Whatever Happened to "Fore!"

[Muttface]

Is is just me or are golfers not yelling "Fore" anymore when their ball looks like it might bean someone?

Four times in the past three outings we've had incidents with balls landing literally within an arm's reach away. Three incidents at one course and the fourth just last Saturday on a different one.

One guy almost got beaned on a tee and the other three came off the tee from adjacent fairways and almost got us as we were walking in the opposite direction. There was not a single warning yell from any of the guys that were teeing off.

I'm not expecting that there won't ever be more close calls; I'd just like some kind of warning so we can duck and cover. A hard hat might not be a bad idea either.

I think I'm going to start pocketing them or smacking them off into the woods.

[Lou Tenant]

What timing. Me and my partner got hit yesterday while driving down the fairway in our cart . we were looking for his ball on the edge of the fairway whe I looked up in time to see a line drive coming right at us . It came right into the cart , struck me on the knee and richochetd off my knee into his forearm.

I was fighting mad because I never heard a single fore ! I went right to them to ask if they ever heard of the term , "Fore". No sorry. Finally, one of their group asked if we were okay.

I hate playing municipal courses on the weekends !

[Danattherock]

No excuse for this kind of thing. Pick the ball up and put it in your bag.

[nophace]

One ball almost killed me and knocked out a squirl right next to my leg!!!!!

[wrx_junki]

On a slow weekend day at a muni I've had the group behind us hit up on us without warning on a par 4 twice. The second time the ball flew by us, I just hit it right back at them while yelling "FORE". The funny thing is it flew straight as an arrow right at them.

[microcrayfish]

It seems like not only are people not yelling fore they also get mad at you for getting in the way of their ball. Happened to me and my father once, some guy hits a ball through the green while we're putting (no fore or anything) and then comes up asking us if we'd seen a ball, when my father confronted him about hitting it at us he got mad and started threatening to kick us off the course because he was on the playing committee.

[Mr Eagle]

Its your own fault! The compensation culture in the US,now spread to the UK is making the use of "fore" more like a shout of "Its me over here you can sue for big bucks".Its a lot safer (financially speaking) to pretend it wasnt you (sad but true)

I have also noticed a recent trend of people shouting "fore right" or "fore left",Whats that all about?

[blackxpress]

I have also noticed a recent trend of people shouting "fore right" or "fore left",Whats that all about?

That is pretty goofy. Like you're going to have time to figure out whether you're to the right or the left before you decide whether or not you should duck. Another one I've been hearing is, "Fore on the tee." Just holler "fore" and let everyone within the sound of your voice take cover. Better safe than sorry.

[maelkoth]

How can they sue? I thought stepping onto a golf course is assumed risk.

[rjfan91]

How can they sue? I thought stepping onto a golf course is assumed risk.

I've seen this discussed online and have discussed this with our association's lawyer. A suit only has merit if it is proven the person acted with reckless abandon.

A situation we discussed: A group is on the green of a drivable par 4. A person tees up his ball, gets advice/warning from their playing partner to wait before hitting because this person can reach it, and the person hits anyways. This is considered reckless. If there had been no warning, it is more difficult to prove that the person was acting recklessly. IE, the ol' once in a lifetime long drive. Anyways, didn't mean to hijack. Back on topic, I saw Tiger yell out "fore right" and "fore left" during his last televised tourney. I hadn't really heard it before.

[plugged]

I can't count that high.





Seriously though, I see this a lot on muni courses. Either people don't know or don't care about golf etiquette (I suspect the latter). The one time I hit into another group is when I reached the green on a 260-yd approach shot on a par 5 with my 5 wood. That is unusually long for me. The ball wasn't airborne, but did roll right up to this lady that was putting and her husband went ballistic. I felt bad and tried to apologize to no avail. Since then I wait until the group in front is clear by at least 30-50 yds of my longest shot with that particular club before I hit.

[Fat Slice]

Its your own fault! The compensation culture in the US,now spread to the UK is making the use of "fore" more like a shout of "Its me over here you can sue for big bucks".Its a lot safer (financially speaking) to pretend it wasnt you (sad but true)

It's the other way around! If you hit an errant shot and yell "FORE!" you have done your duty and will likely be held harmless. If, however, you hit offline, say NOTHING, and the ball hits someone....lookout for the lawsuit!

[Chief Broom]

I try to always be mindful if I'm in a position where there is a good chance I could get hit by an errant ball. Riding down the edge of the fairway with another alongside is a dangerous place to be on a busy day. So too on the blind side of a hill or other place where you can't easily be seen. I like to leave something (a cart or my bag) in plain sight of the tee if the course is crowded and the people behind are antsy to maintain the pace.

[iWALK18]

Yes, I do think people should yell "fore", but I find I get more upset over people going bananas about others not yelling "fore". I guess I have a different view than most on when you should yell:

First, If I can see the ball will not hit the person (Meaning it is landing 10 yards or more away from the person) I will NOT yell. My reasoning for this is that a) its not necessary, they wont get hit and b) they might "run for cover" and actually move closer to getting hit.

Second, I have a problem with people going ape-sh!t over a ball rolling past them. Come-on, its not going to injure anyone if its rolling, even if its rolling pretty fast. My GF a couple years ago bladed an 8 iron about 120 yards in the air instead of her usual 110, landed in the short rough behind our green and it rolled out another 30 yards or so through a green from another hole behind ours. The guy on the green went absolutely nuts. He picked up her ball and teed it back up on his green, and was yelling at her, it was really really excessive. I know a lot of courses that want you to hit into greens on par 5s even when there are people on the green, with the logic being that if you catch it well you're going to be rolling up on the green and that is not dangerous.

But I will say that when a ball thumps down within a few feet from me, I get as hot as anyone.

[NM Golf]

The same thing that happened to playing by the rules, fixing divots, fixing ball marks, dressing correctly, etc. Like in society the rules of proper ettiquette are eroding at an alarming rate.

[TyCobb]

Probably because they're embarrassed they hit such a terrible shot.

[mirv]

i think it's some kind of idiotic sense of pride or something that stops people from yelling fore. i've only heard a handful of "fores!" on the course this year and seen three times as many close calls without a "fore!" i personally will yell "fore!" without hesitation if there's a fair chance that my ball is heading towards someone.

[misty_mountainhop]

The same thing that happened to playing by the rules, fixing divots, fixing ball marks, dressing correctly, etc. Like in society the rules of proper ettiquette are eroding at an alarming rate.

Regrettably, I fear you're right.