Allie
room at lunchtime when “the guys drop
food on the floor,” Taylor says.
They have the same routine each day.
When the two get to work, “Allie helps
put smiles on all of the employees’ faces,”
Taylor says. “The first thing in the morn-
ing she runs the course off leash.”
She steers away any geese or deer that
she sees on the property while Taylor
rides in the cart during early-morning
maintenance. “She is sniffing and chasing.
She is never out of my sight,” he says.
Allie stays in Taylor’s office the majori-
ty of the day. After lunch, she gets back in
the cart with him. “I don’t let her run free
when golfers are on the course,” he says.
When the two are out on the cart peo-
ple are constantly waving them down.
“They want us to stop so they can rub her
head,” Taylor says. “The girls at the club
always have to come say hi.”
Allie started coming to the club when
she was seven weeks old. “I trained her
into the job. She has been here her whole
life. This is all she knows: the golf course
and our home,” Taylor says.
“For the most part, they used to get up
by the greens and make a mess on them,
Graham says. “Now since we got Duff,
they stay close to the water because they
know he will come flying over the hill and
chase them in the water.”
When he’s not chasing geese, Duff will
jump in the cart with Graham and ride
a few holes and then get out and run a
few holes.
“He will catch up when he wants to
ride again,” Graham says. “Our members
love him. The men like him, but not as
much as the women.”
DOG: Ruby, 3, white and tan Ameri-
can bulldog
OWNER: Rob Wilmans, golf course
superintendent, James River Country
Club in Newport News
“One of the great perks of the golf course
industry is that you can bring a dog to
work,” Wilmans says. “It’s the sheer enjoy-
ment of having your dog with you all day.”
DOG: Duff, 9, border collie
OWNER: Brent Graham, director of
golf course maintenance, Two Rivers
Country Club in Williamsburg
Duff was brought to the club to help elim-
inate an ongoing goose issue.
vsga.org
Duff
Ruby
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