Fore, Golf

This word is shorthand for “watch out ahead” or ‘watch out before.” In other words, yelling out fore allows bystanders to be forewarned of a fly ball.

Origins of Golf Terms

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

Joys of Golf

Here is a fun quickie of someone who adds insult to injury while taking a shot and losing a wedge. LINK

National Vodka and Golf Lovers Day

Celebrated since at least 2009, National Vodka Day on October 4, 2015 has been mentioned by Wine Enthusiast Magazine and has also been noted in news websites such as CBS. The versatile beverage accounts for about 20 to 25 per cent of spirits sold today in North America, making it the most popular libation.

Totally unrelated, but celebrated on the same day, October 4 in 2015 is National Golf Lovers Day. National Golf Lovers Day, also referred to as National Golf Day. Since 1952, the PGA has held a charitable event each year for National Golf Day, which is held on varying days within the year. We can celebrate a tipple and tip-in on the same day (and watch football).

Top Ten Sports

These are the top ten sports in the world from the lowest to highest, according to number of fans. Seems it is not the age of the sport, but the sport itself that makes it popular.

• American Football, # of fans: 400 million (began 1800s)
  
• Basketball,  # of fans: 400 million (began late 1800s)
  
• Golf,  # of fans: 450 million (began 1400s)
  
• Baseball,  # of fans: 500 million (began late 1800s)
  
• Table Tennis,  # of fans: 850 million (began 1900s)
  
• Volleyball,  # of fans: 900 million (began late 1800s)
  
• Tennis,  # of fans: 1 billion (began in 1300s)
  
• Field Hockey,  # of fans: 2 billion (began 3rd century BC)
  
• Cricket,  # of fans: 2.5 billion (began 1600s)
  
• Soccer,  # of fans: 3.5 billion (began 200s BC)

Why Grass

Approximately 80% of all homes in the United States have grass lawns. Lawns are a $40 billion per year industry and 3 billion man-hours are spent mowing lawns. A variety of factors caused grass lawns to become more popular.

The Industrial Revolution resulted in the first lawn mower, originally developed by Edwin Budding in 1830. Doing away with scythes and back-breaking labor meant that trimmed grass lawns were more accessible to the average person.

Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park in New York, also designed suburbs where each house had its own little lawn. This further popularized the idea that houses should have grass lawns.

About that time, the games of golf, lawn bowling, and other sports were becoming popular in North America. As people worked less hours and had more time to themselves, there was time to play golf, or to tend a lush, green lawn.

Next to grass at a major league baseball field is a strip of dirt located in front of the home run fence. This dirt trail is known as the warning track. Outfielders use the warning track as a warning that they are nearing the fence when chasing a fly ball.

Wordology, Grand Slam

The immediate origin was from the card game, Bridge. Grand slam means to take all 13 tricks in a hand.

It has since come to take on other meanings, such as in tennis to win all four major singles titles; the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in one year. A grand slam in golf is to win; Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, British Open, and  PGA Championship in one year. It is used in baseball to signify hitting a home run with all bases loaded.


Chess, Curling, Rugby, and other sports each have a grand slam definition of their own,

Denny's restaurant chain is famous for its Grand Slam breakfasts consisting of various combinations of meat, eggs, bread, and pancakes. We also cannot forget Grand Slam Pizza in Dripping Springs, Texas.

Shadow Caddy

For you golfers in the crowd, you may be soon using one of these as spring is quickly approaching.

Shadow Caddy is a robotic caddy that follows you around the course, carrying your bags just like a human caddy. Set your bag on your Shadow Caddy and off you go, free to concentrate on your game without the distraction of dragging your clubs around. It has two settings, follow and park.

It is completely hands free. It follows a small transmitter attached to your belt. It has a sophisticated detection avoidance system which prevents collisions with other carts, people, trees, etc., then picks up the transmission and goes right back to following the game. The Shadow Caddy will also carry drinks, sand buckets, etc. Another good feature, no tips required.

The caddy has been around for a while as a rental on selected golf courses. Here is a LINK to watch it on YouTube

Quotable

After all these years, it's still embarrassing for me to play on the American golf tour. Like the time I asked my caddy for a sand wedge and he came back ten minutes later with a ham on rye.  Chi Chi Rodriguez