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.

I set out to write this blog about quirks in the game we love – golf.  But, just as I started, I received a newsletter from the Oregon Golf Association (OGA) that gave me more grist for my mill.

First, here are just a couple quirky things I remember:

• I recall when ace golfer Phil Mickelson hit a ball while it was still rolling on the green after he had hit a putt far too long.  He got a penalty, which, I add, he deserved.

And, as I write this, I am still relishing his huge win in the PGA Championship.  A win for the ages – and for all of us old golfers!

• I recall what no less a golf legend than Jack Nicklaus did what many of us have done on a golf course over the years – hit a “shank,” which is not a word anyone should use on a course.  It was in a tournament in Hawaii and, of course, given his stature in the game, Nicklaus recovered from that bad shot to play well.

On to the quirks cited in the OGA newsletter, which was written by two staff members at the Association who have tough jobs – Kelly Neely, who handles golf handicapping, and Gretchen Yoder, who is in charge of course rating.

Here’s how they started their article.

“Gretchen and I often laugh (when we aren’t crying) about the weird and wonderful world of handicapping and course rating we inhabit.

“We muse upon the fact that we are in unusual company with like-minded oddballs who know quite a bit about some peculiar subjects.  

Not that golf in and of itself is strange; rather due to its complexity, there are mystifying things surrounding it (we’re looking at you, Rules Officials).

“Gretchen pointed out one day that there are actually more professional mermaids in the U.S. than there are handicapping and course rating administrators.  Apparently, there are over a thousand people willing to reach whatever accreditation is necessary to become the best mermaids they can be.  In comparison, folks of our ilk only number about 200, so while that makes us more rare, they have better outfits.

“Speaking of oddities, we happen to be fascinated by the quirkier aspects of the Course Rating System and while some of them are not necessarily things Gretchen and her ready team of raters encounter on a daily basis, we believe they deserve closer examination.  Yardage measurements for the course have to be spot-on.   The USGA requires that the equipment we use be within 6 inches for every 250 yards.”

Other quirks:

• Ten obstacles are evaluated per hole – landing zones, topography (stance and lie), fairways, crossings, lateral (water, extreme rough, out of bounds), bunkers, rough and recoverability, green target (length of approach shot and size of green), green surface (speed and contour), and psychological.

• Scratch Player – Course Handicap of a big fat 0 for men and women.  Note:  Even though most of the course rating team members are not scratch golfers, we do need to think like one!

• Bogey Player – Course Handicap of 20 for men, 24 for women.

• Every hole on every set of tees at every course is rated for each of those players. This gives us a Scratch Course Rating and a Bogey Rating and guess what those two things produce?  The magical Slope Rating.  We need all three for an official rating for handicap purposes.

• We always rate the forward tees for the scratch player, even though they may never play from there.

And, out of mercy, I will not continue on with detailed explanation of more quirks, cited by Neely and Yoder such as doglegs, split fairways, no landing zones, double green vs. “conjoined” greens, pars 3s with tees at different angles, etc.

You can thank me now for stopping with the quirks.