letter c says provisional ball, so that covers that one.  But b simply says "has made a stroke at a substituted ball", so if you decide you want to put another ball in play and do not declare it a provisional ball, you have deemed your original ball lost.  

Eddie