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OB or Lost Ball on Par 3 - options

fistfullofbeer said:
The 2nd video is specific to local rules. So I am guessing that would vary from course to course and that the course you are talking about allows that rule?
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I'm not talking about any specific course. Assuming the course has the local rule, if a ball is hit OB or lost on a par 3 that doesn't have a "fairway", is there am option to use this rule?

That's the question.

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OGputtnfool said:
I'm not talking about any specific course. Assuming the course has the local rule, if a ball is hit OB or lost on a par 3 that doesn't have a "fairway", is there am option to use this rule?

That's the question.

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Ah. Got it. Thanks for clarifying.
 
OB or Lost Ball on Par 3 - options

An OB shot is stroke and distance. So you go back to the tee to hit your third. If the local rule is in place , you drop and add two. So you are now hitting your fourth shot. It doesn’t make sense to choose the local rule on a par three. You’re hitting the green in four when you’re likely to hit the green on the third shot instead when you re-tee.
 
Yeah if the local rule is in play then you would just drop in the rough if there is no fairway.
 
jdish13 said:
Yeah if the local rule is in play then you would just drop in the rough if there is no fairway.
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And be hitting 4 instead of going back to the tee and hitting 3.
 
jdish13 said:
Yeah if the local rule is in play then you would just drop in the rough if there is no fairway.
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Where? If there's no fairway, then there's no reference point. Just anywhere no closer to the hole? How did you come up with that answer? Do you have a reference?

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Kay-Dee said:
An OB shot is stroke and distance. So you go back to the tee to hit your third. If the local rule is in place , you drop and add two. So you are now hitting your fourth shot. It doesn’t make sense to choose the local rule on a par three. You’re hitting the green in four when you’re likely to hit the green on the third shot instead when you re-tee.
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Sometimes, in the interest of pace of play, it might be more advantageous to use this option... IF it can be used IAW the RoG.

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If the local rule is in play and there is no fairway just treat it like you hit it in the water and drop within two clubs of where you went out. Again I would never use this rule on a par 3.
 
jdish13 said:
If the local rule is in play and there is no fairway just treat it like you hit it in the water and drop within two clubs of where you went out. Again I would never use this rule on a par 3.
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That's great that a few feel that way, but is there any official support for this view?

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I’m puzzled by this discussion. I’ve played about 4,000 rounds and have never had to walk back to the tee on a par 3 for a ball lost or O.B. Because I hit a provisional on that rare par 3 occasion when it’s possible that I may have lost a ball. I’ve never hit one OB on a par 3. I’ve seen the walk back on a par 3 happen maybe twice and once was in a college match 30+ years ago when we had told the guy to hit a provisional and he refused.
 
tahoebum said:
I’m puzzled by this discussion. I’ve played about 4,000 rounds and have never had to walk back to the tee on a par 3 for a ball lost or O.B. Because I hit a provisional on that rare par 3 occasion when it’s possible that I may have lost a ball. I’ve never hit one OB on a par 3. I’ve seen the walk back on a par 3 happen maybe twice and once was in a college match 30+ years ago when we had told the guy to hit a provisional and he refused.
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Maybe I just play with people who aren't as good as the people you play with. That's the most likely explanation.

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OGputtnfool said:
Maybe I just play with people who aren't as good as the people you play with. That's the most likely explanation.

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How good they are has little to do with it. Maybe their egos don’t allow them to hit a provisional ball or maybe they and everyone in the foursome are blind and can’t track a ball for 175 yards. I’ve hit 3 provisional balls in the last month, luckily I didn’t need to play any of them. Some of my buddies that are 18+ handicappers and wild off the hit about one provisional ball each round. It would be incredibly obvious to me if a par 3 tee shot had a chance of being lost or O.B. Normally on a par 3 it’s going to be in a bunker or hazard.
 
tahoebum said:
How good they are has little to do with it. Maybe their egos don’t allow them to hit a provisional ball or maybe they and everyone in the foursome are blind and can’t track a ball for 175 yards. I’ve hit 3 provisional balls in the last month, luckily I didn’t need to play any of them. Some of my buddies that are 18+ handicappers and wild off the hit about one provisional ball each round. It would be incredibly obvious to me if a par 3 tee shot had a chance of being lost or O.B. Normally on a par 3 it’s going to be in a bunker or hazard.
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I do my best to play provisional balls liberally. I do have 20/400 in my left eye so I'm one of those who can't see a ball land 175y away. There have been times recently when my son has hit and we're just knew it would be playable and it ran into junk behind a green on a par 3 and was lost or the time when he was playing in his freshman tourney and the kid (playing his first round of golf, I think) pulled one that ended up about 1" OB. Yeah, he could have gone back to retee, and he probably did, but this is another time the rule could have saved time and helped the pace of play.

