A negligence suit filed in Florida against former NBA star Jamal Mashburn boils down to whether he should have used a four-letter word to warn another golfer of a wayward shot.

Jerome Crance is seeking at least $15,000 in damages, alleging that Mashburn's errant drive hit him in the face during a round of golf at Miami's prestigious LaGorce Country Club in March 2005.

Mashburn, who retired from pro hoops earlier this year, was playing the 18th hole, while Crance, in a separate group, was at the teeing area of the adjacent 17th hole.

“[It] is the usual and customary practice of golfers to yell “fore” when they hit a shot that is offline or a shot that is about to strike someone,” the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court complaint says. “The defendant, Jamal Mashburn, failed to act with reasonable care by failing to give any warning whatsoever.”

According to the PGA website, yelling “fore” is the proper action to take when a ball has a “remote chance of hitting any other players.” But failure-to-yell-fore claims are usually dismissed based on the doctrine of “primary assumption of risk.”

In April, for example, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the doctrine applied to the case of a golfer who took a shot to the head from a player with another group.

The defendant's “failure to yell 'fore' when he hit the errant shot cannot be said to have been intentional or reckless conduct that falls outside the range of the ordinary activities involved in golfing,” the court said in Yoneda v. Tom, 133 P.3d 796.

In a New Jersey case involving players in the same foursome, however, an appeals court said businessman John Ferolito could be held liable for failing to provide adequate warning of an errant tee shot. Schick v. Ferolito, 744 A.2d 219 (2000).

A divided California appeals court also recently found that a golfer had a duty to "ascertain the whereabouts" of other players in his threesome before he teed off. Shin v. Ahn, 141 Cal.App.4th 726 (2006).

But since Mashburn was not playing with Crance, the case probably involves nothing more than bad golf etiquette. And as long as golfers line up behind each other to hit hard little balls, they should accept the risk of being injured by wild shots -- “fore” or no “fore.”

By Peyton Burgess (CNS)
8/28/06