Golf Course Canines
Bailey
Bailey is already a star since becoming
Miss December 2013 in the Dog Days of
Golf calendar. This seasoned lady started
walking the course with Boyce back in
2007 when she was six months old.
“I kept her off the greens and out of
the bunkers,” he says. “She would stop at
each crossing until I would motion her
across. She knows what she is allowed to
be on and not be on.”
Bailey is the official goose chaser for
the club. It’s her job.
“She is a nuisance for the geese,” Boyce
says. “I run her a couple of times a day to
make them understand she is there and
isn’t going anywhere. They find some-
where else to go.”
Bailey is also stress relief for Boyce.
“No matter what goes on during the day
she is happy to see me,” he says.
The members of the club love Bailey,
as do the kids that participate in the
club’s golf clinics.
“She is a conversation piece,” Boyce
says. “She takes it all in stride.”
Boyce is in the process of training Reef,
whose temperament is similar to Bailey’s.
“I am using Bailey as a model,” he says.
“She will see what Bailey does and is
26
“Pets become the star of the course.
That’s wonderful for our members because it
makes a connection for them with the golfers.”
—Angela Hartmann
capable of doing. As soon as the weath-
er breaks and we can walk, I will get her
trained on the golf course.”
DOG: Charlie, 4, black lab
OWNER: Trevor Hedgepeth, golf
course superintendent, Kinloch Golf
Club in Goochland
When Hedgepeth first brought Charlie
to the club, he kept the lab in his office.
He eventually started taking him on the
course when there were no golfers around.
“He got used to being on the course and
now he goes everywhere I go,” Hedgepeth
says. “When I go to the clubhouse he will
either lie in my cart while I’m in the build-
ing or he will go on the front porch and lie
down. He just hangs out.”
Charlie is has become a club mascot.
“Everybody knows who he is and the mem-
bers ask about him,” Hedgepeth says.
When the two get to the club in the
morning, Charlie stays in the office
with Hedgepeth for a half hour and
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then jumps in the golf cart with him for
morning rounds of the property. When
they get to the 10th tee, Charlie likes to
jump out of the cart and run the woods to
chase squirrels.
“When I get to No. 13 or 14, he gets back
in the car and rides shotgun the rest of
the day with me,” Hedgepeth says, add-
ing that Charlie will chase geese if he gets
close enough and can see them.
There are days when Hedgepeth can’t
bring Charlie to work because of af-
ter-work appointments.
“It feels weird not to take him,” he says.
“My day doesn’t feel right if he is not with
me. He’s extremely loyal to me. Follows
me wherever I go.”
DOG: Allie, 3, yellow lab
OWNER: Dan Taylor, director of golf
maintenance, Independence Golf Club
in Midlothian
Allie spends her days chasing geese and
helping to clean up the floor in the break
vsga.org
REEF:
DOGS: Bailey, 11, and Reef, 1,
yellow labs
OWNER: Matt Boyce, director of
golf course maintenance and club
grounds at Princess Anne Country
Club in Virginia Beach
Reef