Last Updated on January 13, 2024 by Britt Olizarowicz
If you are playing by the rules of golf, you must know how to play a provisional golf shot properly. You’re probably scratching your head wondering, what is a provisional golf shot? I’ll explain everything to you. As a golf professional with a +1 handicap, I’ve had to take quite a few provisional golf shots in my day. However, the provisional ball rule is not always all that cut and dry. Let’s take a look at all that you should know about a provisional golf shot.
What Is A Provisional Shot?
A provisional is a golf ball you hit if you think your first golf ball may be lost or out of bounds. The provisional shot concept is in place to keep up the pace of play. It prevents golfers from having to walk back to the original location after they realize their golf ball is gone. There are some specifics about when and how to take a provisional golf shot. Your relief options are sometimes limited, and knowing these rules can actually help you score lower.
| Details | |
| Purpose | To save time in case the original ball is lost or is out of bounds. |
| When to Use | If there’s a possibility that your ball might be lost outside a penalty area or be out of bounds. |
| Announcement | Clearly announce that it is a provisional ball. |
| Playing the Ball | Continue playing the provisional ball as long as it is played from a spot that is the same distance or farther from the hole than the original ball. |
| When it Becomes Official | The provisional ball becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance if the original ball is lost or is out of bounds. |
| Abandoning the Provisional Ball | Abandon the provisional ball if the original ball is found in bounds within three minutes of searching or if it’s found in a penalty area. |
| Penalties | A general penalty is applied for playing the ball from the wrong place under Rule 18.3. |
When Are You Allowed To Play A Provisional?
The provisional is allowed when your golf ball might be lost outside a penalty area or out of bounds. If you hit a golf ball into a water hazard, do NOT take a provisional shot. This is not the proper way to handle a water hazard.
How To Take A Provisional?
The most important part of hitting a provisional ball is to announce that you are doing it. You have to state that you are playing a provisional before the stroke. If you don’t, that shot you just hit is in play, and you have hit your third shot off the tee. It may seem a bit extreme. However, the rules of golf ensure we always know what golf ball is in play.
Playing the Provisional Ball
Here’s one of the most interesting things about a provisional golf ball. You play with it until you reach the area where the first ball may be. Take this example:
- Your 250-yard tee shot goes into an area that might be out of bounds.
- You play a provisional ball that travels 200 yards and ends up in the middle of the fairway.
- On the way to the location of your first shot, you can continue to play the provisional ball.
- When you get to the area where the first ball went out of bounds, you then decide if it is in play or you must continue with the provisional ball.
When Is The Provisional Ball The Ball in Play?
When you determine that your ball is found to be out of bounds or it is truly lost, the provisional ball becomes the ball in play. If you find your original ball or see that it is in a penalty area (like a water hazard), the provisional ball must be abandoned.
Common Mistakes Golfers Make With Provisional Golf Balls
The provisional concept is pretty common for golfers. However, you can make mistakes here and have it cost you some strokes.
Here are some of the mistakes golfers make with provisional balls.
- Not properly announcing that you are playing a provisional is the most common mistake golfers make; you must clearly announce that you are playing a provisional golf ball.
- It’s a good idea to make a mark on your second provisional ball to ensure it’s easy to identify and distinguish between the first and second ball.
- If your first shot ends up being in a penalty area, don’t play the provisional; follow the correct procedures for playing from a penalty area.
- When your first ball heads out of bounds, and you put a provisional into play, you are hitting your 3rd shot; some golfers get confused with scoring.
What Is A Penalty Area?
One of the things that confuses golfers about provisional golf balls is that they are unnecessary if the original spot of your golf shot has left you in a penalty area. The penalty area includes lakes, rivers, ponds, and other areas to be avoided for environmental reasons. Yellow or Red hazard markers mark the two different types of penalty areas.
