Unplayabe

Do you have to make any formal announcement when you deem your ball unplayable. As you do when you play a provisional?
If not, how would an opponent or fellow competitor know?

of course, you need to tell your opponent you are declaring the ball unplayable.

Weird to see you posting a rules question!

There's nothing in there about declaring anything. I guess your opponent or fellow competitor would know, when they asked you what you were doing.

But there's nothing in the rules about making a declaration - so since it's not addressed, I assume nothing need be said ahead of time. Now, that said, I always declare my ball unplayable.

I don't know, if you look through the rule book, it says "declare the ball unplayable"

Mine says deem.

http://www.randa.org/flash/rules/rul...nd2004_v2.html (R&A)

USGA wording:

Definitions
All defined terms are in italicsand are listed alphabetically in the Definitions section.
The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the course except when the ball is in a water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable.
If the player deems his ball to be unplayable, he must, under penalty of one stroke:
(a) Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or (b) Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the holeand the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or (c) Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole. Penalty for Breach of Rule:
Match play — Loss of hole; Stroke play — Two strokes.
If the unplayable ball is in a bunker, the player may proceed under Clause a, b or c. If he elects to proceed under Clause b or c, a ball must be dropped in the bunker.
The ball may be lifted and cleaned when proceeding under this Rule.


No mention of mentioning anything.

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A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

That's what is puzzling me.

If you drop a ball, in a legitimate rule 28 position, without a word and play it, what is its status?

I'd have to assume that, along with a lot of things in golf, you carry on.

I'm drawing a parallel line between that and calling a penalty on yourself for your ball moving after you've addressed it. You don't have to tell your playing partners you incurred the penalty. You just mark it, and carry on.