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 other day, the golf course where I play (Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem, Oregon) was closed to allow a group of non-members to play the course.

No problem with that, usually.  After all, it’s part of our responsibility as a private golf club.  Offer the course as a site for other golfers and, who knows, at some point, one of the non-members might want to join.

But, with too much time on my hands without golf, I thought of this:

If you want to identify a day of good weather, choose a day when Illahe Hills is closed to members.  There is little doubt but that the sun will be out on that day.

Now, regarding whether Illahe should be closed to members or not, here are the principles I apply:

• If there is an outside group, members of that group – or the group itself – should be charged for the right to play the course, which is one of the best in the region.  In such cases, the course should make at least a little money.

• Illahe golf course managers should be careful about closing the course for multiple days in a row.  After all, those who pay for membership should not be frozen off the course for days in a row.

• Illahe should demonstrate its commitment to community citizenship by offering the course once or twice a year to charities without charging full fare, or perhaps even nothing.  The Salem-Keizer community is important enough for this to be done.

See, now, with too much time on my hands, isn’t that an enlightened view?