The 4th hole at my course has a road running right across the middle of it and my ball was right on it. I had to drop the ball back within one club length however the green keeper had stopped cutting the fairway about 2 yards from the road, so I had to drop it in the rough despite being in the middle of the fairway... bang goes my chances of spinning a wedge to 3 feet...hmmm

After the round I just happened to check the clubhouse noticeboard and there was (and still is) a local rule posted stating that you get 2 club lengths relief from that road until further notice

The moral: If you can, try to take a passing glance at your club noticeboard every once in a while

My mate sliced his tee off shot the other day, then played another shot from the tee, thus making it his second 'official' shot. He sliced it even worse than the 1st attempt, and then decided to play on with his 1st sliced ball. Is this correct?

I argued that once he decided to tee off with a2nd ball, it rendered his 1st ball unplayable, but he was adamant he wasright, so i let him carry on.

If he didn't announce his second shot as a provisional then it becomes 'the ball in play' and the first ball is deemed lost (although he can pick it up on the way past).