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.

As I have volunteered at golf tournaments in recent years, a question keeps cropping up in my mind.

As the headline asks, is there room for balance – or call it “compromise” – in golf rules decisions?

I am not sure what the answer is.

A couple examples come to mind.

#1:  A Junior Golfer Tees Off Before Her Time on the Tee

This happened several years ago at the Oregon Golf Association course in Woodburn.

While I was on the tee as the starter, a very competent golfer got so excited that she teed off before I called her name to do so.

Normally, hitting early on the 1^st tee would cost a player a two-stroke penalty.  In this case, we let the penalty slide, though we cautioned the player to live by the letter of the rule next time.

#2:  Several Groups of Junior Golfers Hit Of the Wrong Tee for Three Holes in a Row

This happened, also several years ago, at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis.

A starter on the tee – not me, fortunately – used his authority to instruct four groups of golfers to start on what turned out to be the wrong tee.  At the time, he didn’t know that he had done so, but, before long, the mistake was clear.

But what to do?

Golf rules say that a player who hits a drive on the wrong tee must correct the mistake immediately or risk a penalty or disqualification.

Several groups had teed off on three holes before the mistake came to light.

I remember sitting in the Trysting Tree clubhouse listening as the tournament director and several rules officials caucused on the phone.  After discussing options, they decided to give each other girl who had made a mistake a two-stroke penalty rather than disqualification.

It was, I reflect, a good decision.  Albeit a compromise because, under a strict interpretation of the rules, all the players who had made such a mistake would be disqualified.

At the same time, I heard rules officials debate whether they had any leeway to interpret rules issues along the way in a tournament.  And, in the end, they made a compromise decision.  And, I suspect the players involved an important lesson, which is to read the rules sheet they had because it listed the appropriate for them.

Not sure there is an always “right” answer to the question about leeway in golf rules and it also is true that a precise interpretation of golf rules rests more with professional players than with juniors trying to learn the game.

For me, the decision on the situation at the moment rather than a generalization in advance.

Other observers probably disagree, contending that golf rules must carry the day, with no room for interpretation.

Finally, I write about all this, clearly, with too much time on my hands to think of other stuff as I head, again, to the golf course this morning for a friendly round where I will feel free to exercise interpretation in dealing with golf rules.