Provisional or 3 off the tee?

[Stu-Pid]

Okay, following on from the discussion in the 'My first medal' thread...

You are standing on the tee and proceed to slice your drive spectacularly into the woods.  Would you:

a) Play a provisional?

or

b) Play 3 off the tee?

Personally, I'd always recommend playing a provisional, as it gives you the most options.

For example:  After knocking the 1st ball into the trees, you hit a great provisional straight down the middle.  You do not have to look for your 1st ball, and so unless it is in plain sight you can play the provisional.  If however you notice the 1st ball sitting nicely in the trees, you can wander over and knock it back out onto the fairway, so you'll now be playing your 3rd shot into the green rather than your 4th shot with the provisional.  This option is not available to you if you simply play 3 off the tee.

Also, if you play 3 off the tee and knock the 3rd shot into the trees as well, you're looking at 5 off the tee, whereas if you have hit a provisional then you have 2 chances of finding a ball.

It's important to remember that you do not have to look for your ball, and unless it's a matchplay game, it's very unlikely that your playing partners will go looking for it if you tell them that you're going to play the provisional.

TP disagrees with the above and will now give the opposite side of the debate...

[3puttwizard]

Depends what the woods are like. Find it buried and it could take you 2/3 shots to get out.

If its a deep/thick wood I'd reload straight away no provisional.

In a match your opponent would go looking for your provisional 9 times out of 10 knowing there's a good chance its buried.

I would.

[Tin Pot]

I'm a high handicap and have spent many hours in the woods.  It's depressing.  Playing out of the thick heather is often impossible.

Why stress yourself out?  Tee off again, keep your chin up and forget all that rummaging around/trying not to see your first.

Looking for balls is a pain in the arse, keep the game going and tee off again.  It's only one shot at the worst.

[Stu-Pid]

Depends what the woods are like. Find it buried and it could take you 2/3 shots to get out.

If its a deep/thick wood I'd reload straight away no provisional.

But what happens if it's got a lucky ricochet and is sitting just inside the line of the trees leaving an easy pitch back onto the fairway?  By playing 3 off the tee you have to ignore the 1st ball and probably lose a shot or two as a result.

If the ball isn't in plain sight, don't go looking for it and play the provisional.  As I said, more options are available to you.

[3puttwizard]

But what happens if it's got a lucky ricochet and is sitting just inside the line of the trees leaving an easy pitch back onto the fairway?  By playing 3 off the tee you have to ignore the 1st ball and probably lose a shot or two as a result.

If the ball isn't in plain sight, don't go looking for it and play the provisional.  As I said, more options are available to you.

I would have seen that from the tee and wouldn't have reloaded.
And yes my eyesight is good enough to see that from a drive.

Ask TP

<This situation never happens to me anyway as I normally go over the woods  ::laugh:>

[Tin Pot]

I would have seen that from the tee and wouldn't have reloaded.
And yes my eyesight is good enough to see that from a drive.

Ask TP

<This situation never happens to me anyway as I normally go over the woods  ::laugh:>

Yes...and yes

[Coopster]

Depends what the woods are like. Find it buried and it could take you 2/3 shots to get out.

If its a deep/thick wood I'd reload straight away no provisional.

This is one of the few times where I would normally follow 3PW's advice due to his vast experience of this situation   ::laugh:

However, I agree with Stu-pid here and would always play the 2nd ball as a provisional. If the first ball is that bad, you can always declare it unplayable and walk back to the tee.

Playing a provisional give you all the options the rules allow if you find your first ball.

Take a drop (as far back as you like with ball and flag in straight line(another fairway maybe?) or 2 club lengths). Even dropping 2 club lengths in trees could give you a great route out to get the ball closer to the green, further than 3 off the tee would get you.

The best option though it to not hit it into the trees in the first place.

[Stu-Pid]

I would have seen that from the tee and wouldn't have reloaded.
And yes my eyesight is good enough to see that from a drive.

I've seen some funny things in my time, including a ball that looked to be going 20 yards out of bounds that somehow found it's way back into the semi-rough despite none of us seeing it bounce back.  So no matter how good your eyesight is, these things can happen and be missed.

[3puttwizard]

Also depends on what type of competition you are playing

Medal - Provisional more than likely
Stableford - most likely reload

[MisterS3]

Depends on the circumstances.

On most courses "provisional" is the way forward.

But here's an example from my first medal where 'provisional' isn't the idea. (note i'm ignoring the 'walk of shame' because once you are off the tee and wasted 5 mins going back isn't usually a good idea)

13th at Cawder. I miss green to right. I get asked if i'm going to hit a provisional. So i hit one. End up just short of green.

Now the first ball is only 10 yards from the green to the right, but its down about 15 feet from the level of the green. On a slope and in a bush. Easy to find. Impossible to play. So i take 2 drops to get out of the bush. Then i take one shot to knock it to the side so i can get a swing at getting it in the correct direction. I then try a flop shot to get it up onto the green. Thin it...runs back into the bush. 1 drop to get it out. Eventually take an 11 or something on that hole.

I would have gotten a 5 at best and 8 at worst from where i was with my other ball.

If time were no factor, i could have walked back to the tee having found the first ball then declaring it unplayable. But that's not happening in the reality of a medal.

Pop-quiz: You declare the ball unplayable (nb: not lost) can you tee it up back on the tee?

[Coopster]

Also depends on what type of competition you are playing

Medal - Provisional more than likely
Stableford - most likely reload

3PW,

I am struggling to see the difference here. Surely the idea of both is to get the ball in the hole in the fewest number of shots. Why would your change your approach depending on the type of competition?

[Tin Pot]

I've seen some funny things in my time, including a ball that looked to be going 20 yards out of bounds that somehow found it's way back into the semi-rough despite none of us seeing it bounce back.  So no matter how good your eyesight is, these things can happen and be missed.

Meh, so what?  It's only a couple of strokes at worst, on the one in a hundred that comes back, and we've got another 95+ to throw around.

What would you rather be doing, hitting balls from the fairway or spending a whole round looking for balls?

Moreover, would you rather be looking for my ball for me?

Would you like to be in the group behind watching us look for it?

It's a pain.  If it's in the crap, tee off again and enjoy the golf.

[3puttwizard]

As reloading off the tee onto our 13th for example you have more chance of getting a 5 rather than trapped under roots,hanging branches, gorse,heather etc etc which will give you a point.

If not blob, walk to next hole.

If its medal then every shot counts more.

[Foxholer]

Provisional provides more options!

You don't need to go looking for it. If it's visible from a quick glance, then it's almost certainly playable.

@TP. It's 2 shots, not 1 as in your post!

Even when I am absolutely certain that the ball, if found, will be unplayable - and will not even bother looking for it - I will call the second ball 'Provisional' but will probably prefix it with 'Not very'! My eyesight isn't as good as 3PW's!

The only benefit to be had by the 'instant reload' approach is a marginal improvement in 'pace of play' but that implies that you have given up on the round anyway - something I'd be very reluctant to do!

Ross

[Mike]

Always play a "provisional". Then go into the woods armed with an identical spare ball in your pocket. Drop it down by your leg on in a viable lie and shout "found it". Not playing a provisional would alert your playing partners attention to your scheming.