Why do golfers shout FORE?
As is often the situation with questions about the origins of golfing terms, there really isn’t a definite answer. It seems that the term fore has some relation to the forecaddie. The forecaddie was a person employed to go ahead of players to mark the lie of balls in play. It may be that, over time, the word forecaddie was shortened when yelled as a warning to this person and the word has remained in use since. In 1881, Robert Forgan in his book, The Golfer’s Handbook, makes the following reference “…shouts “Fore!” to give the alarm to anyone in his way.” indicating that the term has been used for a long time.
