The player’s fairway shot lands near trees and bushes by the green. Her caddie searches for the ball, while Player A drops a provisional ball under stroke and distance penalty. Before three minutes pass, the caddie finds the original ball in a playable spot. The player picks up the dropped ball, identifies her original ball, and proceeds. Was this correct?No. When the player dropped a ball in the general area to take stroke-and-distance relief, the dropped ball became her ball in play, and the original ball found by her caddie is out of play and is a wrong ball. If the player completes the hole with a wrong ball and starts the next hole, she is disqualified. (Rule 18.1). |
