U.S. Golf Courses That Allow Dogs

[PCCraig]

While more common place in the UK, dogs allowed with their owners on a golf course for a round here in the States seems to be a rare occurrence.


What courses, public or private, in the US allow dogs to accompany their owners for a round of golf?


If so, is it only during special events? Are they only allowed on certain days/times?

[Dave McCollum]

We do at Canyon Springs GC for recreational rounds, but not for tournaments.  Of course our maintenance people have dogs to run off the geese.

[Jason Topp]

Windsong allows dogs but depends on members to use good judgment.  You see them in the evening for the most part. 

[John Mayhugh]

I've managed to find a couple of public courses in the Louisville area that allow it during the winter, but nowhere during normal golf season.

As I understand it, Lookout Mountain is dog friendly, which fits the club's vibe perfectly. I have seen dogs out there.
I've also seen dogs accompanying players at Del Monte in Monterey.

I've thought about doing more extensive research, but my dog is too young and ill-behaved to make it viable for a couple of years. A US resource like this would be great.
http://www.doggolf.info/

[Tommy Williamsen]

We've never put it the "course rules" but where I live, aat Bryce resort a few of us have played with our dogs when the course isn't crowded. I taught my Golden Retrievers to stay off the greens and out of the bunkers. She was in and out of the creek, however. Alas, I don't have a dog anymore and still miss them when I play.

[Emile Bonfiglio]

There are great dog owners and there are great parents. There are bad dog owners and there are bad parents. I believe that the latter group causes a lot of courses to limit who can accompany you on your round. I think many are willing but don't promote it.


I see Erik Anders Lang taking his dog to many course, but he also has him classified as a service dog and I doubt anyone wants to put up a big fight over ADA accessibility in the moment.


BTW, I've owned dogs in the past and still own some kids as of today.

[Kalen Braley]

Yea its the damndest thing....you can take an emotional support animal on a flight, but can't take one on 99% of golf courses where you need it much much more. If that plane is crashing and burning you have zero control over that...whats to worry about?

[Jon Cavalier]

Stonewall allows dogs on the course.  It’s one of the primary reasons I joined. Nothing better than a twilight round with the pup - she loves being out there as much as I do. I don’t think I could go back to being at a club that wouldn’t allow it.

[V. Kmetz]

That's one hell of a good looking' dog... I love em when they are real dogs who like chasin' stuff and getting muddy and all they care for is a cool drink and your company...


"Give a hungry dog a bone and he'll never bite you... difference between a dog and a man."

Stonewall allows dogs on the course.  It’s one of the primary reasons I joined. Nothing better than a twilight round with the pup - she loves being out there as much as I do. I don’t think I could go back to being at a club that wouldn’t allow it.

[BHoover]

What about cat lovers? Are they being left out?

[Emile Bonfiglio]

@Jon Gracie might be my favorite thing you post!


@Brian only at places with sand greens....for obvious reasons

[JLahrman]

I don't know if it's a written policy, but the municipal courses here in Austin TX don't seem to mind dogs on the course at all. The Jimmy Clay/Roy Kizer complex in particular draws a lot of them.

[George Myers]

On the Idaho side of the tetons, A few miles west of Huntsman Springs, is the Links at Teton Peaks, which is dog-friendly.


Fun quirky little course, designed by David Druzinsky.


The spring fed ponds that surround the property are the regular haunts of local moose.

[George Freeman]

I have seen players accompanied by dogs at the Kingsley Club.  Also, Fried Egg and Erik A Lang did a video at Lawsonia and they both brought their dogs along.
One would hope private clubs could trust their members to make the right decision regarding dogs on the course.  I am surprised there aren't more dogs at private clubs. 

Public courses are another story and I can understand why most would not allow the practice.  All it takes is one idiot with a misbehaved pooch...

[Pete Lavallee]

I was always impressed with how well behaved the UK dogs are on the course. Are they trained by their masters or is there formal training for bringing your dog to the course?

