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.

When I wrote about new golf driver models the other day, I should have noted that the post from Links Magazine left out several.  Including these four:

• PXG, which no doubt irks the makers of the club who spend so much money on TV advertising.

• Tour Edge, which gains a lot of notice from being played by several solid Champions Tour players, including the venerable Bernhard Langer, who keeps winning, including last weekend.

• Srixon, which is making a name for itself in, at least, golf balls.

• Honma, which got a lot of publicity a couple years ago when pro golfer Justin Rose chose the made by the Japanese manufacturer, but its profile declined when Rose soon went away from the brand.

I have no idea why these club models were omitted from the Links coverage.  And it also is true that I don’t much care because my loyalty will remain with Callaway.

Plus, in retirement, I don’t have much else to do than to think about stuff like this.

By the way, the top six drivers in the Links coverage were TaylorMade, Callaway, Ping, Cobra, Mizuno, and Titleist.