Not too many dogs will willingly give away a ball, but Marlo, a 5-year-old Cavapoo from the London area, has just handed over 600 of his finds to a good golfing cause: the DP World Tour golf ball container initiative.
Those who have attended any of this summer’s DP World Tour events will know that the initiative is about collecting a total of 200,000 used balls in one of DP World’s famous shipping containers. The target reached, the balls will be shipped to pastures new to help with grassroots programmes.
All of the above provided a heaven-sent opportunity for Marlo and his owner, Charles Jefferson. For three years, dog and master have enjoyed what is a shared interest, with Marlo finding balls (with his master’s help) at Mitcham Golf Club, and Jefferson carrying out restoration work where necessary. However, with more and more golfers losing more and more balls, the situation was getting out of hand. “My wife told me to stop bringing golf balls home. They were in every drawer and every pudding bowl.”
It was therefore with some relief that Jefferson was able to decant 600 balls into the DP World container at Wentworth on the Monday of last week’s BMW PGA Championship.
Though Marlo’s first-ever find was a Titleist Pro V1, he soon decided to go in for quantity above quality.
The next project he has lined up is to combine picking up the litter which arrives over the OB fence at Mitcham’s 12th hole with leaving out little piles of balls – three at ground level and one on top – next to the Mitcham tees by way of a surprise for the members.
Though Marlo’s first-ever find was a Titleist Pro V1, he soon decided to go in for quantity above quality. All of which was a bit different from the approach favoured by Lucy, the dog which belonged to George Brown, the former course and estates manager at Turnberry. Lucy would return to base only with the soft-coated Pinnacles, Dunlops or Pro V1s she deemed fit for her master.
Meanwhile, for those who think they might have more luck in training their dogs rather than their children to do great things in the golfing world, finding golf balls is not necessarily a good idea.
In 2020, Alfie, a 10-year-old giant schnauzer, coughed up four balls in his own back garden in Westerhope, England, and, when he was clearly feeling none the better for it, had to be taken to the vet.
A second bout of sickness unearthed another six balls and, following on from there, an X-ray revealed a further 15 in Alfie’s stomach. An operation (successful) followed at a price of £2,500.
Jefferson, incidentally, has a pretty good idea of why so many balls are left lying around in the first place. “In recent years, golfers haven’t been caring overmuch if they lose a ball. The moment they’ve hit their drives, they’re back chattering with their buddies without having a clue whether they’re in the bushes or the rough.”
Given the present financial crisis, they might need to change their ways.
Lewine Mair
E-MAIL LEWINE