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.

The answer to the question posed in this headline is not totally clear these days.

The risk is that the words “affordable” and “golf” do not go well together.

I have my own experience with this question here in the California desert where I live in the winter.

For one thing, the cost for a guest at The Palms (where I am fortunate to be a member) has gone up from $125 last year to $175 this year.

Others have told me that it costs about $250 to play at PGA West courses here in La Quinta, California.

Why the increases?

Well, without trying to come across as an economist, I suspect there are at least two reasons:

• Inflation is one.  Everything costs more these days and golf is no exception.
• Second, the market, at least here in the California desert, will bear it.  Even with higher green fees, it has been reported to be difficult to get tee times.

All of this was highlighted this week by a story in the Wall Street Journal that appeared under this headline and subhead:  Affordable Golf Courses That Won’t Sink You.  The cost of tee time has shot up as courses adopt dynamic pricing.”

The story by reporter David Weiss started this way:

“An affordable game of golf is almost as hard to find as that $5 ball you hit into the forest.  One reason:  Some golf operators have adopted dynamic pricing, which means that, depending on demand, premium tee times are not only difficult to book, but can cost more.

“Still, one needn’t pony up $600 for legendary layouts like Pebble Beach; great golf can be played at lesser-known locales for $100 or even less.”

The story highlighted six courses where costs are not out-of-bounds, to use a golf image.  These:

1. Desert Deal

Scottsdale, Arizona, is a snowbird magnet and home to more than 200 area courses, many of which can set you back a car payment for 18 holes.  But with golf, timing is everything:  If you visit after high season ends in April, We-Ko-Pa Golf Club in nearby Fort McDowell offers 36 holes of gorgeous Sonoran Desert golf and one of the best 2-round summer deals in the state at $165.

2. Hawaii Pick

In a state where tourists can drive prices sky-high, golf can be a costly habit, with resort green fees in the neighborhood of $300 per round. Wailua is a seaside marvel in Kauai at a fifth of the price, around $60 per 18-hole round, and is consistently ranked among the best municipal courses in the country.

3. Prairie Golf

Golf cognoscenti are well-aware of the celebrated Sand Hills Golf Club near North Platte, Nebraska, but fewer know that you can find a similar experience at a fraction of the tally at its public cousin down the road.  Set on rolling, sandy terrain, Wild Horse Golf Club in Gothenburg is a great example of minimalist design with wide fairways countered by trickily contoured and speedy greens.

4. Texas Play’em

Better known for musical legends like Buddy Holly and Waylon Jennings, Lubbock is also home to architect Tom Doak’s design for Texas Tech University’s Rawls Course.  What was once a flat cotton field now features bulldozer-crafted valleys and canyons, after the designer relocated 1.3 million cubic yards of topsoil.

5. Going Public

Los Angeles locals are lucky to have a Gil Hanse-designed public course in nearby Ventura County, where Rustic Canyon, in Moorpark, California,  has earned a reputation for its distinctive layout and surprising affordability.  Hanse, who crafted the Rio de Janeiro course for golf’s first Olympic competition in 2016, transformed this former sheep ranch into a links-style experience that favors the ground game most amateurs prefer over precision, high-trajectory approach shots.

6. A Bit of The Brit

For those in the know, Michigan is a sleeper golf destination, and Stoatin Brae — Gaelic for “grand hill” — is a terrific example of superior minimalist design in the southwest quadrant of the state.  A product of celebrated architect Tom Doak’s Renaissance Design firm, the austere layout is inspired by the great inland courses of the British Isles and part of a six-course roster at Gull Lake View Resort in Augusta, Michigan.

So, the moral of this story is to look for golf at a semi-reasonable price.  Even with inflation and what the market can bear, it can be found if you look hard enough.