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.

After serving as a “walking marshal” for four rounds of the recent Desert Classic in La Quinta, California, I came away with a variety of impressions.

Before listing them, it is important to add that these impressions are just that – impressions. They are not any kind of random sampling of what you would see at a PGA tournament.

I had an inside view, walking inside the ropes even as I tried to stay out of the way of the pros.

That said, here are my impressions:

• I am not sure that any pro golfer today mimics Arnold Palmer’s ability to relate to the golfing public. It is possible that some players may grow into such a role. But doing so would require pros to understand that their vocation relies, in some substantial part, on fan support. It also is possible that some pros are haughty enough to believe they don’t need to honor the fans.
• Of the nine pros I followed over four rounds, the one who seemed the best able to relate to the crowds, however limited they were, was Brendan Steele, a journeyman who has won a couple times on tour. He interacted well with his fellow players, which, on the day I walked him, included two amateurs and one pro. He also thanked many of the volunteers, including me, who were there to support the tournament, including the children’s charities it favors.
• Of the nine pros I walked with over four rounds, the one who demonstrated the worst, unfriendly behavior was Jason Duffner. He has won five times on tour, all the while developing an off-beat style. When I walked with him, Steele and two amateurs, he appeared sullen and unfriendly. He didn’t even relate much to his caddy and tended to walk on the opposite side of the fairways in relation to others in his group. I don’t care if I ever watch him play golf again.
• This impression is one I may have conveyed before, but, as a person who likes to focus on golf rules, I was impressed with how many pros I watched left the flagstick in the hole as they putted. Such a move didn’t used to be allowed, but now is under the revised golf rules effective January 1, 2019.

Even the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) devoted space this morning to a review of the subject to indicate that, to golfers at least, the flagstick in or out is a big deal. Here is an excerpt of the story carried by the WSJ.

“The sudden freedom to leave the flagstick in has left golfers pondering whether doing so would increase their likelihood of holing putts.

“Until recently, the only notable research on the subject was nearly three decades old. In 1990, the renowned short-game coach Dave Pelz published a study in Golf magazine that found that 33 per cent more putts rolled in when the flagstick was in than when it was out. The study, which rolled nearly 11,000 balls at various speeds, distances and conditions, was intended to show the benefit of chipping with the flagstick in—which was legal.

“Though most players viewed the flagstick as an impediment that could deflect the ball from the hole, Pelz said it more often had the opposite effect. Because there is still room for the ball to drop between the flagstick and the edge of a hole—and because standard, fiberglass flagsticks have some give to them—Pelz said the stick can function like a backboard in basketball.

“Some golfers are shying away from it for a more aesthetic reason. In their minds, putting with the flagstick in just doesn’t look like the sort of thing a real golfer would do. “I can’t really take myself seriously if I kept the pin in,” Justin Thomas said. “I mean, it would just be such a weird picture.”

“The weirdness extends to the amateur level, where golf’s governing bodies are hoping the rules change will speed up play. Bryan Rodgers, a 60-year-old financial advisor in Knoxville, Tennessee, said the new rule created confusion when he played in a recent foursome. ‘We were just handing the flagstick back and forth to each other,’ he said, as some players wanted it in and others wanted it out. ‘To be honest, I thought it actually slowed us up.’”

There. How’s that for focusing on a major subject – leaving the flagstick in or out on a golf hole. At least focusing on this critical issue allows a person – me — to avoid thinking about the government shutdown, which still cannot be solved by so-called “leaders” in Washington, D.C.