Rules Following on from last week’s article about Lost Ball… Relief for Ball Not Found but in a Penalty Area If a player’s ball has not been found and it is known or virtually certain that the ball came to rest in a Penalty Area: The player may take penalty relief under Rule 17.1d. - stroke and distance or back-on-the-line. Once the player puts another ball in play to take relief in this way the original ball is no longer in play. But if it is not known or virtually certain that the ball came to rest in a Penalty Area and the ball is lost, the player must take stroke-and-distance relief under Rule 18.2. In such circumstances, to save time, a Provisional Ball should have been played.
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