{"id":727915,"date":"2026-06-10T18:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/727915\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T18:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:19:12","slug":"theres-a-star-in-the-making-at-this-weeks-curtis-cup-and-its-bel-airs-beloved-course-dog-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/727915\/","title":{"rendered":"There’s a star in the making at this week’s Curtis Cup, and it’s Bel-Air’s beloved course dog \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 When members walk into Bel-Air Country Club, they\u2019re often greeted with a friendly smile from Penny in the front office lobby. Penny is always happy to see people. She doesn\u2019t mind sitting in an office chair and exchanging greetings with staff and golfers. There\u2019s not a member she doesn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

The only thing she needs in return is getting attention and some treats.<\/p>\n

Penny is the resident goldendoodle at the country club that is hosting the Curtis Cup this week that pits top-level amateur female golfers from the U.S. against Great Britain & Ireland. She\u2019s an unofficial therapy dog and good-vibe machine.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/www.golfdigest.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2026\/6\/penny-3.jpeg\"\/ <\/p>\n

Penny rides in a Bel-Air cart with owner Justin DePippo and his son.<\/p>\n

Penny\u2019s owner is Justin DePippo, director of golf course and grounds at Bel-Air, and it\u2019s always a thrill for him to share Penny\u2019s playfulness with others. \u201cShe\u2019s just a ball of joy running around here,\u201d DePippo said.<\/p>\n

DePippo always dreamed he\u2019d get a dog when he was promoted to superintendent of a course. He got Penny when she was a puppy, and she\u2019s now 8 years old. She rides around with him in a golf cart much of the day. Then she hangs in the front lobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had dogs growing up. I think one of the best kind of perks of the superintendent job is being able to have a dog you can bring to work with you every day,\u201d DePippo said. \u201cI was just really looking forward to once I got to that spot in my career, to get my own dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, Penny got her share of fame via television time when the U.S. Women\u2019s Amateur was played at Bel-Air, and she\u2019s sure to get more airtime this week. It figures that she won\u2019t take sides during the matches and will be spreading her love to all the players.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/www.golfdigest.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2026\/6\/penny-2.jpeg\"\/ <\/p>\n

Penny stands on the course with her toy amid a rainbow made by the spinkler system.<\/p>\n

Penny is beloved by members and might be a bigger celebrity than some of the actual stars from Hollywood who play at the famed club. She\u2019ll run up and jump into just about any golfer\u2019s cart, and many golfers carry treats with them so they can reward her for her friendliness. She knows all sorts of tricks, like shaking hands and jump kisses.<\/p>\n

Asked if she\u2019s ever chased a golf ball, DePippo said yes, but only twice, and that\u2019s when she was a puppy. He trained her with a long leash, which eventually got shorter, and in short order, she didn\u2019t even need a leash. She stays right by DePippo\u2019s side, unless he has a meeting, then she moves to front lobby greeter. She\u2019ll stay in her office chair, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a big hit, everyone loves seeing her here,\u201d DePippo said.<\/p>\n

Asked if any members aren\u2019t dog people, DePippo only knew of one such instance of a couple, and they don\u2019t belong to the club anymore.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/www.golfdigest.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2026\/6\/penny-4.jpeg\"\/ <\/p>\n

Penny sits behind the front desk at Bel-Air.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, not everybody\u2019s a dog person, right?\u201d DePippo said. \u201cJust one couple out of the thousands of people, from members and guests and all of our events and staff. I think we\u2019re probably at 99 percent of people being excited to be around her. In Europe, it\u2019s common to see people out walking with their dog playing golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

DePippo and Penny arrive to the course before 6 a.m. There\u2019s always a group of three men having heir breakfast at that time. Penny knows it and usually makes a beeline to get her first treats of the day.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll go sit in the shade and take a nap or hang out at the famous Swinging Bridge, which has a view of downtown. It\u2019s a photogenic spot for Penny.<\/p>\n

DePippo and Penny had the run of the place when Bel-Air was under renovation a few years ago. She befriended construction workers then, too. She\u2019s more of people person and isn\u2019t so much interested in dogs, so she\u2019s a perfect fit at a country club. DePippo hopes to keep Penny around for a long time, continuing to bring love to all.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe stays active and I just want to keep her healthy and not give her too much bacon and goldfish treats,\u201d DePippo said. \u201cThe vet told me I should get a T-shirt that says, \u2018Don\u2019t feed me\u2019 because she\u2019s around so many people, and everybody loves seeing her [and] wants to give her a treat. I\u2019ve got healthy treats, and she\u2019s on a healthy dog food program. I\u2019m just trying to keep her young and healthy as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 When members walk into Bel-Air Country Club, they\u2019re often greeted with a friendly smile from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[4225,64,63,755,138747,44,85],"class_list":["post-727915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-golf-digest","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}