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 good news is that two golf tournaments in La Quinta, California – the American Express PGA tournament and the Prestige College Tournament – have been held despite the pandemic.

The AmEx went off without a hitch a couple weeks ago, though the normal three-day pro-am was scratched.  That meant pros played all four days without amateurs in their groups, a distinct change from the recent past.

As for the Prestige, it is under way on the Greg Normal Course at PGA West where Pepperdine leads after two rounds heading into today’s final.  Despite the pandemic, the tournament enjoys the largest field in the tourney’s history, including both the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.

Three weeks ago, Prestige tournament director Cy Williams was convinced the Prestige men’s college golf tournament would be played in La Quinta this week despite continuing restrictions in the state because of COVID- 19.  But he wasn’t sure about the field, including his own team, the University of California at Davis.

“Honestly,” he told the Desert Sun newspaper, “I thought the toughest part of this was, it’s not politics, but just all of the procedures going on with our county and our university.  We had to follow the protocols of the county, and then of course intertwined with that is the protocols of our university.  The fact that we were hosting in a different place really made it complicated.”

Despite the restrictions from the state, the University of California system and two counties in California, the Prestige was held, as well as featured the largest field in its history.

Five of the top nine teams in the most recent GolfWeek team rankings were entered, led by No. 2 San Diego State and No. 4 Arizona, along with No. 6 Arizona State, No. 8 Pepperdine and No. 9 SMU.

Navigating his own university’s restrictions was one thing, but Williams also had to oversee the challenge to collect testing data from the schools in the tournament.  He also had to understand how the tournament would work at PGA West, which just three weeks ago hosted the PGA Tour’s American Express tournament, though that was on different courses at the large La Quinta facility.

‘”Brian Hughes, the head pro at the Norman Course, sent us in December what the policies and procedures would be,” Williams said. “Golf was open. We sent them to the coaches and said, ‘Hey, this is how it is going to be. There aren’t going to be any rakes in the bunkers, you aren’t touching the flag.’ Everyone was fine. Everybody just wants to play golf.”

Speaking of Brian Hughes, I remember him from the past.  He was a good golfer in Oregon, and, with son Eric, played in the first USGA Mid-Amateur field Eric made in Connecticut.  Not only for the Prestige, but Brian has done a good job overall at the Greg Norman Course, which I say having played there a number of times.

More from the Desert Sun:  “Other changes for the Prestige were the elimination of a college-am tournament and a junior golf clinic the day before the event began.  Even the event’s traditional outdoor buffet has been replaced by packaged meals that can be taken to outdoor patios.

For Mark Weissman, founder and tournament director of the event, the key was working with Riverside County.

“From my vantage point and understanding, all the other events (like the American Express) had approval not only from their own tours but also the county was very pivotal,” Weissman said.  “For me, it was always important to talk to the county, and I think everyone agreed with that.”

Back to the American Express pro tournament.  Without a three-day pro am, the tournament exited from La Quinta Golf and County Club and used two other venues at PGA West – the Nicklaus Private and the Stadium Course.  There were no spectators.  Si Woo Kim won the event, his third win on the PGA tour.

As for me, I had been signed up to function as a walking scorer at La Quinta, but when the tournament was limited to pros only, I was excused from volunteering with the La Quinta course no longer in the rotation.  However, I am signed up to serve again next when, everyone hopes, the pandemic will be behind us – both for the PGA Tour and for college golf.