- Yellow Penalty Areas: typically water hazards. Options for relief include replaying the shot or dropping the ball behind the water hazard on the line of flight. Both is a 1-shot penalty
- Red Penalty Areas: lateral hazards, usually a creek or marsh area that runs alongside a fairway. Options for relief include replaying the shots, dropping the ball behind the water hazard on the line of flight, or dropping within two club lengths of where the ball entered the hazard
Stroke and Distance Penalty in Golf
When you take a provisional golf shot, it’s considered a stroke and distance penalty.
Not only do you have to take a stroke, but you lose all that distance that you had just had with your previous shot.
It’s really the most difficult to recover from when it comes to scoring, and it’s your only option if your golf ball is lost or out of bounds.
When is a golf ball considered out of bounds?
The golf rule book states as part of rule 18.2 that a golf ball is out of bounds when all of it is outside the course’s boundary edge.
Your local golf course will have out of bounds marked by white stakes.
The white stakes are usually at least 20-30 feet apart from each other.
If you are unsure if your original shot is truly out of bounds, stand behind one white stake and look down the line to the next. This will help you determine what side your golf ball is on. Ask your fellow competitor or playing partners what their view is. Determine if they think the ball is out of bounds.
When Is a golf ball considered lost?
A golf ball is considered lost after three minutes of searching for it with no luck.
At this point, the player’s original ball is deemed lost. The second shot is considered a penalty stroke, and a new golf ball is hit from the original location of the last shot.
If a provisional was played, this is when the provisional would be considered the ball in play.
A lost golf ball is perhaps the most misunderstood rule for amateur golfers. How many times during a round of golf have you seen someone throw a ball down and say I’ll play from here I can’t find my first ball.
Unfortunately, a lost golf ball is a stroke and distance penalty. The only place you can play from is the spot of the original shot.
Should I Hit A Provisional?
Golfers get hung up on the concept of whether or not the use of a provisional ball is necessary. I’ve played years of competitive and casual golf. I can tell you that you are better off taking the provisional shot than not. Provisional shots save time. That dreaded walk about to the tee box to hit your next shot is less than ideal. Have the secondary ball in play and ready to go.
When I decide whether to hit a provisional, here’s what goes through my mind:
- Is the ball anywhere near an out of bounds marker?
- Do I think there is a chance I won’t find the ball?
If I can answer yes to either (or both) of those questions, I grab a new ball from my bag and play it.
Save yourself the time, frustration, and embarrassment of having to walk back and play another golf ball. Be smart and hit the first provisional ball.
How Many Strokes Is A Provisional?
If your provisional golf ball becomes the golf ball in play, you have accepted one penalty stroke. If your tee shot went out of bounds, count the one-stroke penalty. Next you hit your third shot off the tee. Provisional golf shots can be taken whenever you think your golf ball is lost or out of bounds. It cannot be taken just from the tee.
Local Rule Regarding Out of Bounds
The USGA rule book changes occasionally. One of the things added to the rule book a few years back was a local rule. Golf courses can adopt a rule regarding a ball that went out of bounds.
The local rule is an alternative to stroke and distance relief.
However, it’s only applicable if it’s in effect at your course and recommended for casual play, not competition.
Essentially, instead of taking stroke and distance relief, you will estimate the spot where your ball is lost or went out of bounds. For that point you can take a drop in the fairway. However, it must be within two club lengths of that fairway edge or anywhere between there and the estimated spot where your ball is lost. The idea here is to speed up the pace of play of a casual round.
However, it’s a two stroke penalty, not a one stroke penalty like the provisional. The next time you head out for a round of golf at your course, make sure you know the rules in play that day.
Final Thoughts
As a young golfer, I read the rules book many times. The rules of golf are confusing, but knowing how to take a provisional golf shot properly can help you. In addition, don’t take the stroke and distance relief when you don’t need to. Learn the difference between how to play a lost ball and how to play a ball that went into a penalty area; it can save you some serious yardage. Let us know what other questions you have and what some of the most useful rules in the game you would like us to write more about are.
