Provisional Ball

Many club level golfers and juniors sometimes fail to understand the finer points of the provisional ball procedures and options. The procedures are listed in Rule 27-2.Some of the most common errors made are:
a) The player will not clearly announce to the marker/fellow competitor that he is playing a provisional ball: In this case, he has put another ball in play, under stroke and distance of Rule 27-1.
b)When the player thinks that his ball may be Out of Bounds or lost(outside a water hazard), he will go forward to search for the ball and then come back and play another ball stating that he is playing a provisional ball. Once he has gone forward to search for his original ball, he has lost his right to play a provisional ball.Again,he is deemed to have invoked the stroke and distance option of Rule 27-1.It does not make any difference, even if the original ball is found within the 5 minute search period, once he has put another ball in play after going forward to search for it.
c) The main purpose of provisional ball is to save time.Many players play a provisional ball which may strike a tree and fall 150 yards short of the likely place of the original ball.They will walk forward to search for the original ball and if they do not find it, come back and continue with the provisional ball, wasting a lot of time.They are permitted to play as many strokes with the provisional ball till they reach the likely area of the original ball. Then they can search for the original ball for 5 minutes.
In certain circumstances, the player can exercise his option not to search for the original ball.For example, in a par 3 hole, if his tee shot may be lost in the woods, he plays a provisional and the provisional may land a few inches from the hole for a tap in 4. He can exercise this option, provided he taps in before his opponent or anybody else finds the original ball.
We had an interesting episode in my home club BGC in a tournament.One of the players in contention for the handicap title, teed off from Hole no 11, the most difficult long par 4 hole. His ball went towards a large garden area called as Kirloskar Hut, marked as GUR. There was a wooded area adjacent to this hut, but outside the marked GUR.The player felt the ball may be lost and rightly played his provisional, hit the sweet spot and it went soaring for 300 yards.Meanwhile, one of the sub committee members who was teeing of Hole no 10, saw the original ball land near a bush in the GUR garden.He conveyed this information to the player when they crossed each other.The player searched for the ball for 5 minutes, but could not find it.So, he continued with the provisional which became the ball in play . He completed the hole, finished his round and submitted his score.
When the sub committee member was apprised of this fact,he felt that the player had deliberately avoided proper search of his original ball.He interpreted that the player had played a wrong ball when he holed out with the provisional ball, not corrected his mistake and hence disqualified.
In this case,he was verbally informed by the sub committee member that his original ball was in some bush. the ball was not pin pointed or the spot specified, except for the approximate location.The player did search for his ball for 5 minutes.There was no concrete evidence that the player had deliberately not searched for the ball.At best It can be concluded it was virtually certain that the ball was lost in GUR.Decision 27-2c/1.5 indicates that the player in such a situation has the option of proceeding under R 27-2b with the provisional ball or under R 25-1c(i) when it is virtually certain that the ball is lost in GUR.Even with a good shot, he was still 3 off the tee and most certainly, he would have been in an equally good, if not better position, with the original ball.The sub committee member had given a wrong ruling. But, it was too late to correct as the player did not make a timely appeal.