by Joyce McCann, 18ers Rules Chair.
If you elect to use this new local rule, your next shot will be your 4th. Thus, it is as though you had opted to hit a provisional which landed in the fairway.
So, how to decide which relief option to take? An important factor to take into account on the 5th hole is that there is quite a lot of rough on the right side of the fairway. Thus, if you tend to slice the ball, a provisional hit from the teeing area may very well end up in the rough. The new local rule allows you to ensure that your 4th shot will be from the fairway. On the other hand, if your tee shot was really awful and didn’t get far from the teeing area before disappearing to the right, the best decision may be to hit a provisional. One thing to keep in mind when contemplating these options is that, if you have already hit a provisional, you cannot then decide to use the new local rule option, i.e., you can’t have it both ways!