Bob tees off on the 9th hole at GGC with his ball hitting a tree in the penalty area and he believes it is hasn't made its way to the other side and is lost somewhere in the penalty area. He locates where it entered the penalty area and prepares to take a drop a few metres back in line with the flagstick, he drops the ball from shoulder height it rolls forward a few inches and he plays the ball onto the green. Upon reaching the other side of the penalty area he thanks his good fortune as he finds his first ball, he then plays it onto the green, picks up his second ball and putts out his original ball in four more strokes.
Question
What is Bob's score for the hole?
Answer
Bob tees off with his ball hitting a tree in the penalty area and believes it is hasn't made its way to the other side and is lost somewhere in the penalty area. (Bob has to have known or be virtually certain that his ball is in the penalty area (95% sure) in order to take penalty area relief - Bob also isn't allowed to hit a provisional ball since you can only play a provisional ball if your ball might be lost outside a penalty area or is out of bounds).
He locates where it entered the penalty area and prepares to take a drop a few metres back in line with the flagstick, he drops the ball from shoulder height it rolls forward a few inches and he plays the ball onto the green. (Bob has dropped the ball in the right place and as he took back on the line relief the ball is allowed to roll forward. However he has not dropped it in a correct way (he should have dropped from knee height), Bob incurs a one stroke penalty for a procedural breach but could have avoided this by redropping it correctly before he hit the ball. Upon reaching the other side of the penalty area he thanks his good fortune as he finds his first ball, he then plays it onto the green, picks up his second ball and putts out his original ball in four more strokes. (When Bob dropped his second ball this became his ball in play and the first ball is now a wrong ball just like any stray ball found on the course. Bob gets the general penalty (2 strokes) for playing the wrong ball and that stroke and any strokes after it do not count. He then gets a further penalty stroke when he picked up the second ball as this was his ball in play).
What is Bob's score for the hole?
Bob has no score for the hole. Bob picked up his ball in play (the second ball) and hasn't completed the hole.
Stableford - Zero points as he hasn't completed the hole
Stroke - If Bobs tees off on the 10th hole or if the 9th was his last hole and he submits his score he is disqualified for not completing the hole.
Match Play - When Bob incurred the general penalty for hitting the wrong ball he immediately lost the hole.
However, Bob has recorded a 5 on his scorecard. His score should be amended by the Committee to zero points for the hole if it is discovered before the competition closes. If the error is not discovered until after the competition has closed then Bob's score would stand.
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