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 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.

Why are there 18 holes on a golf course? 

Why not 14?  Why not 15?  Why not 9?

That question has struck me lately as, to put it mildly, I have too much time on my hands, some of which is taken up by walking around a park-like atmosphere charging after a white – or sometimes yellow – sphere.

Well, to answer the question, I did what many people do these days, which is to consult Mr. Google.

Here is what he said:

“In 1764, golfers at St Andrews (in Scotland) decided to combine the first four short holes into two, to produce a round of 18 holes, though it was still 10 holes of which 8 were played twice.  Thus was born the 18-hole round, though it would be about 100 hundred years before there were 18 holes in general, as other courses followed suit.

“By the mid-19th century, the standard was for golf courses to have 18 holes and, in 1858, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews made the rules formal and stated, “One round of the Links, or 18 holes is reckoned a match, unless otherwise stipulated.”

Early golf courses, especially in the “home of golf,” Scotland, actually varied in number of holes.  Even St Andrews had 22 at one point.

This “huge issue” crossed my mind the other day as friends of mine enticed me to play 9 holes, instead of 18. 

No problem.  Nine holes is fine, too, but, yes, 18 holes makes a competitive golf round.  Nine, obviously, doesn’t take as long – in fact, about exactly half as long.  Still fun and good golf.

Another golf question crossed my mind as I walked around the course:  Why do various results in golf use bird terms, such as: 

• Birdie for one-under-par on a hole.

• Eagle for two under par.

• Albatross for a two on a par 5.

• Condor for a hole-in-one on a par 5.

Also, if you want a question, with an answer for a trivia game, use this.  What do you call a hole-in-one on a par 5?  Answer, as above:  Condor.

As for why bird terms in general, I have no idea other than this quick fact from Mr. Google:  “In the 19th century, the term ‘bird’ was the equivalent of ‘cool’ or ‘excellent,’ so that term was attached to golf” — and other bird names  followed.

For me, have I made birdie and eagle?  Yes, over the years.  As for making an albatross, no.  And condor, also no.  No surprise with either of the latter, VERY rare in golf.

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Oh yeah, one other non-golf update.  My wife and I voted yesterday, performing an important civic duty.  While we sat together at our dining our dining room table, we voted individually, perhaps offsetting each other in the process in a few races.

So, vote!