Penalty points,

Question
QUESTION: Dear Eddie
A player looks for his ball and it is either (a)lost or (b)out of bounds.  He drops and plays another ball from, (a)where the lost ball is most likely to be or, (b)where the ball went out of bounds.  How many penalty points will he incur in stroke play?

ANSWER: Hi Graham:

Neither, if your ball is lost or out of bounds, you MUST go back and hit another ball from where you hit the previous shot from (no exceptions).  You would add a penalty shot and then play the next shot.  For example, ball off tee is lost, player goes back to tee and hits shot #3 off the tee.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Eddie,
OK, I agree with your answer, but the R&A rule #27-1 (Stroke and Distance; Ball Out of Bounds; Ball Not Found Within Five Minutes) has a penalty of 2 strokes for breach of the rule.  The only way that the penalty can be incurred (seems to me), is if the player doesn't take the stroke and distance proceedure, for example as in my Original QA above.  Now if he does this, breaches the rule, and accepts the penalty of 2 strokes as provided by the rule, and plays his dropped ball, I think that he is in no worse a position (for the number of strokes tallied) than if he had proceeded under the rule, and may even be in a better position (by not having to retake a difficult shot) to the disadvantage of his opponents.  I don't think that this is in the spirit of the game and additional penalty strokes should be applied.  But am I right?

Answer
Hi Graham:

You do not have a choice.  If your ball is lost or out of bounds, you MUST go back to where you hit the previous shot from and play another ball.......you have no choice.  You do not get to choose which place you think you might be better off from.  You do not get to go up to where you think your ball may have been lost and drop one there, or where you think your ball may have gone out of bounds.  That is not an option.  The rules are sometimes hard to understand and they may or may not agree with how you interpret them, but I have been playing competitive golf since 1974 and I can assure you, there is not an option if you lose a ball or hit one out of bounds.  You MUST hit another ball from the spot from where you hit the previous shot from.  You do not get to decide what may be a better option or easier shot.  That is not available to you.  Options like that are available to you for Water Hazard penalties, but not for Lost or Out of Bounds.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member