Tommy and Fall River Valley Golf Course… a match fit to a TEE. He was the runt of the Border Collie litter and overlooked for five months before his breeder made an offer that the Superintendent at Fall River couldn’t refuse.
Tommy spent his childhood in a remote mountainous forest in Northwestern California and likely didn’t know there was geese. However, upon arriving at Fall River and first experiencing the pesky fowl, he immediately decided the geese were his responsibility. With no training whatsoever under his collar, he developed tactics that only a canine could conceive. He circles the course and approaches them from different coordinates, perhaps confusing them into thinking there’s more than one Tommy. He will low crawl using trees, brush, bunkers, turf equipment, and golf carts for concealment when pursuing the intruders. He keeps them off the greens and fairways and further interrupts their comfort level by occasionally swimming with them. Luck for us, the geese don’t know that Tommy really wouldn’t hurt them. He has caught rabbits and squirrels on the fairways only to release them for another day’s chase.
During the irrigation season, he cannot pass a Rainbird without a challenge. With his multiple daily showers, we figure he’s the best-groomed pooch in town. He works hard, but when the other hands break for coffee, Tommy breaks for the back door of the snack bar where he can’t be resisted for a sample of the daily special.
Tommy has brought character to an already charming destination with his capers on the course and his cheerful nature around employees and golfers alike.
The offer? The best $100 a superintendent could ever spend.
In a Nationwide contest, Tommy was selected to be in the LEBANON TURF Superintendent’s Best Friend Calendar (June 2005). This made him a contestant for ‘Dog of the Year.’ He was the only nominee from the western US, and he brought the title home to Fall River.
Although now enjoying middle age, his morning sprinkler dance still brings cheers and laughter. Come and see him at work!
