Etiquette note: If someone accidentally hits too close, give them a chance to apologize.

[BuckeyeNut]

MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE:

When people hit their approach shot towards a green before we are clear after putting out.  We'd be walking off the green towards our carts when balls would come raining down on us.  I can only remember 1 time verbally assaulting another golfer on the course, and it was after the 3rd time they hit into us as we walked off the green.  I was playing with good players too.....we were staying right behind who we were following too so it's not like we were falling off pace.  The guys behind us got the message and they gave us plenty room from then on....... It probably didn't hurt that my golf buddy is a 6-4 330lb Samoan when we confronted them.......LOL...he can play too.  he's a 4hc.

Stray shots:

so long as you yell FORE so I can duck away, it's all cool.

Me being confronted:

A funny story....I was confronted twice during the same round while I was in the process of shooting a 75. (1 homeowner & 1 golfer)...hahahah.  First the homeowner: A hole is lined by a thin natural woodline on the left.  Anything in the trees.......rolls down a steep embankment through jungle.  Anything in the trees is gone.  I hit a big towering straight drive directly over and along the woodline. It wasn't even that bad of a shot, but I knew it was OB, so I hit 3 from the tee to the right side of the fairway.  As I am walking to my ball, a homeowner walks onto the left side of the fairway and throws my ball at me as I am standing on the right side of the fairway!!!!....cursing.  hahaha.....I just waved at him and said "THANKS".   My shot wasn't even that bad.....he must have been in the trees working in his yard or something?   I don't really know?

2nd:

I hit a tee shot down a hill and to the right.....to a completely blind area.   I apparently hit into some guys playing up the hill on the next hole. There is no way I could have seen them to yell FORE.  It happens....oh well.  I apologized and was cursed pretty good for my efforts....

[jetsknicks1]

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

How so?  If there is a tee box 40 yards to the right of a green and I spray one way right, I yell fore.  It's not like you get penalized for shouting fore and not hitting it close to them.  When in doubt, yell fore.

Seems like a pretty simple concept, doesn't it?

[BuckeyeNut]

My worst/best ever case of hitting into another group:

I had 257 to the pin on a par5 and laid up with a rescue club.  The plan was for an aggressive layup to within 20-25yds short of the green for an up-down birdie opportunity.  It's very narrow tight approach with water off the back of the green which took 3-wood out of my hands. (I feared 3wood would run through into the water with a firm bounce)  I figured my best chance to make birdie was laying just short of the green to let my short game do it's thing.  The ball landed 20-25yds short and took some hard bounces.......it rolled onto the green like a putt to within 5 feet of the hole while the group in front of us was still putting. Wooops....... I immediately drove to the green, got out of my cart and walked onto the green while they were still putting to offer a sincere apology.  They were great sports and accepted my apology 100%.  We caught up to them a few holes later as we were all waiting on a par3 tee and they asked if I made my eagle putt...I was happy to say YES!!!

[x129]

The right thing to do is to wait for the green to clear and then play quickly after that. If your good shots will hit someone, you have to wait. Or if you don't want to wait, you lay up.  Intentionally hitting into some one is not acceptable.

Originally Posted by phillyk

I have definitely had my share of hitting into people.  'lil background: I feel I know my swing well enough that when I'm hitting a bad shot, by the time i hit the ball, I'm yelling "no!" too bad I can't stop myself like Tiger...

So, when I play shorter courses or courses with a couple short par 4's where I'm more than capable of hitting the green, I'll tee off last.  But as these courses are usually busy, I don't like to wait more than that because people behind me start getting pissed, because they don't think I'll reach, and I hate those conversations.  So, as I'm swinging or by the time I hit the ball, I usually know whether I hit it good enough to reach the green, and I SCREAM fore!  Even though, I'm sure they heard me, I'll go apologize because that is the right thing to do.

The times I don't yell fore are when I'm on a hole with a dogleg that I shape the ball very well, without knowing where the people in front of me are, or I had no clue how the ball did what it did.  These occasions I always feel like crap about, and run up to people to apologize and see if the ball came close to them.  I've never run into a situation where the people were pissed that I hit into them, which I'm thankful for, because as already stated, I don't like uncomfortable confrontations.

[Clambake]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

270 out and laying up with a 4-iron  . . . FORE

Hitting an iron off the tee to a fairway someone tells you is clear  . . . yell FORE in case he's lying  - don't wait, just hit and yell FORE.

Some times you're not aware there was somebody there or that your ball was going even remotely near anyone until it's too late. But go ahead and paint every situation with the same brush guys.

C'mon, that's completely misrepresenting what was said and you know it.

Mr3Wiggle made the seemingly simple and obvious comment that:

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

If your ball is headed in someone's general direction and they are within range of your best shot, you should yell fore.

And Zeg said that's easy to say but tough to do:

Originally Posted by zeg

This is easily said, but it's often difficult to gauge.

And my point (albeitly with a healthy amount of sarcasm) was that it isn't tough to say:

Originally Posted by Clambake

You're half right - it is easily said.   The word "fore" only has one syllable and doesn't take long to say, and takes very little physical effort to quickly shout.    It is very easily said, so why feel one has to gauge whether or not there is going to be an imminent danger?    Just yell, and if you misgauge it then no harm, no foul.

