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.

I have written about this subject before – changes in golf rules developed jointly by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and Royal & Ancient (R&I), which were effective for the world as of January 1, 2019.

It’s worth writing again because of my experience over four days volunteering at a professional golf tournament, the 60^th annual Desert Classic in La Quinta, California. That’s because I saw first-hand implementation of and questions about the new rules from the players.

Example #1: During four days of serving as a walking marshal, most of the players in “my groups” left the flagstick in on long putts – usually at least 30 feet in length. Interesting.

This is one of the new rules – there is no problem if you hit the flagstick in the hole, even if you are putting. A major change.

Several players said leaving the flagstick in gave them a better feel for the line so far away from the hole.

Leaving in the flagstick in is now legal, but it also remains appropriate, (a) to have the flagstick tended, and (b) to take the flagstick out of the hole. On these two options, the deal is that you have to decide what you want to do before you play the shot.

Remember the case a few years when Phil Mickelson had his caddy, Jim McKay, run 100 yards up to a hole to tend the flagstick for a wedge into the green? Strange action then. As most would do, he could have left the flag in the hole. As he did, he was allowed to have it tended. Nothing about the rule changes would make Mickelson’s action illegal today.

Example #2: It used to be the case that, when you were dropping a ball, either from an unplayable lie or to get free relief from an permanent obstacle, you would drop from shoulder height. Before that, the drop was taken over your back.

Now, the new rules say you drop from knee height.

On the second day of my work at the Desert Classic, I was a walking marshal for a group that included Sungjae Im from Korea and Cameron Davis from Australia. At one point, after hitting into the water, Im took a drop from shoulder height.

Seeing that, Davis called out to him and gave Im the proper instructions about knee height. Im took another drop correctly and played on – no penalty.

In the Desert Classic, Mickelson, the newly-designated “ambassador” for the tournament, played very well, shooting, for example, 60 in his first round at La Quinta Country Club. I am a Mickelson fan, so sad to report that he came up a stroke short from winning the tournament.

In the Global Golf Post on-line publication the day after the tournament, Mickelson reported that he was uncomfortable with the new rules because, he said, he didn’t know them well enough yet. He said he hopes to be attend a USGA seminar on-site at a tournament to gain a more complete understanding because, he said, “it’s important to me.”

Good for Mickelson. Over his 25 years as touring golf pro, he has committed a few rules blunders, or, perhaps, he might say situations where he took advantage of what he thought the rules allowed. The most vivid example occurred when Mickelson hit a bad shot in a recent tournament, then hit the ball again before it stopped moving.

That produced a two-stroke penalty, though he later said he thought he operated within the rules to avoid an even worse situation because the ball that was moving would have ended up in a bad spot.

Mickelson’s new stated commitment to learn the new rules reflects well on his overall character.

One last point, though it’s not related to the new rules. On my days at the Desert Classic, it was interesting to note how many golfers use a claw grip to putt, which is an attempt to make sure the dominant hand, usually the right hand, doesn’t take over on the stroke. The claw is used by a number of veterans – Mickelson and Justin Rose come to mind – but it is not just the oldsters who use it. A growing number of younger players have opted to use the grip.

The claw has become my go-to grip, something I started about five or six years ago to avoid right hand yips problems. So, I now root for claw grip players.