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 is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

The headline in this blog may represent a search for good news amidst all of the bad owing to the virus and forest fires.

But, the news below also is true.

A story in the Wall Street Journal this week appeared under this headline:

GOLF, THE OFFICIAL SPORT OF SOCIAL DISTANCE, HAD ITS BEST SUMMER IN DECADES

Here is how the reporter, Rick Maese, started his story:

“Back in those foggy early days of the pandemic, as nearly every part of American life stopped on a dime, golf course superintendents pulled out their flagsticks, parked their carts and closed their pro shops.

“Golf is a discretionary expense for most, and as the novel coronavirus threatened both lives and livelihoods, no one in the industry knew when it would be safe for golfers to come back to the course or who would be returning when it was safe.

Suzy Whaley, president of the Professional Golfers Association of America, said the virus had the potential “to shut down an $85 billion industry.”

She adds:  “We immediately knew we had to come up with some solutions for our members.”

Banding together, the industry lobbied lawmakers, worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop revised rules and guidelines, and then worked to bring the nation’s sprawling network of 14,500 golf courses back into play.

After surviving the spring, the golf industry is thriving, coming off a stretch of bustling activity with little precedent.

Golfers played 10 million more rounds in July than they did a year ago, a 20 per cent increase.  It’s the largest bump recorded since Golf Datatech, the sport’s leading market research company, started tracking the monthly numbers 20 years ago.  Play was up 14 per cent year over year in June and 6 per cent in May.

Though analysts say some 20 million rounds were lost during March, April and May, the booming summer has more than made up for that deficit and rounds are up 3 per cent from last year.

Meanwhile, equipment sales are booming, too.  They reached $388.6 million in July, the highest single month that Golf Datatech has recorded since it began tracking retail sales in 1997.

The Wall Street Journal reporter adds this:  “It’s quite a turnaround for the entire industry — the game’s busiest stretch following some of the slowest months that golf has seen.  And, weather-depending, the stubborn pandemic may only help golf’s boom last deeper into fall.  Those around the game say golf is particularly well-suited for pandemic life, offering players space, exercise and a much-needed distraction.

In mid-March, golf’s most influential organizations — including the World Golf Foundation, the Professional Golfers Association Tour, the Professional Golf Association of America, the United States Golf Association, and the Ladies Professional Golf Association — teamed up to form Back2Golf.

Pooling their resources, they reached out to governors in all 50 states to keep courses open, pleading the sport’s case as a pandemic-perfect outlet.

The sport started stirring to life.  Many courses started booking tee times in May, and, in June, the PGA Tour was the first major U.S. sport to return to play.  The industry almost immediately noticed there was a pent-up need.

Perhaps most encouraging for industry analysts are all the new players who have either discovered the game or returned after a long layoff.  The National Golf Foundation estimates the number of junior golfers (ages 6-17) could increase by 20 per cent, or 500,000 golfers, by year’s end. The number of new or returning players was up 20 per cent in the first half of 2020.

The course where I play most of the time, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem, Oregon, also has noted a substantial increase in play, as have many golf courses in the Northwest.

On many days of decent weather, there have been more than 150 players on Illahe, many of them new to the game or returning after a long absence. 

It used to be that tee times were only available until 2:30 in the afternoon, after which it would be first-come, first-served.  Now tee times are taken until about 6 p.m. to acknowledge all of the new players.

Further, the Oregon Golf Association has done an excellent job of running tournaments for junior and regular amateur players – excellence in the form of restrictions related to the Covid virus that have protected the health and safety of players…as well as providing a sense of normalcy during what clearly has been an abnormal period.

For me, golf has provided a bit of solace amidst the virus, political tension, Black lives protests and the worst forest fire season on record.  Play well, I say to myself.