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.

I show up today with summaries of stories that appeared in two of my on-line golf publications.

Publishing this allows me to focus just a bit on golf, inasmuch as it is tough to play these days in Salem, Oregon, where I live.  Too rainy.  Too cold.

So, here are excerpts of the stories, one that lists famous “watery graves” on golf courses, and another that lists the “most expensive rounds” you can play as long as you don’t care how much it costs.  In two cases, I add my perspective.

WATERY GRAVES

In the most recent issue of Links Magazine, David DeSmith lists what he calls “12 of Golf’s Scariest Watery Graves.”

He starts his story this way:

“Whether you call them water hazards or penalty areas, golf’s lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans often become final resting places for our errant shots.  You can recover from deep rough or a bunker.  But there’s no coming back from a water hazard unless it’s a very shallow one and you’re feeling especially courageous.”

Right.

So, here’s the list:

Rae’s Creek—Augusta National Golf Club (Augusta, Ga.)

Let’s get the most famous one out of the way first.  Patrons of the Masters know well the role that a nettlesome tributary of Rae’s Creek plays in guarding the front of the green at Augusta National’s famous par-three 12th hole and the fairway and green of the equally famous par-five 13th.

Mangrove Lake—Mid Ocean Club (Tucker’s Town, Bermuda)

Bermuda’s Mid-Ocean Club credits C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor as its original designers.  At Mid Ocean’s par-four 5th, they created a classic Cape hole that starts at an elevated tee and bends gently left around the edge of Mangrove Lake.

Machrihanish Bay—Machrihanish Golf Club (Machrihanish, Scotland)

It’s not a lake you need to worry about when you hit your opening tee shot at Machrihanish Golf Club—it’s the Atlantic Ocean. Here again, the par four sweeps gently to the left, hugging the shoreline. There’s plenty of room to bail out to the right, but that just makes this 424-yard hole even longer. Should you hit your tee shot left, you might get lucky, though. If the tide is out, you can play your second shot from the beach.

NOTE:  I had the privilege of playing this great course and, on my tee shot over the Ocean, I managed to make it.  But I hit the sand and played my second from the beach must like a fairway bunker.  Still got par on the hole.

Stillwater Bay—Pebble Beach Golf Links (Pebble Beach, Calif.)

Imagine coming to the 18th tee at Pebble Beach needing a birdie or par to win the U.S. Open and seeing the vast expanse of Stillwater Bay lurking to the left.

Victoria Cove—Cape Wickham Golf Links (King Island, Tasmania)

Here’s another 18th hole where a water hazard features prominently. In the case of Cape Wickham’s 434-yard finisher, though, the fairway bends to the right along the edge of Victoria Cove and its secluded beach.

Pacific Ocean—Cypress Point Golf Club (Pebble Beach, Calif.)

Just up the coast from Pebble Beach lies one of golf’s most demanding holes:  The 230-yard, par-three 16th at Cypress Point, which is all-carry from tee to peninsula green—usually into the prevailing wind off the sea.

Pacific Ocean—Mauna Kea Golf Course (Kohala Coast, Hawaii)

The 3rd hole at Mauna Kea is another all-carry par three—this one with black volcanic rock thrown in for good measure.  Robert Trent Jones serves up this 210-yard tester early in the round, and the unique volcanic rock formations and cliffs will make multiple other appearances as you move through your round.

NOTE:  I played this course and remember it pretty well.  I managed to lay up a bit to the right and ended by bogeying the hole.

17th Hole Pond—Ocean Course at Kiawah Island (Kiawah Island, S.C.)

At 223 yards, the par-three 17th hole at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course didn’t need water to make it a tough test.

West Whale Bay—Port Royal Golf Course (Southampton, Bermuda)

The 16th at Port Royal in Bermuda is another all-carry par three.  (Notice a trend here?)  In this case, it’s West Whale Bay that your tee shot will have to avoid as it travels the 227 yards from tee to green.

Pacific Ocean—Punta Mita Golf Club, Pacifico Course (Nayarit, Mexico)

Jack Nicklaus must have been drooling when he saw the coastline he’d have at his disposal when he was asked to design the Pacifico course at Mexico’s Punta Mita Golf Club.

Hawke’s Bay—Cape Kidnappers (Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand)

Don’t play Tom Doak’s Cape Kidnappers on New Zealand’s North Island if you’re afraid of heights.  Several of its spectacular fairways and green sites have steep drop-offs from cliffs perched 400 feet or more above the tumultuous waters below.

17th Hole Lake—TPC Sawgrass, Players Stadium Course (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.)

The famous island-green, par-three 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is golf’s ultimate do-or-die hole.  All it demands is a high, straight shot of around 137 yards.

EXPENSIVE GOLF

Now, on to the second issue, the most expensive bookings you can play.  For me, just a curiosity because I don’t ever intend to fork over that much cash for just 18 holes.

Shadow Creek (Las Vegas, Nevada)—$1,000

Sensei Porcupine Creek (Palm Springs, California on an estate that used to be owned by billionaire Larry Ellison) — $950

TPC Sawgrass (Players Stadium) (Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida)—$600

Wynn Golf Club (Las Vegas, Nevada)—$600

Pebble Beach Golf Links (Pebble Beach, California)—$595

Whistling Straights (Kohler, Wisconsin)—$555

Kiawah Island (Ocean) (Kiawah Island, South Carolina)—$500

So, for me, back to golf reality.  Thinking about playing.  And, if I do, finding reasonable costs on the 1^st tee.