A ball is never ‘lost’ by declaration

There was something peculiar about this year’s Barclays Kenya Open winner, Aaron Rai. He wore two gloves.

Whereas majority of golfers were one, on the left hand for right-handed players and on the right hand for left-handed players, Aaron wears two.

This was not his first attempt at the Barclays Kenya Open. He was here last year. He did not make it to play on the third day as his performance, at five over par after the second day, was nowhere near the “cut’”

As you read this on Friday, Aaron Rai will be playing at 117th US Open Championship at Erin Hills. His star is in the ascendant and he is destined to join the ranks of the crème de la crème of the golfing greats.

A quick glance at the names of those drawn to play at this year’s event, I recognised five alumni of the Kenya Open.

The Barclays Kenya Open has truly come of age and we are regularly seeing the winners going forth and doing amazing thing on the world stage.

Erin Hills, the hosts of the 117th US Open, is the sixth public access golf course to host the championship.

The one thing that stands out on this golf course is the rough. The grass in the rough is so long that it will prove quite difficult to locate wayward shots that end up in the grass.

One golfer was demonstrating how bad the rough is by tossing his ball into the thick grass from about three feet. From that short distance, it was very difficult to locate the ball.

This made me think lost balls may be common at this year’s US Open. Marshals will most likely be advised to request players to play provisional balls if their balls end up in this rough.

This brings me to an interesting question I heard recently: A golfer played his tee shot and his ball had a nasty bounce into the rough.

He elected to play a provisional as there was a probability of his original ball being lost. The provisional ball, as happens in majority of the cases, went straight down the middle of the fairway.

He was so pleased with his provisional shot, the player declared his original ball “lost”.

His cheeky opponent went in search of the original ball and found it in a part of the course that was last cleared when Kenya was under the British rule.

The player went ahead and identified his original ball but he then picked it up thinking that it was no longer in play since he had declared it “lost”.

A ball can never be lost by declaration.

As soon as the original ball was found and identified, the ball played provisionally was no longer in play.

If the player went ahead and made a stroke at the second/provisional ball, he would have been playing the wrong ball. This would have led to an automatic loss of hole.

Despite the fact that one cannot declare a ball “lost”, it will be in the following situations:

1. The player cannot find it and identify it within five minutes. If one looks for the ball and finds it after the allowable five minutes are over, then the ball is “lost”.

The player must return to the place where they played the last shot or if they had played a provisional ball, then it will be the ball in play.

2. If a player, instead of playing a provisional ball, decides to put another ball in play, then the original ball is “lost”.

Even if the original ball is found in this case, it will be the wrong ball. The player will be advised to pick it up and toss it into their bag.

3. If the player has duly played a provisional ball, and as is often the case, has played a better shot than the original one.

Should the player make a shot at the provisional ball at a position that is closer to the hole than where the original ball may be lost, then the original ball is “lost”.

Even if it is found lying in a favourable position, it would no longer be the ball in play.

As we enjoy watching the US Open this weekend, we may recall watching some of the players at the Barclays Kenya Open.

I remember driving Brandon Stone to the 12th tee for the play-off at the 2015 Barclays Kenya Open at Karen Country Club.

His tee shot went straight into the greenside bunker and he lost to Hayden Porteous.

The most memorable alumnus is, however, Aaron Rai. I wish him well and hope he can give Erin Hills the old one-two to emerge the winner.