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 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

The iconic series of golf courses on the South Oregon Coast – Bandon Dunes — come in for various plaudits, well deserved, I think, in the current issue of Links Magazine.

The writer, Graylin Loomis, starts his story this way:

“Twenty-one years ago, Bob “Shoe” Gaspar delivered a load of mulch to a construction site just south of North Bend on Oregon’s southern coast. Unsure of what was being built, he walked over a dune and saw a half-finished golf course. There was no clubhouse, the back nine was dirt, the front nine was being cleared of trees. But that was enough. Gaspar could tell that whatever he was looking at was going to be something special, so he quit his job as a truck driver and went to work at what he soon learned was to balled Bandon Dunes. He became employee number two.”

Good story and, as usual, Loomis has a solid way to describe a piece of ground in human terms.

Twenty years later, Bandon Dunes today has become a national, if not international, landmark in the world of golf.

What started as one course – Bandon Dunes – became three more full-fledged courses, plus an acclaimed putting green, a par-three course, and a practice area to die for – if you are a golfer.

The development is a tribute to Michael Keiser, who made his fortune in the recycled greeting cards business – whatever that is – but then made substantial investments in golf venues.

It started with Bandon Dunes, but then branched out into Nova Scotia and Wisconsin and may soon add the Caribbean, New Zealand and even Scotland – and I use the word “even” because Keiser says he developed “links-style” golf patterned after great courses in golf’s homeland, Scotland.

One reality I like about Bandon Dunes is that it is an accurate approximation of links golf in Scotland – and I say that after having had the privilege of playing golf in Scotland five times.

“My initial vision,” Keiser says, “was to find a sand-based site somewhere in the world that reminded me of the great links courses in the British Isles.”

He succeeded, perhaps beyond even his own wildest dreams. Can you imagine the scene when Keiser, reportedly, hired a small plane to take an aerial view of the coastal property, then said, “I want to buy that?”

He made the purchase and the rest is history.

Initially, he and his colleagues projected about 12,500 rounds annually on the first course, Bandon Dunes, designed by Scottish architect, David Kidd, who now makes his home in Central Oregon.

Not 12,500. Instead, 35,000 rounds in the first year. Now, each of the four cases at Bandon – Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails and Old MacDonald — logs about 35,000 rounds a year.

Plus, a new, full course is under construction. It will be called Bally Bandon and should be open soon.

In its previous life, many of us called it “The Sheep Ranch.” A few years ago, Bill Swancutt, the superintendent at my home course in Salem (Illahe Hills), was able to make arrangements for us to play The Sheep Ranch.

We traveled to the South Coast to see the course first hand and, on the day we were there, we were the only players on the course.

The person who let us in the gate to the course said he was the superintendent and that he had the greatest job in the world – working on a golf course, with few, if any, golfers.

As we stood on a promontory looking out west to the Pacific Ocean, The Sheep Ranch superintendent handed us a piece of paper. On it, he had scrawled a written description of how to play 15 holes. In the distance, we saw about 15 flags, noting that called them “golf holes,” though fairways were not visible.

He suggested a routing, then said that, when we finished playing a hole, we should find a plot of flat ground near the green we had just played and hit from there to the next hole. [No range finders, by the way, just Ben Hogan-like eyesight.]

And, the super suggested, after 15 holes, just make a routing of your choice over the last three holes to get in a full 18.

Great fun!

And, my goal is now to head south to play Bally Bandon as soon as it is open.

Overall, golfers from around the world continue flock to Bandon Dunes, which has given the area, still trying to recover from the demise of the timber and fishing industries, a hand-hold on a new economy.

To put a point on it, there are former loggers and fishermen who are functioning as caddies.

Great place – Bandon Dunes. Worth the trip!