This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write. I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie. And it’s where you want to be on a golf course.
We have reached Day 3 of Masters Week, so my thoughts continue to focus on my favorite golf tournament of the year.
First, I remember the time in 2015 that I was able to attend the tournament with my daughter, a great time for father and daughter.
We booked as room at La Quinta Motel about a mile from the course, so we could talk to Augusta National without competing for car parking spaces.
The price for our room? A cool $500 per night! In normal times, the price was $50. But, I didn’t mind because many businesses in Augusta have to make their money one week every year.
More memories back then abound:
- When you arrive at Augusta National, you might be tempted to run to get a seat by your favorite hole. Don’t. You’ll be asked to walk.
- Remember you are a “patron” at the Masters, the official term for those who attend.
- If you have a Masters cap on backwards, don’t. You’ll be asked to turn it around.
- If you are lying on a hill to get a view of a certain hole, don’t. You’ll be asked to sit up straight.
- If you are tempted to buy a cheap pimento sandwich, don’t. They taste terrible, despite the low price.
- As a “patron,” bring or buy your Masters chair. If you put the chair down on a certain hole and then want to walk around a bit, no problem. If someone sits in your chair while you are gone, again no problem. When you return, the person in your chair will get up. Which means this approach allows the Masters to have bleachers without bleachers.
So, back to this blog headline.
My recent edition of Global Golf Post picked five favorites – Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Zander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy.
Golf Digest, besides ranking in order all 50 players in the field (I won’t bore you with this list), came up with a top 13 – McIlroy, Rahm, Scheffler, Koepka, Schauffele, Will Zalatoris, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, and Wyndham Clark.
It’s a challenge to pick favorites this year, as pointed out by controversial analyst Brandel Chamblee on the Golf Channel “Live from the Masters” program yesterday.
He posited that many of the top players might not be in the hunt this year because, to paraphrase him, they are more interested in money than playing the game for the results that accrue to solid performance.
It would be possible, as always, to criticize Chamblee’s take, but it is worth considering, I think, because playing for the “love of the game” appears more remote than ever this year.
With that caveat, my favorite?
Scheffler.
It appears to me that, while he makes a lot of money, he still plays for the love of the game.
To use a shopworn phrase, only time will tell.
But one thing is clear. I’ll be watching every shot on TV, as will my daughter – not to mention millions of other “patrons.”
Perspective from the 19th Hole 