Your provisional ball sits closer to the hole than where your first ball likely is. You hit it. What happens?
The provisional becomes your ball in play, and the original is out of play.
- The provisional becomes your ball in play ✔
- You may still look for the original
- Both balls stay in play
Why: Rule 18.3c says hitting the provisional from a spot nearer the hole than the original's estimated spot makes it your ball in play. The original is then a wrong ball, even if found.
Huh, didn't know that: You may keep hitting a provisional as often as you like while it stays as far or farther from the hole than the original.
Why was the provisional ball so confident? It knew it might get promoted any minute.
References
Answer: The provisional becomes your ball in play. Rule 18.3c says hitting the provisional from a spot nearer the hole than the original's estimated spot makes it your ball in play. The original is then a wrong ball, even if found.
- The R&A: Rule 18, Playing a Provisional Ball www.randa.org/en/rog/the-rules-of-golf/rule-18
if the player plays the provisional ball from point B, the provisional ball becomes the ball in play under penalty of stroke and distance.
Checked 2026-10-12.
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