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 (Les AuCoin), 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.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that it what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

As I write this, I have been involved in three amateur tournaments held by the Oregon Golf Association (OGA) to mark the start of competitive golf in the state during the pandemic.

The courses that have held tournaments are Heron Lakes in Portland, Stone Creek in Oregon City, and Tokatee in Blue River.

In a phrase, the OGA has performed very effectively as it worked to guard the safety of players, volunteers and spectators, plus allow golf to resume after a several-month-long hiatus.

Am I biased as I compliment the OGA?  Probably.  I am privileged to serve on the Executive Committee of the OGA Board of Directors, which oversees a 20-person staff that runs regular and junior amateur tournaments, operates the state’s golf handicapping and course rating systems, and promotes golf as worthwhile recreational opportunity.

More that 200 golf courses around Oregon and Southwest Washington are members of the OGA.

Here is a summary of steps that have been taken and will be taken to assure that amateur golf tournaments can proceed safely, a list I provide based on my work as volunteer at OGA events:

• Everyone who shows up for an OGA event – including players, volunteers and spectators – must sign a liability waiver indicating that there are on-site at a course based on an individual decision to be there.
• Players are allowed to have one spectator, not more, accompany them at a tournament.
• Players are expected to bring all of their own equipment to the tournament site and, the day before an event, receive tournament rules and pin sheets on-line to avoid transmitting multi-touch papers on the day of the event.
• Caddies are not allowed.
• Volunteers are required to wear masks.
• Starters are required to wear masks AND gloves.
• On the first and 10^th holes, players are required to maintain social distancing.
• Rakes are not provided in bunkers, which means there are special rules governing bunkers.
• Flags are to remain in golf holes most of the time, but if a player wants a flag out, he must use a personal towel to touch the flag.
• As players finish their rounds, they are required to sign scorecards and leave the course. There are no leader-boards on the course to avoid the tendency to congregate around them.  Results are provided only on-line.  Volunteers who collect the cards are required to wear masks and gloves.

It is too early to tell if all of these cautions will work.  But, the thought that has gone into the protocols bodes well for safety and success.

Kudos to the staff of the OGA for its work to sustain and promote golf in Oregon.