Ask The Expert Chris Vengesa

Situation 1 – Ball assumed to be lost in water hazard found outside hazard after another ball played under stroke-and-distance procedure: 26/6: Player assumes original ball is in water hazard without reasonable evidence. In terms of ball lost in hazard player plays another ball as nearly as possible from where last shot was played. He then finds original ball outside the hazard. What is the ruling?
The original ball is lost and the other ball is in play under penalty of one stroke.

Situation 2 - Ball accidentally stepped on during search by opponent’s caddie18-3b/3 The opponent ‘s caddie accidentally stepped on the player’s ball and moved it. What is the ruling?
The opponent incurs a one stroke penalty under rule 18-3b

Situation 3 – ball covered by sand in bunker removed from buried lie during search 12-1/3: A ball buried in sand in a bunker is is removed from the buried during search. The player replaces it to the original buried state but remove as much sand to enable him to see see a part of the ball?
Yes

Situation 4 – Ball declared lost is found before another ball put into play 27/16: Player searches for his ball for 2 minutes, declares it lost and starts back to play another ball. Before he puts another ball into play, his original ball is found before the 5 minutes allowed for search is up. What is the ruling?
A player cannot render a ball lost by declaration. So the player must come back and play original ball.

Situation 5 – Caddie on own initiative lifts ball for identification 18-2a/14: During search for A’s ball, A’s caddie found a ball and lifted it for identification without the authority of A and without A’s announcing in advance his intention to do so. The ball was identified as A’s. What is the ruling?
Rule 18-2a was flouted and A incurs a penalty of 1 stroke

Situation 6 – Provisional ball played solely in belief original ball might be in water hazard 27-2a/2: A player’s tee shot might be in a water hazard, but clearly it is not lost outside a water hazard or out of bounds. The player announces that, since his ball might be in the hazard, he is going to play a provisional ball and he does so. Rule 27-2a provides for a ball that may be lost outside a water hazard or maybe out of bounds and clearly in this case the player did not play a provisional ball but put another ball into play and that’s the ball now in play.