"A 'dog sandwich.' Only in the British Isles."

Great blog item by Alistair Tait on yet another major divide between golf in the U.K. and the bastardized version we play here: hounds.

The Sunningdale Foursomes is a unique event in British golf since it features tour pros, club pros, elite amateurs and ordinary club amateurs with a handicap of three or better. Men and women can compete.

Dogs, too, are welcome at Sunningdale, even encouraged. My dog Izzy felt very welcome during her visit to this year’s Sunningdale Foursomes, but then my dog feels welcome at many British golf courses.

Dogs are almost de rigueur at traditional clubs like Sunningdale, The Berkshire, Swinley Forest and many others. Ryder Cup player Paul McGinley felt slightly disconcerted during qualifying for the Open Championship at Sunningdale a few years ago. McGinley is a member of the club and felt out of sync because he had to play the 36 holes without his dog. The Irishman couldn’t remember the last time he’d played Sunningdale without his faithful hound in tow.

That's McGinley and his friend pictured above.