Golf-Loving Dog Izzy Marks Her Final Round in England

Lovable black Lab, a fixture at Woburn Golf Club, provided writer Alistair Tait with plenty of wags for a 2020 piece in Morning Read.

Izzy, the lovable black Labrador retriever who was the centerpiece of an article about dogs and golf written last year for Morning Read by her two-legged master, Alistair Tait, died Saturday of complications from a stroke at her home in suburban London, surrounded by family. She was 12.

Tait wrote affectionately and no doubt tearfully about Izzy, the writer’s faithful companion for an estimated 1,000 or more rounds of golf at Woburn Golf Club, in a posting this week to his eponymous blog on AlistairTait.com that announced her death. (The article can be read here.)

In a story published March 9, 2020, on MorningRead.com and emailed the next day in Morning Read, Tait used his golf relationship with Izzy to compare and contrast attitudes about dogs and recreational golf in the U.K. compared with those in North America.

Here is an excerpt from the piece:

My North American friends are surprised when I tell them that I take Izzy to the golf course on a regular basis. Keith Pelley, the chief executive of the European Tour, grew up in suburban Toronto and was stunned at the canine contrasts between continents.

I’d just finished a phone interview with Pelley shortly after he became CEO when he asked me where I played golf. I told him Woburn, and added: “I’m heading up there for nine holes with my dog after I hang up.”

“You can’t take your dog to the golf course,” he replied.

“Welcome to England, Keith,” I said.

Rest in peace, Izzy. You made for quite a playing companion.