Last Week's Question: 

Last week had our foursome shanking and blasting balls everywhere but the fairway. One player played a provisional farther from the hole where she thought her ball might have landed. The second player had people from another fairway searching for her ball for 5 mins. before she started to look. A third player hit her second ball from the tee after she hit her first in some very tall grass and the fourth player announced she was going to play a "provisional" after her first shot landed in some bushes near a water hazard.

So, "Whose ball is considered LOST??

The answer? The only ball considered "lost" is the one played by player 3.  She never announced that her second ball was a provisional and therefore her original ball is considered lost.

Now the rule that came into play at Torrey Pines was due to a situation akin to Player 2. 

Phil hit an almighty shot into a eucalyptus tree.  Spectators were waving branches and using binoculars to try to spot it.  One man even shinnied up the tree to a high branch as he thought he saw a ball.  By the time Phil reached the tree with his caddy, a good 4 minutes had elapsed.  One of the announcers warned that he might be running out of time to do a search, but Faldo said correctly "No, the time spent searching for a lost ball does not start until the player, a partner or a caddy for the two, starts to look!".

They never found his ball even though several others were discovered in the same tree.

Rule for Week 2:

The way our winter is progressing, this might be a good one to know if you start playing in March here in Connecticut.

Your ball lands on top of a small patch of snow in a sand trap.  Are you allowed to lift clean and drop the ball back in the hazard without penalty?

Answer next week...