[Golf Rules... Knowledge is Power] Provisional Ball Out of Bounds Disqualification

Seongje Park's Mistake in KB Financial Liiv Championship 1R
Violation of Golf Rules for Playing Provisional Ball While Searching for Original Ball

Golf has no referees. It is a "gentleman's sport" where golfers play by following the rules themselves. The golf rules are "assistants" created to help with play. If well understood and properly applied, they can greatly aid in score management. These are golf rules that weekend golfers must know.

Park Seongje

Park Seongjae was disqualified for a rare case of playing the wrong ball despite hitting his own ball on the Korean Professional Golfers' Association (KPGA) Tour. The incident occurred on the 4th hole (par 4) of the first round of the KPGA Tour KB Financial Live Championship (total prize money 700 million won) held on the 23rd at Blackstone Golf Club in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province (par 72, 7,270 yards). The reason for disqualification was playing the wrong ball.

Playing the wrong ball commonly refers to hitting another player's ball instead of one's own during a match. This sometimes happens even in professional tournaments. For example, a ball hit from the rough or forest, believed to be one's own, turns out to be another player's ball. However, Park Seongjae did not hit another player's ball. The story is as follows: His tee shot on the 4th hole flew far off the fairway into the woods. Meanwhile, the provisional ball landed on the fairway.

He found his original ball in the woods. However, the spot where the ball lay was difficult to play the next shot from. Even if he wanted to declare the ball unplayable and take a penalty, there was no suitable place to drop the ball within two club lengths. He chose to abandon the original ball and play the provisional ball. However, this constitutes playing the wrong ball. Once the original ball is found, the provisional ball becomes "dead," meaning it must not be played.

Park Seongjae should have declared the original ball unplayable, taken a one-stroke penalty, and continued the game, or returned to the teeing ground to replay with a one-stroke penalty. Referee Kwon Cheongwon expressed regret, saying, "Not only amateur golfers but even professional players often do not know that continuing play with the provisional ball after finding the original ball in a bad lie is playing the wrong ball."

If he had received a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball before the tee shot on the 5th hole (par 5), it would not have led to disqualification. However, because he was completely unaware that he had played the wrong ball and proceeded with the tee shot on the 5th hole, a more severe penalty of disqualification was imposed instead of just a penalty stroke. Park Seongjae joined the professional tour in 2013 and debuted on the KPGA Tour in 2020. He has yet to win a tournament, and his best result this year is a tie for 28th place at the 43rd GS Caltex Maekyung Open.