The duty to look out for others begins before the shot. Players should wait until the group ahead is out of range, check that nobody is close enough to be struck by the club or ball, and alert nearby greenstaff before making a stroke that could endanger them.1
The word's history is less certain than its purpose. A 2026 USGA account sets out competing explanations: a warning borrowed from military use, or a shortened call to a forecaddie stationed ahead to watch for a ball. It presents these as possible routes into golf.2
Neither explanation establishes a named inventor or a precise first use. The military connection and the forecaddie story are useful parts of the word's recorded history, provided they remain theories. On the course, the meaning is direct: a ball is coming and someone may be in danger.12