“Bogey” makes himself at home in the pro shop at The Dalles Country Club in the arms of Sonny Smith.
Contributed photo/Yvonne Pepin-WakefieldTwo men and a cat walk into a golf pro shop … This is not a joke, but a simple story of compassion unfolding every day at The Dalles Country Club.
Enter a petite gray and white cat whose legacy might have ended years before if it were not for the care of Jerry Christensen and Sony Smith.
“He found us,” said Smith, a club pro shop staffer about the stray kitten. “He was living on the number one tee.”
Christensen and Smith put a little plastic igloo on the tee box to shelter the kitten through his first winter.
Through consistent care and the attentions of other club members, the kitten became so tame “we had to take turns holding him on number five green so he wouldn’t attack our putts,” recalled Smith, adding that club member Bob Sproule named the kitten Bogey, a golfing term for one stroke over par on a hole in golf.
For over 10 years, Bogey has continued to greet people inside and outside of the pro shop. Christensen and Smith have built ramps with three different beds so he can see out of the storage area when he is locked in for the night.
“It’s a precautionary thing, because of bobcats and coyotes,” said Smith who added that whoever closes up shop at night puts Bogey to bed.
“Jerry and I both care for him as far as feeding and taking him to the vet,” said Christensen, who also tends to Bogey on days when the shop is closed.
Entering his second decade at The Dalles Country Club. Bogey is quiet testimony to the nature of nurturing that’s par for the course.
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