Orginal ball found

Question
In the last two weeks, I have had very similar situations, but don't know the official rule and wondered if you could help.  In one situation my tee shot went into a group of trees.  I looked and couldn't find it, so I dropped a ball and played from that area.  After hitting my dropped ball two times, I found my original tee shot in the fairway in front of the green (the hole had a dogleg).  I didn't play my original ball, but picked it up and continued with the second ball.  Some thought that was correct and others thought I should have been able to play it.  The following week, my second shot went into the woods, so I thought.  I dropped a new ball and hit once.  While going up to the ball, I found my original ball in the fairway.  It had hit a tree and bounced into the fairway unexpectedly.  Could I have played that ball or because I had assumed I lost it, was it no longer playable?  What kind of penalty strokes should have been taken?  Thanks for your help!

Answer
Michele,

First let me apologize for the delay in getting to answer your question.

Now to address the situation. You have five minutes to look for the original ball. If you are unable to find during that time, it is a "lost ball" and you must go back to the last position where you hit the ball from. If it's not the tee box where you can re-tee, you drop nearest the last location with a one stroke penalty. When the second ball is in play you can no longer play the original if you do locate it.

Also, if you feel that a ball may be lost you can declare to play a "provisional ball". In this case, if you do find the original ball you may play it.

The penalty for a lost ball is stroke and distance.

I hope this is clear.

Thank you,

Michael Hoffman
PGA Professional