I'll Be Watching from the Front Seat

As I approached hole #3 to take the stimp reading this morning, I noticed two geese swimming in the small pond in front of the green.

Always in the past, when Mulligan spotted geese on this pond he would go bounding out of the cart into the water to chase them away. Today, he hadn’t noticed the birds, so I stopped the cart in the fairway near the pond and pointed him in the direction of the geese. He looked at them, back at me, and decided to stay in the cart. His look said he didn’t have much interest in going swimming at that moment, especially if only two geese were in the pond. It didn't seem worth the energy.That’s the first time he has ever passed up a good chase.

Mulligan had been riding for some time, and I thought it was about time for him to get out and do something productive with his day. I finally coerced him to get out of the cart by throwing a stick in the water. That proved to be sufficient motivation. He thought he was going to play and went in after the stick. Coincidentally, he ended up scaring the geese away. When the geese flew off, Mulligan came back out of the water, jumped up in the cart, and sat there as if to say he had done his work and he intended to spend the rest of the day in leisure. I could work if I was so inclined, but he would be watching from the front seat.

I have two young sons, and my wife and I are always scrambling to come up with creative ways to get the boys to pick up toys, get dressed, eat peas, and so on. It’s interesting that both people and animals need creative coercion at both ends of the age spectrum.

Winter Mode to Summer Mode

At this time of year there are several signs that the high season is approaching: warm weather, longer days, golfers returning with new or newly polished games and clubs, and the greening of the course.

Somewhere in the early days of the playing season a golf course superintendent’s brain will decide to make the switch from relaxed, winter work mode to high stress, summer work usually at the most inopportune time. My brain inconveniently decided to make the switch last night as I was trying to fall asleep. Needless to say, it was a long, arduous match of the back-and forth game of "mental tennis". Last night's competitors: My Body Wanting to Sleep vs. My Brain Over Analyzing Work. Unfortunately, My Brain won in a grueling five set match with tie-breakers. Mulligan and I both feel the effects of this change in seasons and occasionally cope in similar ways.

Ready for Spring

Mulligan is ready for winter to stop teasing northern Indiana with blowing snow and frozen ground while residents are donning their Easter finery. Like the players, Mulligan anticipates spring as a time to reconnect to old friends and meet new ones. He is ready to run the course and check out the favorite haunts of his animal buddies. He's also ready to warmly greet his treat-carrying player friends on the course.

Unfortunately, the mere melting of snow does not make the course playable. In fact, premature play, before the deep layers are thawed can be harmful to the turf.

So Mulligan, like the members, will be waiting impatiently at the clubhouse for the superintendent's green light.

Learning the Hard Way

Mulligan, like many boys, loves to play ball, but he is never allowed to play with a golf ball, even at home. It would be an outrageous breach of etiquette if Mulligan chased golf balls on the course! In all his years as a golf course dog, he has only gone after a rolling golf ball once.

He spent his first summer with me at the Country Club at Castle Pines, learning about golf course behavior. He hadn't been exposed to all the rules of golf course etiquette when he picked up a rolling putt during his very first Ladies' Day appearance. Fortunately, the ladies took his breach in good spirit. Mulligan's misbehavior gave me an opportunity to teach him good golf course manners and lay out the rules for playing with golf balls.

Preventing Off Season Injuries

Mulligan loves snow. If I let him loose to run the course, he will go all day running and jumping to exhaustion. Unfortunately, I learned early on when we were hiking in Colorado, that he won’t stop when his feet get cold. I don’t think he even notices the cold. So on snowy days, when he’d like to run free, I have to monitor how much time he spends outside. Overexposure can damage his unconditioned paws, and I don’t want my negligence during the off-season putting him on the disabled list when spring arrives and he has to go to work.

Tag is a Golf Course Game

Keeping Canadian Geese off the course is one of Mulligan's jobs. I admire the grace of these beautiful birds in flight, but their impact on a golf course is devastating. The rules for tag on Mulligan's playground are slightly different from the schoolyard game we played; in his game, the first player to get the others to quit wins. He never tires of being the winner, and the geese, despite their losing record, keep coming back to play. I guess animals don't care about the score.

Elcona: A New Day Begins

The serenity captured in this early morning view of Zimm's Creek belies Mulligan's anticipation of a good run. He sits beside me on the cart and lifts his black nose to the air, haunches quivering, waiting for the GO command. Another day in black lab paradise is about to unfold.