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 is where you want to be on a golf course.
Here in La Quinta, California, where I live in the winter, there is only so much time for golf.
Only every day.
Well, not exactly.
And, on this second day after the Masters, my favorite golf tournament every year, I had the privilege of watching the final round WITH my daughter. This time, instead of remotely, we were in the same place to watch the best golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, put together another MASTERpiece…pardon the play on words.
But, between golf games for me, I have time on my hands, which the following will verify.
- Why would Justin Thomas dismiss Jim “Bones” MacKay as his caddy? Makes no sense to me. But, for Bones, no problem. He’ll just go back to his role on TV. There is no better caddy than Bones, so who knows what Thomas will do now. Or whether another player will engage Bones.
And, for what it’s worth, Thomas missed the cut at the Masters. Who knows whether that would be the case of he had Bones on the bag.
- What is the definition of “handicap” on a golf hole? Almost everybody who plays golf believes that the #1 handicap number assigned to a golf hole means it is the toughest on the course. And, etc. for more numbers on holes, which means the 18th handicap hole is the easiest.
No.
Here is the actual definition. “The hole assigned as the #1 handicap hole is not necessarily the hardest hole on the course. It is this:
“The number one handicap stroke hole should be assigned to the hole where the bogey golfer needs an additional stroke in order to halve the hole with the scratch golfer.”
Too complicated? Yes.
But that’s true of all golf rules.
- Why didn’t I have my Masters Golf Tournament chair here with me in La Quinta so I had a special place to sit for my favorite tournament every year? The answer? I forgot it back home.
But I’ll still watch the tournament, no matter where I sit….as I proved again this year, sitting on any chair on my La Quinta condo with my daughter.
- What’s the future of municipal golf? The answer is not clear.
There are at least two threats, both similar in nature. One is that some interests, opposed to golf, believe that there are better uses for open space municipal courses. So, in California, for instance, proposals continue to percolate to turn municipal course land into housing. So far, golf supporters have risen to the challenge to defeat the proposals.
Meanwhile, in another issue related to land use, golfersin Cincinnati, Ohio, have long prized city courses for their high quality and low prices.
But, that benefit will be among the topics in play if the city decides to sell its courses or manage them in a new way – possibilities raised by the just-out Cincinnati Futures Commission report. Not for housing…just for open space.
The courses could fetch a combined $6.5 million to $27.3 million, the report says, depending on whether they were bought by private golf course operators or sold off for development.
- A rules question: There are at least two ways for a golfer to hit three balls off the same tee in a tournament. How?
Anyone who cares – does anyone? – can answer this question. I am the one who has the right answer.
One clue: Tiger Woods did this on one hole in the recent Masters golf tournament.
Perspective from the 19th Hole 