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.

Through the coronavirus pandemic, I have been one of the lucky ones in this country who have had access to a golf course.

Then, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that appeared under this headline:

“A round of golf provides trivial frustrations and triumphs that feel so welcome”

Sports columnist Barry Svrluga wrote this:

“The PGA Tour is scheduled to resume competition as of July 11. I’m not here to predict whether that will happen or should happen. What I’m here to do: Throw my clubs in the back of the car, lace up the (soft) spikes and see what playing golf feels like in the midst of a crippling pandemic.

“A normal drive to the golf course can be loaded with feelings: Anticipation and excitement, but maybe even angst and anxiety depending on the state of my game and the stature of the course that awaits. This drive — my first to a golf course in 6½ weeks — brought an unusual amount of apprehension.”

That’s because, for Svrluga, golf courses in the District of Columbia and Maryland have been closed by order of their respective governments. Coronavirus has impacted all sorts of businesses, but particularly those deemed non-essential, and there’s little hope in arguing that golf courses should take on an “essential” label.

But in Virginia – as is the case in Oregon — if local and county officials feel as if it’s safe to be open, golf is allowed.

So, is golf safe during the pandemic?

I think the answer can be yes, with appropriate restrictions and safeguards.

“I do think that golf is one of the relatively safer sports to play in this era of the pandemic,” says Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security who is an expert in infectious diseases. “It naturally engenders itself to social distancing. It’s not a contact sport. It’s played outdoors. And there are ways to modify it to reduce the risks.”

Here in Salem, Oregon, my friends and I have been fortunate to play Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club throughout the pandemic.

We have done so with various restrictions, including:

• Maintaining social distance
• Limiting golf carts to one person
• Leaving flagsticks in the golf hole (with a sleeve at the bottom of the flag to make sure the golf ball doesn’t go all the way down)
• Taking rakes out of the bunkers.

All this has been possible because the Golf Alliance of Oregon was able to get this explanation from the Business Oregon Department in the immediate aftermath of Governor Kate Brown’s “Stay at Home” order:

“Golf is allowed as long as the social distancing measures are in place, country club activities for a gathering would not be allowed. We categorized golf similar to a hike or outdoor activity, rather than through “essential travel” which is meant to stop vacations.

In the spirit of full disclosure, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Golf Association (which is part of the Golf Alliance), I counseled against asking the Governor’s Office for clarification of its order as it pertained to golf.

I thought there was room within the specific words in the order to allow golf “as an outdoor activity,” and I thought it was best not to raise the issue for fear of generating a negative answer.

Fortunately, my advice didn’t matter.  Someone else called the governor’s staff and got the good answer quoted above.

So, we continued playing golf.

The fact we have done so is a tribute to the management and staff at Illahe Hills. They have done a masterful job of maintaining an important activity for home-bound folks in a way that keeps players safe.

The number of those who have played golf here has been steeply on the rise. On a normal day – remember those pre-coronavirus days? – about 50 players would have been on the course. These days, the numbers have topped 150.

According to the Wall Street Journal article, the Johns Hopkins scholar mentioned above put it very well when she said: “The virus isn’t going anywhere. It’s here until we have a vaccine. But if your choice is playing rugby or playing golf, it’s clear which one is less likely to be risky. As this social distancing continues, golf is something that I think is a relatively safe activity.”

Good.

And I am one who will never take for granted all of the good work that has allowed me to continue playing the game I love – not for score, but for “the love of the game” and for friends who enjoy it with me.