Do Dogs Belong on the Golf Course?

In the UK, it is common. Well-trained dogs – many of them sheep dogs trained to come instantly at a whistle – wander happily alongside fairways while their owners toddle up and down the course.

Golf is a sport that is best played with friends and there is no better friend than a dog.

Bringing a pooch to tag along for a round of golf is possible at many Colorado golf courses. Of course, not every dog is fit to be on a golf course. But for those that are well-trained, they may love walking the fairways if their owners are willing to take on the challenges of the game and the responsibility of their pet.

All the city of Denver public courses are dog friendly and have been for more than 15 years. Leslie Wright is the director of marketing for the City of Denver Golf and estimates that approximately half of the courses around the front range would allow dogs.

“I think it mostly depends on the city policies in the different metropolitan areas,” Wright says. “We go off the city-wide policy. You must keep your dog on a leash, you must clean up after it and be courteous of other people that maybe don’t feel comfortable with dogs.”

Common courtesy dictates that it’s probably best to bring a dog only when playing with friends who are OK with it, rather than possibly being paired up with a stranger who doesn’t care for dogs. Standing over a birdie putt is nerve-racking enough. The golfer with a phobia of German Shepherds doesn’t need one staring him down as he reads the break.

The City of Denver and other metropolitan areas may not be actively promoting dogs on their golf courses, but there’s no denying the joy that dogs can bring to the game.

Chris Melendez is a golf instructor in Boulder County and brings his emotional support dog Cheyenne to Coal Creek Golf Course with him every day. Melendez can spend up to eight hours a day on the driving range, and meanwhile, Cheyenne patiently lounges in a cart and greets all the golfers.

“The kids, they just love it,” Melendez says. “I mean their favorite part of coming to golf class is the dog. They are in that cart, crawling all over her, petting her, giving her treats, taking selfies with her, and these kids will stay for hours just hanging out in my cart. It has just been such a cool part of the community that I didn’t anticipate.”

While Coal Creek Golf Course doesn’t have a set policy that allows dogs, Melendez says the head pro is open to allowing them if they are well-behaved. However, Melendez also works two days a week at Walnut Creek Golf Course, and he says they do have a policy that allows dogs as long as golfers sign a waiver to acknowledge the rules. He is grateful to both courses for allowing Cheyenne to be by his side and they have embraced her presence. She’s the unofficial mascot of Monarch High School where Melendez volunteers as an assistant golf coach, he said.

When Melendez isn’t teaching the next generation, he still brings Cheyenne out to play rounds of golf. He says her kryptonite is rabbits and laughs about the videos he’s taken of her shaking as one taunts her just six feet away. Thankfully, she’s been trained so well that to this date she’s never left the cart.

The Colorado golf community has mixed thoughts, according to a very informal poll on Colorado AvidGolfer’s social media posts.

“The key wording is well-behaved and on a leash, but yah!,” one commenter wrote when surveyed about whether they would be OK with seeing more well-behaved dogs on courses. “I would love to take my dog, unfortunately, I think he would drive me nuts.”

Many responded with a clear, concise: “No.”

Some dogs seen on golf courses are there to chase rather than sit in a cart. Among maintenance departments, it’s very common for superintendents or their assistants to bring their dogs to work. They might be paid in treats and back scratches, but most maintenance dogs are working by helping control geese populations.

Scott Ellis has been the superintendent at Wellshire Golf Course since 2015 and brings his loyal companions Juno and Cham to work every day. Juno and Cham are Australian Shepherds and fit the mold of the dogs that are best equipped to control geese.

“I think any dog that has the inherent need to chase, can make a good golf course dog,” Ellis says. “Most of the time, herding dogs like Australian shepherds, border collies, blue heelers, things like that are used. You go through calendars of golf course dogs and 75 percent of them are probably going to be those three breeds, or variations of those three breeds.”

Growing up on the golf course since they were eight weeks old, Juno and Cham know no other way. Now ages nine and four, they are well-trained, dedicated employees that perform their job great and are certified through the city. Ellis initiated the certification program for the City of Denver golf maintenance dogs along with Director of Agronomy, Pam Smith. Within its parameters, any full-time employee can bring their dog and do the proper training before they must pass a test. The most important thing is that they follow voice commands and actually do work as geese chasers.

“They’re integrated into the staff, and they’re integrated into the golf course rather than having them be a nuisance,” Ellis says. “We have the geese that are a nuisance that you’re trying to take care of, we don’t want the dogs to be a nuisance as well.”

While Ellis will occasionally bring them out to play golf after work, he says a lot of the time they are tired and prefer to lay in the shade. After all, chasing geese all day is tiring.