When Lon Ockler, superintendent at King’s Ranch Golf Course in Frenchtown, Montana, approaches a golfer out on the course, someone gets between them: his Australian shepherd/border collie mix, Harley.
Harley has been a part of the course for several years, and his job as the course ambassador is one of his most important roles, says Ockler.
“When you’re out playing the course and you see the superintendent coming toward you, usually it’s not a good thing. The super has something to tell you, whether it’s that you’re too close to the greens or to speed up play,” says Ockler. “When they see the superintendent, that’s one thing. But it sure is a nice icebreaker to have Harley with me.”
Before anything is said at all, Harley will leap off the cart and head up to the golfers, wagging his tail and showing off his trademark “grin,” according to Ockler.
“We get to talking about Harley and before you know it, we get on the subject of why I’m there, and ‘Let’s not do it again,’ and ‘No, we won’t,’ and we can get back on the cart and take off, and the golfers don’t feel like they’re being singled out.”
He also helps out in keeping people coming back to play. Whether it’s a new visitor on the course or a member who’s been there since its opening, Harley goes out of his way to visit as many people as he can, says Ockler, tail wagging.
“He’s a happy dog. He bows his head to you and walks up and wants you to love on him,” says Ockler. “It just makes that member feel like, ‘Hey, if nothing else, this dog remembers me and is happy to see me.’ In that sense, he makes that member feel unique and wanted, and that somebody cares that he’s here.”
Harley doesn’t just make members feel happier around the course. If a crew member is having a rough day, Ockler assigns them to take Harley around to chase geese off the course before heading back to work.
Aside from his ability to chase down geese, Harley makes a great partner and crew member just because of his personality, being loyal and a fast learner, he says. When he chose Harley, he looked more for those traits than for a particular type of dog, and his ability to be trained. Putting the time into finding a dog that a superintendent can work with and be able to work with means the difference between picking up a new crew member and running into trouble.
“The characteristics were what I was after when I was looking for the dog,” says Ockler. “Even though he’s four-legged, if he wore pants, he’d put them on the same way as everybody else on the crew. So we treat him accordingly. Just make sure you can train him, and he’ll be excited and ready to greet everybody at the door, saying, ‘OK, let’s go!’”