Nobody was making inferences about people lying about about whether the fairway was clear, or hitting superhuman shots that you've never done before.   And yes, sometimes one hits a ball where you didn't know anyone was there.      But back to the simple statement of "If you hit a ball towards someone and they could be in range you should yell Fore" and turning that into your examples is just ludicrous.

[phillyk]

Originally Posted by x129

The right thing to do is to wait for the green to clear and then play quickly after that. If your good shots will hit someone, you have to wait. Or if you don't want to wait, you lay up.  Intentionally hitting into some one is not acceptable.

Ok, let me give a scenario. Odds are you will have the same answer, but this has happened to me.  Hole is 330 par 4, more or less straight.  Busy summer weekend day.  A good drive will put me on the green, which happens on this hole ~25% of the time. The other times, I'll be near the green.  This hole happened to have a group already on the tee when we got there. What I usually do, is have the other players tee off and go ahead, and I'll wait for the group in front to clear.  But, by this time, 2 groups are already behind me waiting, staring at me like I'm crazy.  So, I hit and yelled fore because I hit a good one and knew they were still on the green.  I ONLY do this on busy days with tons of people on the course.  If the course is empty, of course I'll wait, I'm not that impatient. But, am I to wait, risking an even slower pace of play?  I could've hit a bad shot and wasted time for everyone around me.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by phillyk

Ok, let me give a scenario. Odds are you will have the same answer, but this has happened to me.  Hole is 330 par 4, more or less straight.  Busy summer weekend day.  A good drive will put me on the green, which happens on this hole ~25% of the time. The other times, I'll be near the green.  This hole happened to have a group already on the tee when we got there. What I usually do, is have the other players tee off and go ahead, and I'll wait for the group in front to clear.  But, by this time, 2 groups are already behind me waiting, staring at me like I'm crazy.  So, I hit and yelled fore because I hit a good one and knew they were still on the green.  I ONLY do this on busy days with tons of people on the course.  If the course is empty, of course I'll wait, I'm not that impatient. But, am I to wait, risking an even slower pace of play?  I could've hit a bad shot and wasted time for everyone around me.

If you know you can do it, and you're attempting to do it, you might as well wait.  It seems to me this should be your analysis:

Weigh your desire to attempt the shot over your desire to avoid the evil stares and groans from the group behind you.

It should not be:

The well-being of the group in front of you over your desire to avoid the evil stares and groans from the group behind you.

I understand it's not a simple spot to be in.  I've been in it before on par 5s during tournament play.  A lot of the guys in my club are over 50 years old and couldn't reach a green in 2 with even their best shots.  So often times I will be holding everything up and I hate it.  So either I lay up or I wait.  The difference for me is by now they know I can reach.  If you're playing in front of a group of strangers, they won't know anything about your game.

Brandon

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Clambake

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

270 out and laying up with a 4-iron  . . . FORE

Hitting an iron off the tee to a fairway someone tells you is clear  . . . yell FORE in case he's lying  - don't wait, just hit and yell FORE.

Some times you're not aware there was somebody there or that your ball was going even remotely near anyone until it's too late. But go ahead and paint every situation with the same brush guys.

C'mon, that's completely misrepresenting what was said and you know it.

Mr3Wiggle made the seemingly simple and obvious comment that:

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

If your ball is headed in someone's general direction and they are within range of your best shot, you should yell fore.

And Zeg said that's easy to say but tough to do:

Originally Posted by zeg

This is easily said, but it's often difficult to gauge.

And my point (albeitly with a healthy amount of sarcasm) was that it isn't tough to say:

Originally Posted by Clambake

You're half right - it is easily said.   The word "fore" only has one syllable and doesn't take long to say, and takes very little physical effort to quickly shout.    It is very easily said, so why feel one has to gauge whether or not there is going to be an imminent danger?    Just yell, and if you misgauge it then no harm, no foul.

Nobody was making inferences about people lying about about whether the fairway was clear, or hitting superhuman shots that you've never done before.   And yes, sometimes one hits a ball where you didn't know anyone was there.      But back to the simple statement of "If you hit a ball towards someone and they could be in range you should yell Fore" and turning that into your examples is just ludicrous.

It sounded like you were chiming in with the guys who seem to see every issue as black or white, but you weren't referring to the umpteen grey areas already referenced.

[Parker0065]

When I was a junior in highschool I was out playing a practice round the weekend before the state championship that I had qualified for. I got hit by a line drive directly into my ankle. I was lucky it didn't break anything but swelled like a balloon and I couldn't walk for a week and had to sit out of the state championship. I've also seen a older women medevaced off the golf course after someone hit her in the head and she was out cold. Point is getting hit is a lot more dangerous than most people probably realize.

I'll just say once you've been seriously injured your a lot more aware of who's hitting from where both in your own and adjacent groups. I know for myself I'm also very cautious of hitting into someone. I'll yell FORE(full force) for anyone hitting in my group if it has any remote chance or goes in the direction of someone in the area. If someone hits a ball to the adjacent fairway I always yell fore as well, you just never know who's there.

