GolfHos

you hit one and can't find it.

stroke and drop where you think it realistically was or last saw it to be?

or

walk back to the tee







?








ps, are you a drunk driver
?

Are you asking how we play it, or for a ruling?

I usually drop, with a stroke.



and yes.

Given how crowded courses can get, walking back to the tee to hit another in most cases just simply isn't a realistic option. I'll drop and take a stroke. I probably should tee it up from the fairway though.

i know the rules on this topic, i was just asking what you do.
 :)

If the round isn't being used for handicap purposes, i.e., just practicing, trying new clubs, etc. I don't even keep score, so I would just drop in the vicinity and play on.  Any round for real, I play by the rules.

Oh goodie!!!   Roolz stuff.  :drool:

The walk of shame isn't a realistic option in many, many cases.  Under these circumstances I simply finish the hole with a drop and score it under 4-2.


Note that this has nothing to do with whether the round is going to count toward your index.  It is going to come into the calculation unless it's otherwise disqualified so you really must  ;) proceed according to the Handicap System manual.  Even if the round doesn't count in your differentials it pushes something off the back so it's part of the equation.

Oh, the status of the match?  You're disqualified in stroke play and lose the hole in match play.  I've lost a good few beers this way but it's the right result.

 >:(

Never mind then.






 ;)

I don't keep an official index/handicap (I don't think the system is geared to count that high) but if I think there's even a chance that I've lost the ball, I will almost always hit a provisional ball from the tee.

ding ding ding winner.

i usually play 6-8 provisionals a round. 

courses here aren't conducive to seeing your tee shot finish

I've lost balls in the middle of the fairway before.  It does come up even with liberal utilization of provisionals.

lol. I've lost balls that I've watched come to a complete stop. In that case, the walk of shame being generally unrealistic, I'll drop and take a stroke. Like I said, though, I don't keep an index. I've also been informed that the game I play is not "golf."

I don't find that sort of statement useful at all.  You may not be playing the full round 100% in accord with the Rules of Golf but it's still golf... clearly.  And it's good enough for the USGA Handicap System.

When someone brings that all it does is piss off the person at whom it is directed.   :(

I can't add anything of use to this topic.

Since you're not asking a rules question ... can I ask why the round "isn't being used towards your index" (assuming you keep one)?

That hasn't stopped you the other 1868 times.

practice round, 9 hole round, course that doesnt have correct slope/rating, etc
?

New forum, easing into things, atticus not yet on board, hypotheticals allowed.

For now.   [sm_devil]

But we'll need to work on "practice round" and "9 hole round" insofar recording for handicap is concerned.   :sad3:

Especially when the stupid liberal leaves decide to do a mob march on the ground in autumn.

Liberal leaves are bad for you.

It's just that simple.

In the circumstances described I drop in the vicinity and add two strokes to account for stroke and distance.

Why not just score it in accordance with USGA handicap rules?

I took you to mean you didn't score it that way for "score" purposes (i.e., saying "I shot X").  Please correct if wrong.

To be clear, the circumstances we're talking about are pretty rare for me. I'm pretty liberal with provisionals and try not to take chances, and in season I post everything so playing a round that isn't being used toward my index is something that only happens during the off season. That said, I'm a little unclear on what you're asking me, and maybe I'm unclear on the USGA handicap rules.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but on a hole that is not played under the rules of golf I would take par plus handicap strokes on that hole? Why would I do that if I'm not posting the score? Even during a winter round I still play for a score, so dropping in the vicinity and adding two strokes seems like the best alternative. Sure, I could reload and lose another, but I could also reload and split the fairway. I figure a drop in the vicinity (which is almost always a less than desirable spot to begin with) would work out, over time, to be a "fair" way to approach it.

You do have the USGA handicap approach correct.

And sorry, perhaps your "circumstances described" meant inactive-season and I just missed that.  The gist of the latter part of this thread was, to me, the misunderstanding most people have about a round not being used toward handicap.  I didn't catch that yours was permissibly not to be used (e.g., inactive season).

Are you saying that you'd call a lost first ball, dropped second (lying three in your approach) and three more to get down a 6 for scorecard purposes?  I have no problem with that if your group has agreed to it (I'm quite non-militant in that regard).

Yes, I'd by lying three, as if I had gone back to the tee and hit it to that spot. I think it's the best option if you're going to go against the rules in those circumstances.

But that's like taking a 3 shot penalty, because your vicinity drop is typically in or near jail, right?  But when a ball is lost, the ruling is to go back and hit it from the same spot as before. 

But here, it's like you're playing a hazard drop, only adding on the distance penalty.  So what you are doing is a sorta self-flagellation.  NTTAWWT, to each his own, etc and so forth, but its strikes me as an extremist act.

It's probably something this guy would do to himself if he was also a devout adherent to golf.

(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39129000/jpg/_39129209_sword203afp.jpg)

 
If I didn't take a provisional on the tee, because I wrongly assumed I'd find the original tee shot, I basically go to the middle of the fairway, to a spot where I should have been in the first place, and take a stroke and distance drop, there.  If by surprise I find that I've actually lost the ball, I just pretend I would have pured the provisional I should've taken in the first place.

I've run the calculations, and this practice 'improves' my official handicap index by a factor of 0.00000000007865109.

I understand this is tongue in cheek but what you describe should in no way have a factor in your official handicap.  You should record the score for the hole under section 4 of the handicap system.  If you're recording the round with the invalid drop and fake provisional it's probable the score is greater than par + handicap strokes.   

Therefore, you're likely not improving your index.  You're going the other direction.

Sandbagger.

What is your point?

Again, the dude simply asked what I do. 

I'm in "finish playing the hole because I've paid a lot of good money to play the *goshdarn* hole" mode in those sorts of moments, so I give myself a choice middle of the fairway lie. 

I write down the score I most likely would have shot on the hole in the situation where I've lost a ball and am taking the S&D, which 9.99999999999 out of 10 times is a double bogey, which happens to be my ESC limit, which is convenient.

My point is that the discussion hasn't been about submitting for handicap.  It's been about what we do in a particular scenario.  Your post mentioned the effect your practice has on your index.  However, your practice is directly in conflict with the handicap system.

What you do on the course is fine.  It's close enough to what I do also.  But I record my score as per section 4-2.  My actions on the hole don't reflect upon my index.  I might finish up with a par or a quadruple bogey but I record par + strokes.

The proper procedure is worth clarifying.

:)

It could be, it could also be like stealing strokes since I have zero chance of going back to the tee and losing another ball, or hitting another ball OB. When I lose one it's usually ball that's hit pretty long, and wrong. Not returning to the tee also eliminates the chance of hitting one short and into jail as well.

So while it could be self flagellation, I figure in the long run the difference between what I put on my card using my method, and what would have happened if I had returned to the tee (all pissed off and hitting in front of a pissed off audience), is around 0.00000000007865119.

Wow!!  I'm surprised our numbers are so close. 

It's obviously a non-intuitive solution, but there you have it, data are data!!  Either you play really great from jail, or I suck from the middle of the fairway.