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Originally Posted by Mizunoman If in any sort of doubt at all play BOTH balls, mark your score down for each one then ask for a ruling when you finish and sign the card after you sort it out.
If you find the first ball then you have to play it unless you declare it lost then you HAVE to play the second.
Remember if you think you have lost a ball but arent sure and the ball could be in some pretty nasty stuff, hit a provisional with an iron or any club that you cant reach the original ball with. When you get to the provo (as long as its in play of course) play your approach shot and if its a goodie (within makeable putt range) you have a decision to make. You can go and look for the first drive and if you find it try and do better than a 5 or you can declare it lost and trust your putting to salvage a 5 and move on. If, on the other hand you make a bad fist of the provo go and try your darndest to find the first one and play as normal.
Remember: YOU CAN PLAY A PROVISIONAL UNTIL YOU FIND YOUR FIRST BALL AS LONG AS THE FIRST BALL IS CLOSER TO THE GREEN WHEN YOU PLAY SUBSEQUENT SHOTS WITH THE PROVO.
Now I know this will provoke cries of 'FOUL!' but its only using the rules to your advantage, be realistic, we play this game to win otherwise we wouldnt enter competitions in the first place. Doing this doesnt make you a bandit or a cheat, the rules are there to help as well as penalise.
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You cannot declare a ball lost if you have played a provisional, anyone can look for it and if they find it you have to play it. You can declare it lost on the Tee before you play a provo. In fact if you do not declare a provo it doesnt matter if you find the first one or not, its your tough.
Also you cannot have two balls in play, so your idea of playing your second shot with you provo is invalid, once you hit your provo past or around the area where your first one went, you have given up on it. You can play the provo up to the area of the first ball and then look for it, but not your way.
You must audibly declare the ball as a provisional this is so prevent you from being able to benefit from having two balls in play.