- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,176
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
Tucker and Bunker arrive at their private clubs every morning about 5 a.m., go for a long run, relax with a little rubdown, then ride shotgun all day with a personal driver.
They patter around manicured lawns, jump in the odd pond, annoy a goose or two, hang with cigar-chewing bigshots, take a leak behind any old tree.
In the land of foursomes, they are four paws living large, the Labs of the links, the Boxers round the bunkers — dogs with a backyard 7,000 yards long, under all that big sky.
It is a tradition of sorts, of misty origins — back to the hunt club days, maybe? — that golf course groundskeepers or superintendents bring their dogs to work. They are constant companions, club mascots and occasionally handy for security, squirrel chasing or bird-dogging nuisance critters.
On a high ridge overlooking the Ottawa River, Stuart Bradshaw, 31, pulls up in his electric cart and out hops Tucker, 90 pounds of happy, with a big woof!
He is starting his fourth season as superintendent at Camelot Golf and Country Club, a private outfit near the village of Cumberland, and his fair-haired Labrador has been with him nearly the whole time.
Anywhere Bradshaw goes, Tucker tags along. When he goes indoors, Tucker waits in the cart, for hours if necessary. When he hears the command “Bird!” he’ll bound around looking for any feathered scoundrels.
The members, of course, have come to know Tucker — some even carry treats in their golf bags, beside the tees and Pro-Vs.
Tucker is very familiar with the grounds at Camelot Golf.
One day last week, after paddling around a pond near the intersection of holes 2, 3 and 4, Tucker was motoring across the fairway on Hole 10 when he came across Rob Jellett, a former newsman and city councillor, and a Camelot member for 20-some years.
“There’s nothing I like more than seeing Stu and Tucker coming over a hill together in the morning,” said Jellett, between laughs and ruffles of the dog’s ears. Another golfer chided Stu that his dog had more hair than he did.
So Tucker leavens the mood, for sure, in a sport given to the overly ponderous.
“When you have the opportunity to take your dog to work, there’s nothing better,” Bradshaw says.
“Even on those days when things aren’t going great, there is always someone there beside you who is smiling and happy to see you,” he said.
“Nothing else matters, right?”
Eric Ruhs, 51, would agree. He is the course superintendent at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club and has been bringing dogs to work for more than 20 years. He once had a pair of Dalmatians named Divot and Bogey.
There is a remarkable story of how Divot, the male, disappeared for three years, only to be found by the Humane Society, but that will have to wait for the 19th hole. Divot, he added, was an awesome runner, easily covering 15 miles a day round the windy paths.
Kelly Egan profiles some dogs with the best job in town.
Ruhs pulls up in his cart with Bunker, a Boxer who is now 11, a little deaf, and showing his age. When we first met him, Bunker buried his face in his master’s arm, like a total shy guy. Very sweet.
“You couldn’t think of a better place for a dog to live,” says Ruhs, a Hunt employee since 1984. The pair arrive to work every day about 4:30 a.m. and have been known to sleep here, too.
“He gets his exercise before most people are out of bed,” said Ruhs. The dog is impeccably trained and would never chase birds unless instructed and doesn’t pester members or run off with golf balls.
“He’ll sit there for three hours (on the cart). He won’t move,” said Ruhs. And, like any dog, he’s delighted with the everyday.
“When you’ve had a stressful day, you can always lean on the old hound, you know? They’re therapeutic, there’s no question about it.”
Ruhs says the dogs become part of the fabric of the club. The Dalmatians were so popular, he said, they were asked to stand in with the wedding party of a firefighter’s family at a club reception. And why not? They already wear tuxes.
Both superintendents were careful to say the dogs do not “hunt” geese or seagulls, but merely move them along so they don’t nest on the golf course, thus creating a season of messy droppings.
“He’s been a wonderful pet,” said Ruhs. “He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”
How could he? It’s a dog’s life out here, fresh and large, and green all over.
These golf course dogs are probably in heaven, writes Kelly Egan.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
They patter around manicured lawns, jump in the odd pond, annoy a goose or two, hang with cigar-chewing bigshots, take a leak behind any old tree.
In the land of foursomes, they are four paws living large, the Labs of the links, the Boxers round the bunkers — dogs with a backyard 7,000 yards long, under all that big sky.
It is a tradition of sorts, of misty origins — back to the hunt club days, maybe? — that golf course groundskeepers or superintendents bring their dogs to work. They are constant companions, club mascots and occasionally handy for security, squirrel chasing or bird-dogging nuisance critters.
On a high ridge overlooking the Ottawa River, Stuart Bradshaw, 31, pulls up in his electric cart and out hops Tucker, 90 pounds of happy, with a big woof!
He is starting his fourth season as superintendent at Camelot Golf and Country Club, a private outfit near the village of Cumberland, and his fair-haired Labrador has been with him nearly the whole time.