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Agree with most here ... Hitting 4 after invoking the rule is nuts (I don't care where it is)

Hit a provisional, and if you didn't, walk back to the tee. I think the intent of this rule is more around the long lost balls, on a par 3 doesn't make any real sense.

Besides for pace of play on a par 3 your partners can all putt out while you walk :)

Btw my club refused to implement the local rule, so no option for me anyway.



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Yup. A couple muttered bad words and hitting 3 from the tee.
 
... and the response from the USGA...

When using this Local Rule, you must establish a “ball reference point” which is the spot you think your ball is lost or where you think it crossed the edge of out of bounds. Then, you will establish a “fairway reference point” which is the nearest fairway edge on the hole being played that is not closer to the hole than the ball reference point. For the purpose of this Local Rule the word “fairway” means any area of grass in the general area that is cut to fairway height or less. This may mean that the nearest fairway edge is a tee box or a walking path.
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tahoebum said:
I’m puzzled by this discussion. I’ve played about 4,000 rounds and have never had to walk back to the tee on a par 3 for a ball lost or O.B. Because I hit a provisional on that rare par 3 occasion when it’s possible that I may have lost a ball. I’ve never hit one OB on a par 3. I’ve seen the walk back on a par 3 happen maybe twice and once was in a college match 30+ years ago when we had told the guy to hit a provisional and he refused.
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Oh man. I wish I could say I've never gone OB on a Par 3. When I first started and my Handicap was 60 (I kept one anyway with Grint to track my progress) there was this cursed 170-190 yard par 3 from the whites on my home course where I would lose 4 or 5 balls per round. I hated that hole. It was tight OB on both sides with a forced carry and I just couldn't hit long irons. I wasn't good enough.

These days I hit the green or I'll be in the ruff just off to the side, but back in those days I'd have gladly hit 4 from the other side of that forced carry.

Whiskey
 
This rule could only come into play on some funky holes, say with OB long on a raised green so you can't really see whether it is OB or not, then what do you do? You get there and your ball is just OB.
 
My annual battle with the shanks + a particularly evil par 3 at the home course where the first 100 yards immediately adjacent on the right is OB = this thread hits way to close to home.
 
Given its a 3, I think hitting a provisional is the best route anyway. But one the issues with provisional balls for many us hackers and certainly the masses of weekend worriers is that too many may hit just as poorly the second time. And on top of that it can also often ben on the opposite side of the layout vs the original ball and now the player (or the group) has to look for two balls on total opposite sides of the layout. That of course often happens even worse on par 4's and 5's due to both the long tee shots going errant. In part is why I feel they should simply make it a firm rule for amateur golf to no longer hit provisional but simply just go and take the two stroke drop at the estimation point in sync with the rule.

However on a par 3 this can become an issue since many balls are lost much nearer the hole and popping out of any said crossed margin is likely to place one nearer the hole especially if the shot was left/right/long of the green. This can also happen as well on approaches for par4's and 5's too.

I think the best or likely most efficient way to all this is to play no provisionals on par 4 and 5 tee shots and instead use the rule. That part (the long tee shots) imo is the best means which allows the rule to do what it was designed for in helping speed things up. Thats where imo the rule is needed most and best suits its purpose. and there would never be a provisonal also lost and or possibly on the opposite side. But then for approaches and or par 3's and even par5 second shots then use the provisional balls and more traditional rules. So i would (if it were ever up to me..lol) force a firm (no pro yet 2stroke drop) rule for par4 and par5 tee shots. Then all else goes back to the traditional rules of play.



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OGputtnfool said:
No. Many people do that, but it's not IAW the RoG. That's the proper procedure for a penalty area/hazard.

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IAW - are you a military man? They love using that acronym on government drawings.

Dave
 
dthrog00 said:
IAW - are you a military man? They love using that acronym on government drawings.

Dave
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You got me there... 20 years will change a man.

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