Expert: John Brott - 10/24/2009

Question
After teeing a ball out of bounds I took a provisional ball indicating its type and markings. The provisional ball hit the fairway and was a good drive (3 off the tee) after collecting my 1st ball which was out of bounds a team member called me to a ball with the marking I had indicated prior to the provisional drive, a little concerned over the short distance I rasied this with the team members that in my opinion my tee shot shold have travelled much further that it would 1st seem. I played this ball from th eindicated position still concerned over the lack of distance it had travelled, upon approaching the green some 240 yards I came across a ball of the same make, number and with the identical markings, as a team we agreed that this was my provisional ball and not the one mistaken for earlier therefore I played this ball and awarded myself with 6 shots as it was medal play. no the confusion no one was playing on either adjacent fairways nor was any team member playing with the same ball therefore it was by sheer fate that we had two balls on the same fairway that were identical in everyway i.e. type, make, number and markings (marking was a printed logo not with marker pen) as we are unsure of the ruling I awarded myself a 2 stroke penalty and lost the major club competition by 1 shot. Did I do the correct thing.

Regards

Alan Hcp 12

Answer
Alan:  As unfortunate as the circumstance was, you were correct in assessing yourself a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball.  You can also be proud to be among those who respect the game enough to play by the rules.

Congratulations,

John Brott