I ran afoul of a bad ruling on an issue during our club championship today. Here are the particulars.
We were on the 18th hole. The match was all square. My opponent hit his tee shot into the penalty area water, and the ball was deemed lost. He then took relief from the penalty area with penalty stroke at the point the ball crossed the penalty area. He then hit his second ball into the penalty area water again. We both saw it splash into the water, and he stated that he thought the ball was in the water. He then took another drop and hit his third ball over the penalty area just short of the green. He is now laying 5. When we approached the green, a bystander informed him that his 2nd ball, actually skipped out of the water over the penalty area and came to rest in play beyond the penalty area. He went to that ball and identified it as his and was about to play the ball when I told him that his 2nd ball was now, not in play because he placed and hit another substitute ball in play. He disagreed, and I requested a ruling from the course pro. In the mean time, my opponent decided to play both balls in hopes of getting a favorable ruling on his second ball. Bottom line, I would have won based on his score using the 3rd ball, but the pro ruled that since the 2nd ball was found, even after he played a third ball, his 2nd ball score counted, which resulted in us halving the hole. I protested, but we continued to play sudden death playoff, which he won on the 22nd whole. Rule 17-1c should have been used to determine my opponents correct ball. Thought.....
