PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: 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 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 of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and 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.

As a golf addict, there are a number of highlights I could mention each year. One would be getting a hole-in-one, which I did recently for the sixth time in my golfing career.

But, regardless of that personal achievement, which, course I cite modestly, at or near the top in any list for me is watching the Masters Golf Tournament every year.

Golf commentator Steve Sands put it well when he said “these are hallowed grounds. There is a mystique about the Masters and Augusta National that does not exist anywhere else.”

TV host Jim Nantz has become famous for his quote every day he is on the air to coordinate Masters coverage: He says the Masters is “a tradition unlike any other.”

Those quotes are true and I report that from my own experience at the Masters in 2015 when, with my daughter, Lissy, and her husband, Tim, I was fortunate enough to be at Augusta National for the Wednesday practice round and par 3 contest, then also for the first round on Thursday. [We flew home in a hurry, if that is possible, to be able to watch the final rounds of the tournament on television.]

Those who run the Masters tournament – the members of the Augusta National Golf Club – have become, to use the word, “masters” of their own craft. For one thing, they get to do it every year at the same venue, so they can be committed to a worthy goal – improving the experience every year.

A few examples:

• For spectators – they are called “patrons” — running is not allowed on the course.

• If you are on a hillside looking at a golf hole, you have to be sitting, not lying down.

• If you are wearing a golf hat, you have to wear it right, not backwards.

Small things, you say.  Perhaps but for me, they illustrate a commitment to run a tournament on hallowed grounds.

This year, the organizers have done a great job of honoring the memory of golf icon, Arnold Palmer, who won the Masters four times, but passed away a few months ago. Special “Arnie’s Army” badges were printed to honor Palmer whose style and skill pushed the game of golf to higher levels. An empty chair was put on the first tee for the symbolic first tee shots by two other icons, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.

Though gone, the presence of Palmer was still there.

Some could contend that Masters organizers and Augusta National Club members are stuffy or thrilled with their own accomplishments. That way, they don’t have to listen to anyone else.

I view it differently. They are putting on one of the great sporting events in history, they do it every year, and those who set foot on the “hallowed grounds” feel privileged to do so. My daughter would say that attending the Masters was one of the great experiences of her life.

So would I.

So, for the next three days, we’ll be watching as new history is created. No matter who wins, it will be an experience – “a tradition unlike any other.”