provisional ball

Hi everybody (be gentle this is my first posting)

Having been playing for a while and only just started to play in society and charity days and using this site, im coming across lots of new rules which seem to make sence but send alarm bells ringing.

Having read the commets on forum newbie rules which i fully understand, it seems to me that if you take a shot and have the slightest doubt that you may not find your ball you should always take a provisional ball, but is there a limit to the amount of provisional balls you can take in a round. the reason i ask is slow play is a big problem anyway and if provisional ball is to be taken is there a limit. i hope im not asking for me as i am hitting 90% of my tee shots where i want to and just need to work on my short game and hitting from the rough when i do find it . Manythanks dave 

Hi Dave, welcome aboard. 

Not a silly question for your first post.  The simple answer is "No".  You can take as many provisional balls as you wish, and can even take a provisional ball if you think you may not find your provisional ball!

It will help to speed play up if you take a provisional ball if there is any doubt about your original ball.

No limit to how many you can use.

But if you are spending five minutes looking for the original ball then allow the group behind to play through, rather than keep looking!

Russ