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.

As usual, I watched as much as possible of day one of my favorite golf tournament of the year, The Masters.

It was, again, good TV.

But, not the best.

Here are a few day-one perceptions.

ESPN COVERAGE:  One of my friends told me last night that she was disappointed with ESPN coverage. 

Too many talking heads, she said.  Not enough golf, she added.

I agree.

I would have liked to see more golf.  If I wanted talking heads, I would have tuned in to the Golf Channel – as I often do.

I expect that things will improve this weekend when CBS-TV will dominate coverage, with a signature line by commentator host, Jim Nantz – “The Masters – a tradition unlike any other.”

According to Golf Digest, Nantz’ famed catchphrase certainly has a lot of truth to it — because there are plenty of traditions (Champions Dinner, Par 3 Contest, honorary tee shots, concession stand prices that barely change even amid rampant inflation, etc.) associated with the tournament.

So, yeah, it’s a great catchphrase.

One that the tournament trademarked in 2015.  Actually, it’s kind of amazing it took that long.

SPEAKING OF MASTERS’ CATCH PHRASES:  There is another one that makes its way, inevitably, into all TV coverage.

“The Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday!”

Of course, that’s not technically true.  The Masters actually started yesterday.  But the sentiment is accurate.

The likelihood is that the potential winner won’t emerge until the back nine on Sunday.  But let me just say this – I’ll watch every hole between now and then.

WHERE WAS JUSTIN THOMAS?:  As I watched several hours of TV coverage, I never once saw golf pro Justin Thomas on the screen.

Perhaps that was because he shot four over par.  And I only know that because I had to go on-line to find the Masters’ leaderboard where I saw his name far down the list.

But, in the run-up to the tournament, Thomas was listed as one of the favorites, so there should have been just a bit of coverage of his round one problems.

I also predicted he had a good chance to win the tournament, ending a tough run for him in the majors. 

Still possible, I suppose, but not likely.

WHAT A LIVE MIC CATCHES:  It happens a lot these days, given the understandable bent to catch, not just the pictures of golf, but also the sounds.

But the mics yesterday caught two “f-bombs” being uttered by players after they hit bad shots or got bad breaks.

Bad words happen a lot in life, not just on a golf course.  But, if you are a TV producer of golf, I suspect you don’t like it, but there’s not much you can do about the problem.  Just as is true of what happens in other televised sports.

So it is on to day two.  More memories in a “tradition unlike any other.”