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.

Here in La Quinta, California, where I am staying for the winter, I have the good fortune of playing a lot of golf.

My favorite sport.

But, I also have found time to think a few more thoughts about the game I love.

One of them was prompted by a column by one of my favorite golf writers, George Peper, editor of Links Magazine.  He suggested that one way to tame the problem of golf balls going too far – especially when hit by professionals or budding professionals — was to limit the number of clubs in the golf bag.

Better that than build ever-longer golf courses.

Peper suggested seven clubs, though he also admitted that his solution would never fly, if only because club manufacturers would not tolerate such a limit.

Still, I liked his idea, so I made a list of “my seven,” then asked a few of my friends to do the same.  When I return to my home in Salem, Oregon, this spring, I intend to schedule a “seven club mini-tournament.”

So, for any who cares, here is my seven:

1. 3-wood
2. 3-hybrid
3. 6-hybrid
4. 7-iron
5. 9-iron
6. 52-degree wedge
7. Putter

If you like golf, think of your own seven-club set.  Doing so might be influenced by the specific course where you play, or the weather, or both.  But, still, a good exercise…since it is likely that most amateurs only play about seven clubs a round, even though they may carry the maximum 14.

Now, on to two other thoughts about golf.

WHAT’S THE FAVORITE GOLF CLUB IN YOUR BAG:  The on-line version of Links Magazine asked this question of its readers.  Two responses:

• Always been my 7-iron.  I can’t explain why it’s always my easiest club to hit.  Always called it my “tweener” club.

• 7-iron from 150 yards out to around the green in the deeper grass just outside the first cut…that club is usually the first one I need re-gripped.

My answer is the same – and it will not be a surprising choice for those who play golf with me. 

Contrary to pro golfers – yes, I am not one, not even close – I often use a 7-iron around the green in an attempt to get the ball rolling along the green toward the hole.  My son, a much better golfer than I am, would use a wedge for the same shot – and his result usually would be better than mine.

I began using a 7-iron when I had the privilege of playing golf in Scotland on five occasions.  There, in links-style golf, you want to get the ball rolling along the hard ground quickly, so a 7-iron is often the best choice – whether from greenside or 150 yards out.

WHAT YOUR BRAIN SAYS ABOUT YOUR NEXT SHOT:  I attribute the quote below to acknowledged golf psychologist, Bob Rotella.  In his book, “Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect,” he writes this:

“The brain tries to be an accommodating mechanism.  It will try to send the ball in the direction of the last thing you look at or think about.  If your last thought before striking the ball is, ‘don’t hit it in the pond,’ the brain is likely to react by telling your muscles to hit it in the pond.”

Most golfers would say Rotella is right.  I would.  Your mind does funny things on a golf course.

When I am thinking clearly as I address the golf ball, I try to take one last look in the distance and focus on a target.  Such as a tree.  Then, with that image in mind, I hope my golf ball goes in that direction.

Does it work?  Sometimes.

But, when it doesn’t, the reason usually is that some other thought has intruded.  Such as, “don’t hit in the water,” or “watch out for that bunker.”

If Rotella has a moment of free time, I’d like to set an appointment with him.