Scenarios for Wrong Balls and Substituted Balls
1) In stroke play player A looks for his tee shot for 3 minutes and finds a ball. Without lifting
it, he hits it to the green. When he gets to the green, he realizes it isn’t his ball. What is
the ruling?
2) Player B searches 6 minutes for his tee shot and finds it. He plays it to the green.
3) Player C finds his tee shot in the rough. His stance is on a sprinkler head. Without
lifting his original ball he takes another ball from his bag, drops it under Rule 24-2 and
plays it.
4) Player D looks for 6 minutes and finds a ball. He lifts it for identification and determines
it is his. He replaces it and plays it to green.
5) Player E looks for 3 minutes and finds a ball in a bush. He decides to take an
unplayable. Since he can’t reach the ball, he drops another ball keeping the point where
the ball lies directly between where he drops and the hole and plays it. As he is walking
to the green, he finds his ball in a playable lie.
6) Player F looks for 2 minutes for his ball and returns to the tee to play a provisional ball.
He tees it up and hits it. Inside of 5 minutes from when he started to search his original
ball is found. He plays the original ball and lifts the provisional ball.
7) Player G looks 2 minutes for his ball and returns to the tee to play a provisional ball. He
plays it down the middle where it is visible. Inside of 5 minutes his original ball is found
by another player. He lifts it to confirm that it is his, replaces it and plays it. He then lifts
his provisional ball which was 20 yards closer to the green.
8) After hitting his tee shot into the rough, Player H properly plays a provisional down the
middle. In searching he finds a ball in a bad lie. He deems it unplayable and drops it
under Rule 28b. He plays to the green and lifts his provisional ball that was 20 yards
down the fairway. As he walks to the green he finds his original ball in the rough.
9) Player J searches for his tee shot for 2 minutes and finds a ball in a bad lie. He lifts it
and drops under Rule 28b. He plays it. When he reaches the green he realizes it wasn’t
his ball. He returns and finds his original ball in 2 minutes. Without lifting it, he plays it
to the green.
10) Player K searches for 2 minutes and finds a ball in a bad lie. He plays it without lifting it.
He hits it into a worse lie from where he deems it unplayable and drops it under Rule
28b. He plays it to the green. As he walks to the green, he discovers his original ball in
the rough.
Scenarios for Wrong Balls and Substituted Balls
1) In stroke play player A looks for his tee shot for 3 minutes and finds a ball. Without lifting it, he
hits it to the green. When he gets to the green, he realizes it isn’t his ball. What is the ruling?
A has played a wrong ball. He incurs a 2-stroke penalty under Rule 15-3 and must correct his
error by finding and playing his original. He has 2 minutes left to search.
2) Player B searches 6 minutes for his tee shot and finds it. He plays it to the green.
B has played a wrong ball as his original was lost when it was not found within 5 minutes (Def.
Lost Ball). He incurs a 2-stroke penalty under Rule 15-3 and must correct his mistake by
returning to the tee and playing another ball under penalty of stroke and distance.
3) Player C finds his tee shot in the rough. His stance is on a sprinkler head. Without lifting his
original ball he takes another ball from his bag, drops it under Rule 24-2 and plays it.
C incurs a 2-stroke penalty under Rule 24-2 for substituting a ball when not permitted. He must
continue with the substituted ball.
4) Player D looks for 6 minutes and finds a ball. He lifts it for identification and determines it is his.
He replaces it and plays it to green.
When D did not find his original ball within 5 minutes it was lost (Def. Lost Ball). When he lifted
and replaced the ball he substituted a ball in a wrong place as he was required to play from the
tee. He incurs a 2-stroke penalty under Rule 27-1 for playing from a wrong place in addition to
the stroke penalty prescribed by Rule 27-1, and if the breach is serious he must correct the error
prior to teeing off from the next teeing ground or he is disqualified.
