The website ScottishGolfHistory.org
cites a golf glossary published in 1857 that included the word
fore. Historians at the British Golf Museum have surmised that
the term 'fore', as a warning in golf, evolved from forecaddie.
A forecaddie is a person who accompanies a grouping of golfers
around the golf course, going forward on each hole to be in a
position to pinpoint the locations of the group members' shots.
Mary Queen of Scots was likely the first woman to play golf. It
was during her reign that the famous golf course at St. Andrews
was built, in 1552. Mary coined the term caddie by calling her
assistants cadets. Of course, le cadet is French for youngster
of the family. Some argue French military 'cadets' carried clubs
for golfing royalty and this practice came to Scotland when
Queen Mary Stuart returned in 1561.
One of the most common misconceptions is that the word GOLF is
an acronym for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden. The first
documented mention of the word 'golf' is in Edinburgh on 6th
March 1457, when King James II banned 'ye golf', in an attempt
to encourage archery practice, which was being neglected. During
1460, Sir Gilbert Hay translated an old French poem into the
Scottish language. It uses the word 'golf' twice. "Therefore I
am sending you a ball to play with and a 'golf staff' to hit it
with, as children do round the streets."
Also, according to Grammarist the most correct spelling is
caddie (an attendant who carries the golf clubs for a player),
not caddy (a can for storing tea). Although the word caddy is
currently loosely accepted for caddie