[Joe Zucker]

I don't know if it's a written policy, but the municipal courses here in Austin TX don't seem to mind dogs on the course at all. The Jimmy Clay/Roy Kizer complex in particular draws a lot of them.

I was going to say this.  I'm a recent transplant to Austin and it really stands out how many dogs I see in the Austin area.  I can't remember ever seeing one in Chicago, Seattle, Cleveland, or Milwaukee, but I've seen quite a few in Texas.  And I've never seen an issue with any of them.

[Terry Lavin]

I love dogs. I love golf. The twain need not meet, IMHO. As others have said, the training issues are big. Too few dog owners work enough for others to trust their dogs off leash. There are enough issues to deal with on the golf course. I’d rather avoid this one.

[Phil McDade]

Good gracious -- is there any thread on GCA that Jon Cavalier can't grace (and improve) with his wonderful photos? My favorite thread of the year so far, for the pics alone...

[Ken Moum]

I was always impressed with how well behaved the UK dogs are on the course. Are they trained by their masters or is there formal training for bringing your dog to the course?

I have been a bird hunter since I was 11 years old, and have owned a number of bird dogs. I have even written a little bit about dogs, and hung out with some dog trainers.


Having spent considerable time in Scotland I also noted how well behaved their dogs are.  The key IMHO is simply that the Scots expect their dogs to behave, so they do. I've talked to some Scots about their dogs and they mostly train them, which isn't all that complicated.


All dogs were bred to be a helper or companion for their owner.


Cattle dogs are hardwired to herd something.  Tracking dogs, like the Basset have a relentless nature that's perfect for following a cold trail. Pointing dogs think it's their job to find birds, and your job to find them.  A lot of terriers were bred to be fearless in the face of a bigger opponent, which is important when they go down a hole after their "prey."


Understanding that, being consistent and EXPECTING them to behave is all it takes.


FWIW, I currently have a neighbor whose dog is basically out of control.  And every bad habit that dog has was taught to her by her owner.  She spends some time at our place and when she's here she's 1/10 the butthead she normally is.  Because I expect her to be good, and I am not afraid to tell her NO!

[Dave McCollum]

I'm to be blamed for allowing dogs.  For 20 years I had a golf dog, an Idaho breed called Australian Shepard for whatever reason, one male and one female.  Like all herding dogs, they need a job and tend to be very loyal and obedient to their owner.  Mine were easy to train and did a superb job discouraging geese to nest someplace away from the course.  It took only a few rounds to teach these golf dogs what was appropriate and what was not on a golf course.  Once they learned their routine, they followed the script so obsessively I could tell you exactly what the dog would do on every hole.  A golf course is dog heaven, they seemed to know they had the best job in the world, and did everything I asked to keep it.


Eventually, other golfers started to bring their dogs.  We're a public course, and to my surprise, the golfers brought only very well behaved dogs.  We've never had a problem with a dog, golfer/owner, or too many dogs.  Sure, we have dog haters, but generally they're the same guys that hate everything else.  We have no posted policy about dogs and no need for one yet.


About the only problem I've had with my golf dog is when we played along a native area and a coyote came out to "play" with my dog.  We never noticed any coyotes around before then.  At first it seemed an innocent encounter with the wild life and my dog was actually larger than the coyote.  But then coyote appeared every time we played a certain hole and I payed more attention to the "play" between the canines.  The coyote was always circling around to my dog's rear hamstrings.  My dog, a very nimble and quick sheepdog, would dance out of the way and circle around on the coyote.  My dog didn't seemed stressed by these encounters--just more fun on the golf course--but I decided to put an end to this before something happened.  Next time we played I put a small .410 single shot shotgun in my golf bag.  The coyote came out as usual.  I ran the coyote off the course to a safe native area.  My dog hates guns, and retreated to my golf bag.  The coyote just stood there looking at me.  I raised the gun and had an easy shot.  At the last second, I decided this critter doesn't deserve to die for playing with my dog and put the shot over it's head.  Never saw that coyote again.  The golf dog lived a long and happy life. 


