Useless, inane calling of 'FORE!'

[killerduck]

Two weeks ago I joined a new club. I've played about 6 rounds there since and one thing that worries me is the almost constant, and uselessly futile calls of "Fore".

The problem areas for stray balls are fairly well kept to the 1st/10th/11th/12th/14th fairways, as they run side-by-side and are easily within range of a wayward shot.

So, whenever someone tees off, and their ball heads in the general direction of the trees they call "Fore". And that's it, just "Fore". And it seems there are more "Crack - FORE" shots than there are just "Crack - nice shot, Johnny" shots. So much so that "Fore" has no effect, people don't take notice, which is dangerous.

People need to call "Fore - 13th!" or "Fore - Left!" or whatever seems appropriate. Call TO the people who need to take cover, and only call "Fore" if the ball is actually going near someone. Fair call?

[Titleist_ProV1x]

Two weeks ago I joined a new club. I've played about 6 rounds there since and one thing that worries me is the almost constant, and uselessly futile calls of "Fore".

Sounds to me like you should join a different club with better golfers, lol

[Travtex]

Course I've been playing most since moving to NWA has a Death Trap hole... the 7th, I think. Blind tee shot over a huge elevation drop. Basically drive the ball off the mountain. Aim toward that tree over there, think the fairway's there somewhere....

ANYway, I've played three nines there and already had two titlists land within thirty yards of me. Thunk.

Now, they -have- a bell there that you ring when you've hit your shot and you're moving out of the landing zone... AND they have a sign at the tee box that says 'Wait Until You Hear the Bell'.

Obviously, people ignore both the bell and the sign.

(Doesn't have much to do with randomly yelling FORE, but... well, don't think it merited it's own thread and it's a Relevant Dangerous Situation.)

Maybe my solution should be to learn to add about thirty yards to my tee shot. :D

[zeg]

People need to call "Fore - 13th!" or "Fore - Left!" or whatever seems appropriate. Call TO the people who need to take cover, and only call "Fore" if the ball is actually going near someone. Fair call?

IMO I'd rather there be too many "fore" calls than not enough. To me, "fore left" or whatever is of limited assistance since, first of all, I don't know for sure whose left he's talking about, and I don't really have time to think about where I am relative to the guy shouting.

[Zeph]

If there are multiple options, how should we know who is yelling and where his left is? Yelling fore only makes sure everyone that hear it have the option to take cover. Yelling "Fore 13th left" makes half of them stand up and look around to see where they are.

[blackxpress]

IMO I'd rather there be too many "fore" calls than not enough. To me, "fore left" or whatever is of limited assistance since, first of all, I don't know for sure whose left he's talking about, and I don't really have time to think about where I am relative to the guy shouting.

Absolutely. I know guys that yell "Fore on 8 tee" or "Fore on 7 green" and other such unnecessary stuff. I'd rather they'd just yell "Fore!" The purpose of yelling "Fore!" is for everyone that hears it to immediately take cover. When a ball is coming at you at 100+mph, there's no time to think about whether or not you need to duck and cover.

[mfgorilla]

The other insane part of yelling "FORE" is all the people that start looking around for the ball instead of ducking.

[FHopper]

Hard hats, we need golf hard hats.

[Travtex]

Agreed. I think the 7th at Brush Creek should supply helmets for one's second shot.

[double_j]

I'd rather have people yelling fore than not yelling fore. If I'm not by a tree or a cart, etc., my basic response is duck with hands behind head or duck with hands in front of face/head depending on where the yell is coming from. I'm also a big fan of ducking behind the nearest member of my foursome if they're within reach!

That said, once you really get to know a course you can learn the danger spots and know if you're in a position where a 'fore' is likely to be applicable to you. Some of those shooting gallery type setups (multiple holes closely side by side, etc.) can be downright scary.

And I never minded the setups with bells for blind fairways, etc. but that only really works if the group behind knows that there's another group ahead to ring the bell in the first place.

[Bug Bunny]

"FORE!" is sufficient to me. WHenever I hear it, I just turn immediately and put my back to the direction it came from and put my head down. Nothing worse that yelling fore and the guy in the direction of the ball turn and look at ya!!!!!

[killerduck]

When I said people should yell "Fore - 13th", I meant they should yell that out when the hit a ball toward a player/group on the 13th fairway. Ignore the Left thing, that's obviously more for tournaments where there a people lining the fairways. But I notice a lot of pro's don't bother yelling fore when they send one into the crowd.

I was playing with an erratic guy last week. He hit a tee shot into the wooden bank of a water hazard 10 metres in front of us and ball ricochet off somewhere. We had no way of seeing it. A guy on the green next to us (through thick scrub and trees) said "It went this far from my head (about 3 feet, although he was probably exaggerating) and I never once heard a fore", what good would it have done? He wouldn't have guessed a ball coming off of our tee was going anywhere near him. If we could've seen the ball we would've called "Four 7th! Duck!" etc.

[DocWu1948]

It may be useless, but at least you've given a warning. In fact, there is a homeowner-hit-by-golf-ball lawsuit going on right now here in Illinois. Golf courses don't have immunity here. Part of the suit claimed the golfer gave no warning, and the judge dismissed that part because Fore was yelled. Rest of the suit goes on though.

[Woters]

"Fore!" is shouted as a warning when it appears possible a golf ball may hit other players or spectators. It means "ahead", and it's believed to come from the military "beware before", which was shouted when shooting battery behind the troops.

So by that we actually shouldnt shout FORE if we just sliced one off towards the next fairway should we ;)

Im happy enough with some warning tbh

[kilbyman]

It may be useless, but at least you've given a warning. In fact, there is a homeowner-hit-by-golf-ball lawsuit going on right now here in Illinois. Golf courses don't have immunity here. Part of the suit claimed the golfer gave no warning, and the judge dismissed that part because Fore was yelled. Rest of the suit goes on though.

You live on a golf course... what do you think is going to happen.

[PS90]

And I never minded the setups with bells for blind fairways, etc. but that only really works if the group behind knows that there's another group ahead to ring the bell in the first place.

I totally agree. The bell is a pain in the ass. First of all, it's always on a blind tee, so there is no way (on my course, at least) to see the green (obviously), which means you have no way of knowing if anyone is there or not. If you're following a slow group, the bell works fine, but otherwise, you either don't wait for the bell, tee off, and hope to god that no one is on the fairway or green - or you wait FOREVER, wondering if the bell will ever ring or not.

But, anyway, especially on an errant shot off a blind tee, or if I hit into trees with a fairway on the other side, I'm yelling "FORE!" whether I know that people are there or not - better than not yelling and having someone get hit.