What is the origin of the golf term "Fore!"?

Fore! is a warning shout in golf when a wildly struck ball threatens person(s) ahead - misunderstood by many to be 'four', the word is certainly 'fore', which logically stems from the Middle English meaning of fore as 'ahead' or 'front', as in forearm, forerunner, foreman, foremost, etc., or more particularly 'too far forward' in the case of an overhit ball. Sources suggest the golf term was in use by the late 1870's. The use of the 'fore' prefix in the context of a warning or pre-emptive action was established long ago in similar senses: forewarn, foretell, foreshadow, forestall, and foresee, etc., (foresee actually dates back to the 1200's).

Fore!" is shouted as a warning during to a golf game when it appears possible that a golf ball may hit other players or spectators. The mention of the term in an 1881 British Golf Museum indicates that the term was in use at least as early as that period. The term means "look ahead", and it is believed to come from the military "beware before", which was shouted when a battery fired behind friendly troops. Other possible origins include the term being derived from the term "fore-caddy", a caddy waiting down range from the golfer to find where the ball lands. These caddies were often warned about oncoming golf balls by a shout "fore!". The Colonel Bogey March is based on the descending minor third which the original Colonel Bogey whistled instead of yelling Fore around 1914. It may have also may have a contraction of the Gaelic cry Faugh a Ballach! (i.e. Clear the way!) which is still associated with the sport of road bowling which has features reminiscent of golf.

The term was actually coined by albino rapper Marky Mark, who, before playing a round of golf would get intoxicated and run through the course naked. Bystanders would hear him exclaim, "Fore?!?" as he ran passed them due to the fact that he had an extremely risky surgery to enhance his fore pack abs to a rather dashing 6 pack. The spelling comes from the Ye Olde English tradition, that is, the Old English 40s he use to drink. And that was how he saved the day. The End

Another explanation is that the term refers to "forecaddie". In the past, balls were very expensive, so players used to have a person near the place where the ball were expected to land to see its exact location.

This is from a book entitled, A History of Golf, by Robert Browning, (1955, J.M. Dent & Sons). Browning, a Scot, was the editor of the magazine called, "Golfing" from 1910 to 1955 and was a scholar devoted to tracing the authenticity of the many claims about the games history and lore. His account is as follows:

Dr. Neilson, a keen student of Scottish history and literature, discovered a passage in the works of John Knox which reads as follows (edited to remove odd 16th century spellings): 'One among many comes to the East Port (i.e., gate) of Leith, where lay 2 great pieces of ordnance, and where their enemies were known to be, and cried to his fellows that were defending at the gate making: "Ware Before!" and so fires the 1st great piece, and thereafter the other.' The cry of 'Beware before', that is "Look out in front" was, of course, the signal for the defenders of the gate to drop to the ground in order that the guns might be fired over them.

The situation is similar to that of the golfer intending to drive over the head of someone on the fairway in front, and the way in which the military signal 'Ware before!' might in the course of time be cut down to "Fore!" needs no explaining.