nsxguy

Yes, MLR E-5 DOES have to be in effect for that round to be used. Note - it MAY be "in effect" only for certain holes. But no need for a provisional ? Suppose the player hits a low slice line drive that barely gets in the air and it's roughly 80 yards off the tee and way right into all sorts of trees. Or possibly OB. I can pretty much guarantee you most players WILL hit a provisional in that case. But the player isn't required to use E-5. He can still go search and, if not found, take S&D instead of using E-5. Or, before going to search, hit a provisional - in which case only the (last) provisional can be used for E-5, NOT the original. If he hits 1 or more provisionals, the original/previous ball's estimated location can NOT be used. He must use the LAST one of the provisionals for any E-5 drops. Also note the ball need not be dropped in the fairway. There is a rather large relief area for this MLR. I think I've got this correct. 🙃 See details Model Local Rules

Gettin' old(er) ain't easy, is it ?

How did you manage to "quote" me and get the OP's text ?

That's funny. My old club played a 2 best ball team event every Sunday. The only exception was July 4th Monday when we'd play a combo event. 9-hole alt-shot and a 9-hole 4-ball, sometimes a 9-hole 2-man scramble replacing one of the first 2. Tried coaxing the membership to do something different any number of times during the year but all they wanted to do was a 2 BB team format. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It's a bit more complicated than that. Look at the definition of "Penalty Area". Part of which is "When the edge of a body of water is not defined by the Committee, the edge of that penalty area is defined by its natural boundaries (that is, where the ground slopes down to form the depression that can hold the water)" Here is SoFla there are quite a few PAs whose boundary is defined exactly that way.

My friend, you are overthinking this. E-5 is meant for casual rounds and low-level tournaments. As you suggested, and the USGA "admitted", it's to save time. If it means that much to you, within your group, don't use it. If, within the context of a "club", make it an issue. Easy peasy.

It's actually pretty easy to work out. How many would the player lie at the point,,,,,,,,, IF it'd have been found ? Then add 2 and drop in the fairway (or wherever). So, no provisional, "found" ball would've been lying 1. Drop in fairway and now it lays 3. With provisional, "found" ball would've been lying 3. Drop in the fairway and it lies 5.

Good point. So, Player A says "In for 5", His partner B lies 5 already so he picks up. Player C lies 5 and picks up, D lies 4, but knowing" he needs to make his putt for a tie he hits it too hard and misses. Now needing his putt for 6, he picks up too. I would think A&B would lose the hole.

Correct, I didn't read long enough. "dropped at the edge of the fairway and hit". So yes, then lying 6. Point is, as you mentioned, he's taking E-5 on the provisional ball, NOT the original. Sorry about that.

There are situations whereby one partner is DQ'd from the hole where the other partner is not. In fact, colin's example is very similar. I believe your example would be another flavor of colin's. The partner who'd given the wrong strokes is OUT of the hole, but the other partner can still score for the side.

I believe you are correct. However, I don't seen anything different from the OP's post (maybe I missed it ?) Note the OP said he "corrected him". I'm thinking he meant corrected him to be lying 5, not 4.

How about we call it a tie ?!?!?!

A thread here on WRX (Putter Shape) you might find interesting.

If the group is "on time" in the first place, that would include the time taken by that "irrelevant" putt. So while it (time-saving) is literally true, practically speaking it shouldn't matter.

There may be waaaaay fewer but the underlying cause is the same - they just didn't know (the Rules) any better.