Get a Ruling •

You may/ may not already know but-
For a ball to be treated as moved by an outside influence - a very high standard must be reached .
This is called “ known or virtual certainty.” and the standard to be reached must be 95% certainty.
This means in your described scenario - that for 100  unfound balls played into the unseen area ,- then at least 95 would have had to be moved by your seagull,.

Let’s look at the facts that  you descibed.
The ball was played into an “area “- and nobody saw the ball come to rest. It was out of sight.
When this area was reached a seagull was spotted but no one could  positively state  that the  said seagull  had a ball in its mouth.( not unusual to see birds on a golf course )
After only a “quick search -an action not helping to support a claim that required standard had been reached.
It was “unlikely “ that a ball could be lost in such an area.?

I have seen many a ball played down the centre of a fairway in full view of everyone  and because of leaves, hole , etc , -  it has taken a great deal of effort to find it  

I ‘m afraid that based on the limited facts that you have descibed then I do not believe that the KVC standard was reached .
At the end of the day the Committee will decide based on the facts - the agreement of the four players would not be decisive factor . Do they even know what KVC  is .  It is apparent that they do not know the rules sufficiently well  as evidenced by your other questions .
Namely:-
a) The substituted ball became the ball in play and playing the original was a playing a wrong ball.    Or
b) The player was allowed to continue play with original ball.

BUT  to answer your two direct questions.:-

In both the following scenarios the original ball becomes a wrong ball after another ball has been substituted and played.

1. If KVC was allowed :-
The correct ruling was (a)  and the play of the original was a wrong ball which MUST BE CORRECTED by continuing  with the substituted ball - incurring the penalties for playing a wrong ball and possible further penalty if the substituted ball ( the ball in play) hade been lifted.
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2.IF KVC was not allowed :
The player ‘s. only option would have been to proceed under  stroke and distance for a lost ball.
This means going back to the tee and playing a substituted ball from there.( 3 off the tee)
By playing a substituted ball from the place of the   “ perceived seagull movement” -   this would be a wrong place and a serious breach  - which must be corrected or be disqualified.

Even if corrected  - a wrong ball penalty would also be incurred for playing the original ball  .

To avoid disqualification the player must play another ball from the tee under  stroke and distance.( 3rd stroke)
Add two penalty strokes for initially playing from wrong place.
Add two penalty strokes for playing a wrong ball.
His next stroke would be 8.
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Your player is in a whole lot of trouble.

statistics: Posted by Chippings — 5:37 PM - Today

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