Bogey is not a positive term in golf - except at the Butler Country Club.

Bogey has been the source of many smiles, a clean golf course and a little national attention for that facility.

Bogey, a 7-year-old Jack Russell Terrier owned by Bob Gegick, superintendent of Butler Country Club, recently was voted the Golfweek Calendar's Dog of the Year in a first-time contest sponsored by LebanonTurf.

The contest was held during the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America annual conference recently in San Diego.

More than 35,000 superintendents from around the world attended the conference and were eligible to vote.

"Each golf course that had one of the 12 dogs in the Golfweek Calendar was given $500 to use toward promoting their dog for the contest," Gegick said. "We bought stickers promoting Bogey, and my family wore T-shirts with his picture on them."

Drink holders with Bogey's picture were also distributed. The stickers read "Bogey in 2004, A Super Choice" with a picture of the dog wearing a Superman costume.

Bogey won the vote easily, and garnered two $1,000 checks and a plaque for the victory.

Gegick presented the checks to the Greater Pittsburgh Golf Course Superintendents Association and the Northwest Pennsylvania Golf Course Superintendents Association.

"We waged a pretty heavy campaign," Gegick admitted. "But I was happy just getting him in the calendar."

This is the third year for the Golfweek Calendar, titled "Superintendent's Best Friend," which features 12 dogs affiliated with various golf courses.

"I saw the calendar in its second year," Gegick said. "My wife (Kym) and 4-year-old daughter (Grace) brought a camera out to the golf course and took a bunch of pictures of Bogey.

"We submitted the entry last May and got word in September he had made the calendar."

Bogey has been a vital part of Butler Country Club in the six years since Kym Gegick bought him when it was a few weeks old.

Chris Monday of Butler was a co-worker who told her his sister and brother-in-law raised Jack Russells in Punxsutawney.

"I wanted a Jack Russell because they are intelligent dogs that can be trained well," Kym Gegick said. "I wanted a dog he could take with him to the golf course for a couple of hours a day."

That couple of hours soon turned into an all-day, every-day venture.

"I had to be at the course at 6 a.m. and I went home for lunch around 10 a.m.," Gegick said. "I brought Bogey home then because the bulk of our membership began coming to the course around that time, and I didn't want Bogey to be in the way.

"When some of our members began asking where the dog was, that they were sorry they missed him and really enjoyed him, well, Bogey became a permanent fixture there," he added.

And a useful one, as well.

Bogey digs moles out of the course, finds mice, chases geese off the ponds and keeps the fairways clear of chipmunks and other critters.

"Sometimes he seems like more of a working dog than a pet," Gegick said. "He protects his yard. He watches over that golf course.

"If he sees something on there he doesn't like, he gets it off."

Bogey has killed a skunk on the course before. He's also been found in a tree a couple of times, perhaps being dragged there after catching a squirrel by the tail.

Bogey follows Gegick around the course, often running behind a golf cart. When Gegick is doing something on the job in which Bogey can't join him, he tells the dog to go find assistant Gary Gombos.

"I'll tell him to go find Gary, then I'll call Gary on the radio to let him know Bogey's coming," Gegick said.

"He's a lot of fun to be around," Gombos said. "That dog is so well-behaved. He sticks right with me. He grew up with the crew here. He's part of our family."

"Everyone believes his dog is dog of the year," Gegick said. "I'm no exception, I guess."

Except Bogey has the award to prove it.