All that said, if you play this game long enough you are going to hit into someone. I've done it twice since all those years ago and I'm super anal about not doing it,,lol. Most important thing is to just yell FORE to give the guy a chance to hit the deck!

[x129]

You wait or lay up. The stuff about people waiting doesn't matter. Slow play is bad. Intentionally hitting into some one is 10x worse. In this particular case it sounds extra bad. The course is backed up. You waiting 5 mins to hit your shot isn't going to make the rounds longer. You will catch up the group in front of you over the next couple of holes and go back to waiting on every tee shot.

Originally Posted by phillyk

Ok, let me give a scenario. Odds are you will have the same answer, but this has happened to me.  Hole is 330 par 4, more or less straight.  Busy summer weekend day.  A good drive will put me on the green, which happens on this hole ~25% of the time. The other times, I'll be near the green.  This hole happened to have a group already on the tee when we got there. What I usually do, is have the other players tee off and go ahead, and I'll wait for the group in front to clear.  But, by this time, 2 groups are already behind me waiting, staring at me like I'm crazy.  So, I hit and yelled fore because I hit a good one and knew they were still on the green.  I ONLY do this on busy days with tons of people on the course.  If the course is empty, of course I'll wait, I'm not that impatient. But, am I to wait, risking an even slower pace of play?  I could've hit a bad shot and wasted time for everyone around me.

[turtleback]

What do you do when you hear someone yell fore?

I turn my back to the direction of the sound, cover the back of my head with my arms, and crouch down to present a smaller target.

[Parker0065]

Originally Posted by turtleback

What do you do when you hear someone yell fore?

I turn my back to the direction of the sound, cover the back of my head with my arms, and crouch down to present a smaller target.

That's pretty much what I do as well. I do judge the distance of the person yelling FORE and adjust accordingly. If it's from far off it's probably coming in from high up so I might take a quick peak while I'm crouching down with hands/arms over my head. If the FORE is near by I imediately get as low as possible and cover up because it could be a line drive which can really do some damage. Thank God this only happens maybe once or twice a year because if it was every other round I'd start wearing a football helmet,,lol!

[bplewis24]

I just turn my back to the direction of the sound and put one hand over the back of my head.  Wait a few seconds, and then start peaking.  Then I do an Icky Woods shuffle if nobody hit me and spike my golf club.

Brandon

[Bullitt5339]

I have a friend who has the bad habit of immediately looking in the direction of the person yelling FORE!!!!..   After talking to him a couple times about why that's an extremely bad idea, he's actually gotten to where he'll turn his back to the yell.  The last thing you want to do is turn around to look and catch a ball to the face.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Bullitt5339

I have a friend who has the bad habit of immediately looking in the direction of the person yelling FORE!!!!..   After talking to him a couple times about why that's an extremely bad idea, he's actually gotten to where he'll turn his back to the yell.  The last thing you want to do is turn around to look and catch a ball to the face.

LOL.  His reaction makes a little sense though if he's not used to the golf world.  In other sports, or just in general on the playground or whatever, if a ball is headed towards other people a lot of the time people yell "Heads up!"  Maybe he just takes that literally.

[Bullitt5339]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

LOL.  His reaction makes a little sense though if he's not used to the golf world.  In other sports, or just in general on the playground or whatever, if a ball is headed towards other people a lot of the time people yell "Heads up!"  Maybe he just takes that literally.

The problem is, he's been playing golf longer than I have.  I guess he's just never thought of it that way until I said something about it.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

LOL.  His reaction makes a little sense though if he's not used to the golf world.  In other sports, or just in general on the playground or whatever, if a ball is headed towards other people a lot of the time people yell "Heads up!"  Maybe he just takes that literally.

I actually yell "head's up" and "watch out" at one course.  It's William Land Golf Course, which is on the same property as William Land Park.  People actually picnic right next to the 4th fairway, and you will see couples taking strolls across the 7th and 8th fairways rather often.  One time I yelled "FORE" to a couple of teenagers who were near the 9th fairway and they never broke stride or anything.  I realized they probably have no idea what that means.

Brandon

[zeg]

Originally Posted by Clambake

You're half right - it is easily said.   The word "fore" only has one syllable and doesn't take long to say, and takes very little physical effort to quickly shout.    It is very easily said, so why feel one has to gauge whether or not there is going to be an imminent danger?    Just yell, and if you misgauge it then no harm, no foul.

Prior to my comment, Sean made the point (which I agree with) that calling, "Fore!" in no-risk or extremely low-risk situations is counterproductive. So there is some harm in using it too much---people will start to ignore it. The problem is not that it's hard to call, the problem is that you need to make a quick and timely determination of whether the situation is improved by calling, "Fore!"

Most of the time it's easy. But there are plenty of situations where it's not---distances are not always easy to estimate, particularly for driver shots. There are times when I've been 100 yards off eyeballing a distance. Sometimes you may not be aware that someone is in the danger zone, or you may lose track of your ball.

So, no, it's not as simple as calling, "Fore!" every time there might be any chance of any danger. It needs to be a somewhat reasonable risk, and that is occasionally tricky.