The slowing-down-play excuse is a cop-out and always has been. It takes a maximum of 30 seconds to hit a provisional ball. I realize that we've all hit a shot that we expected to find and didn't. But if there is even a chance that my ball could be lost or OB, I hit a provisional. Its not that big a deal, and in fact the sole purpose of hitting a provisional is to save time.
What takes forever is someone hitting a ball in the woods or likely out-of-bounds, refusing to hit a provisional ball because they swear they know exactly where it is and/or it will miraculously ricochet back onto the course, then spending 5 minutes looking for a ball 50 yards ahead of where it is likely to be and finally declaring that it is much too late to go back to the tee now so they might as well drop one here. And sadly, this is what has become the new normal.
That being said, I've always felt that stroke-and-distance for OB is too severe a penalty. I have played many golf courses where a ball could land on the fairway or even on the green but end up OB. I believe a penalty stroke and drop under the water hazard rule for environmentally-sensitive areas would be more appropriate (i.e., playing from OB is prohibited - you must take a penalty stroke and drop a ball under the water hazard rule). But I actually have no problem with stroke-and-distance for a lost ball - how can you drop a ball within 2 club lengths of an unknown location? So there will still be a reason for hitting a provisional ball.
