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.

Friends of mine scolded me earlier this week for including golf courses I had already played on my bucket list of courses I wanted to play.

I know it was in jest, but, still, I wanted to play the courses again, so listed them.

I thought a golf bucket list was meant, like the movie of the same name, to include golf courses where you want to play before you die regardless of whether you had been there before.

But, chastened by the conversation, here is my bucket list of new golf courses I want to play.

PEBBLE BEACH: This iconic track in California actually was on my first list – the only one I had not played among courses I named last time around. So I include it here again, recognizing the status of a course that has hosted a number of U.S. Opens and other high-profile events.

I think, but do not know, that I want to fork over more than $500 to play 18 holes.

PINE VALLEY: This course in Southern New Jersey is always rated #1 of The Top 100 Courses around the country as ranked by Golf Digest magazine. I hope they’d welcome me there.

PINEHURST: This course in North Carolina – actually eight courses – also is ranked highly and has hosted PGA Tour majors at the acclaimed Pinehurst #2. Someday, if I ever get to the East Coast again.

HILTON HEAD: Actually there are 24 courses on this island just off the coast of South Carolina. The one I want to play is Harbour Town Golf Links with the oft-photographed lighthouse near the 18^th hole. It hosts a PGA Tour event immediately after the Masters, so I always view the tournament at TV still sitting in my Masters chair in my man cave.

TPC SAWGRASS: The 17^th hole island green is the most famous hole on this course which, each year, hosts The Players Championship. The course is celebrating its 40^th year as it sits about 12 miles from Jacksonville, Florida

THE GREENBRIER: There are three major courses here in the mountains of West Virginia – The Old White (named after Old White Hotel, which stood on the property from 1858 through 1922), The Meadows, and The Greenbrier.

I’d play any of them, but might prefer The Greenbrier, which has hosted a PGA Tour event, stands as the only resort course in the world to have hosted both The Ryder Cup and The Solheim Cup, and was re-built a few years ago after a major flood ravaged many of the greens and fairways.

Okay, all of this said, am I serious about this golf bucket list? Not necessarily.

I have had the great privilege of playing a lot of golf, including manhy times on my home track, Illahe Hills Golf Club in Salem, Oregon, not to mention five trips to Scotland, the home of golf.  In all, I have had the privilege of playing more than 200 individual courses, not a record, but, for me, a satisfying list.

So, if I never play the courses listed above, so be it. Golf has been a great outlet for me – both of terms of activity and building friendships — and that stands no matter what the future holds.