Anywhere Bradshaw goes, Tucker tags along. When he goes indoors, Tucker waits in the cart, for hours if necessary. When he hears the command “Bird!” he’ll bound around looking for any feathered scoundrels.
The members, of course, have come to know Tucker — some even carry treats in their golf bags, beside the tees and Pro-Vs.
Tucker is very familiar with the grounds at Camelot Golf.
One day last week, after paddling around a pond near the intersection of holes 2, 3 and 4, Tucker was motoring across the fairway on Hole 10 when he came across Rob Jellett, a former newsman and city councillor, and a Camelot member for 20-some years.
“There’s nothing I like more than seeing Stu and Tucker coming over a hill together in the morning,” said Jellett, between laughs and ruffles of the dog’s ears. Another golfer chided Stu that his dog had more hair than he did.
So Tucker leavens the mood, for sure, in a sport given to the overly ponderous.
“When you have the opportunity to take your dog to work, there’s nothing better,” Bradshaw says.
“Even on those days when things aren’t going great, there is always someone there beside you who is smiling and happy to see you,” he said.
“Nothing else matters, right?”
Eric Ruhs, 51, would agree. He is the course superintendent at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club and has been bringing dogs to work for more than 20 years. He once had a pair of Dalmatians named Divot and Bogey.
There is a remarkable story of how Divot, the male, disappeared for three years, only to be found by the Humane Society, but that will have to wait for the 19th hole. Divot, he added, was an awesome runner, easily covering 15 miles a day round the windy paths.
-
Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker (seen here) at Camelot Golf and Country Club,
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen 
Tucker is very familiar with the grounds at Camelot Golf.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker at Camelot Golf and Country Club, and Eric Ruhs and his dog Bunker (seen here) at the Ottawa Hunt, chase nuisance birds away, keep the peace with squirrels, and generally keep the members happy.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Eric Ruhs and his dog Bunker (seen here) at the Ottawa Hunt, chase nuisance birds away, keep the peace with squirrels, and generally keep the members happy.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker (seen here) at Camelot Golf and Country Club,
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker at Camelot Golf and Country Club,
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kelly Egan column about golf greenskeepers who use dogs in their work. Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker (seen here) at Camelot Golf and Country Club, and Eric Ruhs and his dog Bunker at the Ottawa Hunt, chase nuisance birds away, keep the peace with squirrels, and generally keep the members happy. Assignment - 120633 Photo taken at 10:40 on May 15. (Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen)
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kelly Egan column about golf greenskeepers who use dogs in their work. Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker (seen here) at Camelot Golf and Country Club
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker (seen here) at Camelot Golf and Country Club,
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker (seen here) at Camelot Golf and Country Club, and Eric Ruhs and his dog Bunker at the Ottawa Hunt, chase nuisance birds away, keep the peace with squirrels, and generally keep the members happy.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kelly Egan column about golf greenskeepers who use dogs in their work. Stuart Bradshaw with his dog Tucker (seen here) at Camelot Golf and Country Club
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Eric Ruhs and his dog Bunker (seen here) at the Ottawa Hunt, chase nuisance birds away, keep the peace with squirrels, and generally keep the members happy.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kelly Egan column about golf greenskeepers who use dogs in their work. Eric Ruhs and his dog Bunker (seen here) at the Ottawa Hunt, chases nuisance birds away, keep the peace with squirrels, and generally keep the members happy.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Eric Ruhs and his dog Bunker at the Ottawa Hunt, chases nuisance birds away, keep the peace with squirrels, and generally keep the members happy.
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Eric Ruhs and his dog Bunker at the Ottawa Hunt,
Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa Citizen
Kelly Egan profiles some dogs with the best job in town.
Ruhs pulls up in his cart with Bunker, a Boxer who is now 11, a little deaf, and showing his age. When we first met him, Bunker buried his face in his master’s arm, like a total shy guy. Very sweet.
“You couldn’t think of a better place for a dog to live,” says Ruhs, a Hunt employee since 1984. The pair arrive to work every day about 4:30 a.m. and have been known to sleep here, too.
“He gets his exercise before most people are out of bed,” said Ruhs. The dog is impeccably trained and would never chase birds unless instructed and doesn’t pester members or run off with golf balls.
“He’ll sit there for three hours (on the cart). He won’t move,” said Ruhs. And, like any dog, he’s delighted with the everyday.
“When you’ve had a stressful day, you can always lean on the old hound, you know? They’re therapeutic, there’s no question about it.”
Ruhs says the dogs become part of the fabric of the club. The Dalmatians were so popular, he said, they were asked to stand in with the wedding party of a firefighter’s family at a club reception. And why not? They already wear tuxes.
Both superintendents were careful to say the dogs do not “hunt” geese or seagulls, but merely move them along so they don’t nest on the golf course, thus creating a season of messy droppings.
“He’s been a wonderful pet,” said Ruhs. “He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”
How could he? It’s a dog’s life out here, fresh and large, and green all over.
These golf course dogs are probably in heaven, writes Kelly Egan.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