5) Player E looks for 3 minutes and finds a ball in a bush. He decides to take an unplayable. Since
he can’t reach the ball, he drops another ball keeping the point where the ball lies directly
between where he drops and the hole and plays it. As he is walking to the green, he finds his ball
in a playable lie.
E has substituted a ball in a wrong place. Rule 28b requires the original ball to be found, therefore
his only option was to proceed under stroke and distance. When he played the substituted ball
the original was lost. He incurs a 2-stroke penalty under 27-1 for playing from a wrong place in
addition to a stroke and distance penalty and must correct his error by correctly playing a ball
from where his previous stroke was made.
6) Player F looks for 2 minutes for his ball and returns to the tee to play a provisional ball. He tees it
up and hits it. Inside of 5 minutes from when he started to search his original ball is found. He
plays the original ball and lifts the provisional ball.
When F put another ball into play from the teeing ground it was not a provisional as he had
already gone forward to search and was his ball in play (Rule 27-2). The original ball was lost
(Def. Lost Ball). When he played the original, he played a wrong ball. He incurs a 2-stroke
penalty under Rule 15-3 and must correct the mistake by replacing and playing the “provisional.”
He also incurs a one-stroke penalty under Rule 18-2 for lifting the “provisional” which was his ball
in play.
7) Player G looks 2 minutes for his ball and returns to the tee to play a provisional ball. He plays it
down the middle where it is visible. Inside of 5 minutes his original ball is found by another
player. He lifts it to confirm that it is his, replaces it and plays it. He then lifts his provisional ball
which was 20 yards closer to the green.
G’s original ball was lost when he returned to the tee and put another ball into play, however,
when he lifted the original and replaced it, he substituted a ball for his ball in play in a wrong
place. He incurs a 2-stroke penalty under 13-1 and must continue with the substituted ball as the
breach was not a serious one. He is not penalized an additional 2-strokes for substituting when
not permitted (Note 3 to 20-7c).
8) After hitting his tee shot into the rough, Player H properly plays a provisional down the middle. In
searching he finds a ball in a bad lie. He deems it unplayable and drops it under Rule 28b. He
plays to the green and lifts his provisional ball that was 20 yards down the fairway. As he walks
to the green he finds his original ball in the rough.
When H dropped the stray ball the original ball was lost and the provisional ball was his ball in
play. Therefore, he substituted a ball in and played from a wrong place. He incurs a 2-stroke
penalty under Rule 13-1 in addition to the stroke and distance penalty and he must continue with
the substituted ball as the breach was not a serious one. He is not penalized an additional 2strokes for substituting when not permitted (Note 3 to 20-7c).
9) Player J searches for his tee shot for 2 minutes and finds a ball in a bad lie. He lifts it and drops
under Rule 28b. He plays it. When he reaches the green he realizes it wasn’t his ball. He
returns and finds his original ball in 2 minutes. Without lifting it, he plays it to the green.
When J dropped the stray ball, he substituted a ball in a wrong place as he was not permitted to
proceed under 28b without finding the original (See Decision 28/15). It was however, the ball in
play and he was required to correct his mistake by playing from the tee under penalty of stroke
and distance. When he played his original ball, he played a wrong ball. J incurs a 2-stroke
penalty under 27-1 for playing from a wrong place, another 2-stroke penalty for playing a wrong
ball under Rule 15-3, and must proceed under stroke and distance by playing a ball from the tee
before playing from the next teeing ground.
10) Player K searches for 2 minutes and finds a ball in a bad lie. He plays it without lifting it. He hits
it into a worse lie from where he deems it unplayable and drops it under Rule 28b. He plays it to
the green. As he walks to the green, he discovers his original ball in the rough.
K played a wrong ball. He incurs a 2-stroke penalty under Rule 15-3 and had to correct the error
by playing the original ball. The fact that he later incurred a penalty and dropped the wrong ball is
irrelevant as he had already played a wrong ball and was required to correct that mistake.