Remembering to be virtually certain
During the first round of stroke play at this year’s US Mid-Amateur, I was assigned to work on the 8th and 9th holes at the River Course along with two other officials. I was on #9 while the other two shared #8. The eighth hole is a long par 5 with a cape tee shot over a lake. The player can choose how much to carry off the tee. There was also a drop zone established on a forward tee which gave the player a straighter shot but still had to carry the water.
A player hit his first tee shot into the water and then went to the drop zone. His next shot also skirted the water. When the group got up there, our official, Chris, went over to help. The hazard is bordered by some shortish grass. Outside that is a waste area and above it before the fairway is some 2-3 inch Bermuda rough. While most of the players and caddies searched near the hazard, the player in question’s caddie was sure it carried and was looking in the Bermuda. After 5 minutes, Chris said the time had expired. A few seconds later the ball was found in the hazard. Chris was able to give the player relief at a spot about 30 yards back that point on a small spit that the ball would have crossed before re-entering the hazard. The player dropped and continued play.
As he was describing this to me a few minutes later, I asked, “How did you have virtual certainty at the time the ball was lost?” If there wasn’t virtual certainty, the player would have had to go back to the drop zone under penalty of stroke and distance. Chris realized that he hadn’t thought about that. There then followed a lot of discussion about this and Chris started to feel guilty that he had made a mistake.
While he might have made a slight mistake in not considering it, the final decision, after talking with Bill McCarthy and a call to another USGA official overnight, it could be said that there probably was virtual certainty. Many officials will say that because the caddie was looking elsewhere virtual certainty can not be established. In the end, we felt looking in the other areas where the ball might have been can establish virtual certainty by ruling them out as possible locations.
The fact that the ball was found in the hazard after the 5 minutes should not influence that because, what counts is what did you know or were virtually certain of at the time the clock ran out.
Very nice discussion of a mis-understood rule and procedures. I personally had the same sort of decision to make at CC Scranton 10 days ago on the 16th hole where a blind water hazard was in line with my tee shot. Based upon driving distances of my co-competitors, the line of my shot relative to theirs and exhausting other possible locations, we all three were satisfied virtual certainty was established and it was not necessary to return to the tee, but that I could exercise option 26-1b.
It’s good to have a younger brother that’s a rules puke. We kept our pace of play.
John,
Could you explain it to me clearer.
“The fact that the ball was found in the hazard after the 5 minutes should not influence that because, what counts is what did you know or were virtually certain of at the time the clock ran out.”
How long can a player look for his ball if there is KVC?
You get 5 minutes regardless. Once the 5 minutes is up, if it is Virtually Certain that the ball is in the hazard, you can proceed under Rule 26. If not, you must proceed under Rule 27 (stroke and distance). If it is virtually certain, you don’t have to look for the full 5 minutes, but just go to your options on 26, just as you don’t if you want to proceed under 27.