It is generally agreed that “fore” is short hand for the word “before” or “afore,”
which was an old Scottish saying essentially meaning “look out ahead.”
As to how it became associated with gold, in 1824, The Rules of the Thistle Golf Club
recounts a conversation where it was expressed that one of the speakers had performed the
duty of “fore-cady” for the Duke of York back in 1681.
Specifically- “Dickson was then performing the duty of what is now commonly called a
fore-cady.”
The job of the forecaddie still exists today.
Their role is to locate and determine the placement of the ball, to ensure there is
no cheating.
They are usually employed during tournament play when the stakes are the highest.
These caddies used to be employed more frequently in the 18th century for fear the golf ball
(a more expensive item back then) would be lost.
Thus, it’s generally thought the practice got its start from golfers yelling “fore”
at the fore-caddies to let them know the ball was coming and to get ready to be on the look
out.
Another hypothesis stems from military usage, when soldiers and those at a higher points
would yell at those on the front line below “fore,” as a warning to duck from oncoming
musket shots.
While this really was a term used in battle, there is disagreement which came first - the
military using a golf term or golfers using a military term.
Either way, “fore” is just an antiquated Scottish way to say “look out ahead”.
Moving on to another golf topic, ever wonder why there are specifically 18 holes in golf?
Well, wonder no more.
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in Scotland was founded in 1754 and it was
, as it remains to this day, one the most prestigious golf clubs in the world.
Golfers had been playing on this particular parcel of land as early as the 15th century
on a course dictated by the topography.
In other words, they placed holes all the way to where they could play no more, where
land meets water at the St. Andrews Bay.
The course that emerged was eleven holes.
So, when they finished the first time through, they would turn around and play the eleven
again, making it a total of 22 holes.
This brings us to October 4, 1764, and a letter written by four-time captain of the St. Andrews
golf course, William St. Clair of Roslin: “St. Andrews, 4th October 1764.
The Captain and Gentlemen Golfers present are of opinion that it would be for the improvement
of the Links that the four first holes should be converted into two, - They therefore have
agreed that for the future they shall be played as two holes, in the same way as presently
marked out.
WM.
ST.
CLAIR.”
Thus, St. Clair and others in charge of the course determined that there were four holes
that were too short, probably originally done this way to fit the holes onto the land.
So, they combined them into two holes, making each round now nine holes instead of eleven
and bringing the total to 18 holes for a game.
As St. Andrews grew in influence, other self-respecting golf courses made the change to 18 holes.
It was an unofficial regulation for the next two centuries or so, until the 1950s when
it became a “stipulated regulation” that a course had to be 18 holes for tournament
play.
Moving on to another golfing term’s origins- bogey.
It seems the term comes from a song from the 1890s popular in the British Isles, entitled
“The Bogey Man.”
Yes, this is a reference to the horror movie staple the Bogey Man.
The character in the song is described as elusive with the lyrics, "I’m the Bogey
Man, catch me if you can."
Since golfers were always in pursuit of the “elusive” perfect score, they began to
refer to the amount of strokes that should be expected on a particular hole as a “bogey,”
as in playing against the Bogey Man to try to match his score.
We now know this to be “par” and a “bogey” is one stroke over par.
In fact, an early golfing rules book has a section dedicated to the rules of “Bogey
competitions” - or otherwise known as stroke play tournaments.
An article from 1908 cited by the OED first in 1933 explains the supposed exact origin,
though the accuracy of this is impossible to discern, “One popular song at least has
left its permanent effect on the game of golf.
That song is 'The Bogey Man.'
In 1890 Dr. Thos.
Browne, R.N., the hon. secretary of the Great Yarmouth Club, was playing against a Major
Wellman, the match being against the 'ground score,' which was the name given to the scratch
value of each hole.
The system of playing against the 'ground score' was new to Major Wellman, and he exclaimed,
thinking of the song of the moment, that his mysterious and well-nigh invincible opponent
was a regular 'bogey-man.'
The name 'caught on' at Great Yarmouth, and to-day 'Bogey' is one of the most feared opponents
on all the courses that acknowledge him.”
“Bogey” became known as one over an ideal score around the early 20th century due to
tightening of “perfect scores” on course.
The ubiquity of the usage made sure the term didn’t go away, now becoming a reference
to a “near perfect score.”
Moving on to mulligan, as most know, the term “mulligan” extends much further beyond
just golf and sports.
It has come to be used in politics and daily life with the word meaning “do-over.”
Of course, to taking a "mulligan" is not allowed in regulated or tournament golf, but many
amateur golfers have utilized this unofficial rule to their advantage.
This well-used term is actually named after a real person, though there is some dispute
as to which of two men should be credited.
In the late 1920s into the 1930s, a Canadian amateur golfer named David Bernard Mulligan
was making a name for himself in the more prominent golfing clubs of New York.
He was so popular that he had a regular foursome that he would pick up and drive to the course
in his classy 1920s Briscoe.
As the tale is told, one day after driving to the course, Mulligan took his first shot
and shanked it.
Said Mulligan in 1985 during an interview, “I was so provoked with myself that, on
impulse, I stooped over and put down another ball.
The other three looked at me with considerable puzzlement, and one of them asked, ‘What
are you doing?’
‘I’m taking a correction shot,’ I replied.”
Then, Mulligan’s playing partner asked what he called that,
““Thinking fast, I told him that I called it a ‘Mulligan.’
They laughed and let me play a second ball.””
Mulligan further explained that from then on if you were not satisfied with your first
shot off of the first tee, you could “take a Mulligan.”
Another story how this became known as a mulligan comes from a golf club locker room attendant
in Essex Falls, New Jersey named John “Buddy” Mulligan.
The story associated with him was that one day, he finished his chorus early and convinced
two club members to play with him.
When he botched his opening shot, he insisted that they had been “practicing all morning”
and he deserved another shot because he just started playing.
So, he got another shot.
Upon hearing this story, the other members of club started doing this and calling it
a “Mulligan” as an inside joke.
No matter what story is true (historians generally go with David Mulligan) or if the details
are perfectly accurate, the term “mulligan” seems to have come from the insistence of
one individual with that name that they should be allowed
a do-over.