Big mistake, however.  The golf dog got old and died.  We've had coyotes ever since.                   

[Lou_Duran]

DM,


Your dog's playtime with a coyote story reminds me of one related to me by a retired executive (CIO of a large company) I met on a Houston course.  His backyard extended into a large bayou where he would often see coyotes, bobcats, deer, ducks, geese and all sorts of other wildlife along with people hiking on the trails, often walking their dogs.  One day he noticed a loose black lab "playing" with a lone coyote, the latter engaging the dog, then running ahead to be chased.  This ended with the lab being led well into the bayou where the pack of 10+ animals pounced on him and tore him to pieces.


We live in a developed area where coyotes and bobcats are regularly seen.  Numerous dogs have disappeared and we never see loose cats any longer.  It was not unusual in the past to count as many as 20 rabbits while walking our dogs, now we see one or two late at night or in the early morning.  Not far from us two joggers were attacked by coyotes, and we had a lady a street over from us walking with her young child and small dog being stalked by a large male.  She tried to shoo him away and only a car driving by and stopping to render aid made the animal abandon his hunt.  My wife doesn't feel safe walking her small dog and now carries an air horn whenever she takes him out.


There is a resident pack of at least five coyotes at my home club and in no way would I let my dog run loose on the course.  If it wouldn't be for the over-abundance of tort lawyers in the area, I would welcome a couple of large, well-trained dogs to drive away these animals.  Now, if the coyotes would control the Canada goose population, I might feel different.

[Jon Cavalier]

The face of a stone cold killer:





I’m generally a fan of all of nature’s creatures, but I’m glad we don’t have coyotes in my neck of these particular woods.

[Pete Lavallee]

We have a pack of at least 2 dozen coyotes that live on Balboa Park GC; quite amazing really as the course is right in the middle of the City with downtown to the south, the Naval Hospital to the west and residential districts to the north and east. When police sirens turn on they all start to wail and you get an idea just how many of them inhabit the coastal sage lined interior of the course.


Several years ago the tourists thought they were really cute and started feeding them. They got quite brazen, hanging around the snack bar at the 10th tee. One golfer brought his 12 year old daughter out with him for a twilight round. While she was racking the trap for him on the 12th green one nipped her on the butt; they suspected he was going for a piece of candy in her pocket. In any case they went in and culled the big ones to make sure they didn’t have rabies. Haven’t seen them out on the course in daylight anymore. We do have a lot less rabbits now!

[Howard Riefs]

As for equity among pets, I fully support courses that accommodate pet rabbits.


http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,18015.0/

[Dave McCollum]

As for the coyote, I realized later that I had never shot at any critter that I only wanted to scare off.  Mostly when we shoot at something we have a good reason.  Our course is in a wild canyon but virtually on the edge of town.  It is my belief that the golf course actually encourages and supports wildlife to the point that some management and culling is the best approach.  Coyotes do help with geese and it is not uncommon to find a pile of feathers while golfing.  However, cougars are about the only critters that might control coyotes, but they prefer deer, and are quite rare as are larger predators--a good thing near a large small town. There aren't as many rabbits and rock chucks (yellow bellied marmots) as there were when I was a kid and the golf courses hired us to do the culling.  Since coyotes aren't really a problem yet, it seems like they are doing their job without much impact on human populations and domestic pets.  Come to think of it, skunks and porcupines don't cause us as many problems as they used to do. If that changes and coyotes become a problem, people will have to do something about it.  However, that won't be easy.  Our coyotes know not to trust us.     


Of course this is Idaho where nearly everyone owns guns to take care of problem critters.  The gun club is one of our distant neighbors.  Pity the coyote that wanders into that place...although no coyote is that dumb.  Twenty five years ago, the newly immigrated environmentalists supported the re-introduction of wolves to our more mountainous environments and the elk and deer hunters have been howling ever since.  Now there is a hunting season for wolves.  When we have big snow years in places like Sun Valley, like this last winter,  those cougars and wolves get hungry and come down into town and pets start disappearing.  Be careful what you wish for.