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.

It is not necessarily a well-known fact, but the designer of Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem, Oregon was a golf course architect of some renown.  His name:  Billy Bell.  Actually, Billy Bell, Jr.

He has been credited with designing more than 50 courses, most in the Western United States, including, especially, in California.

Billy’s father, William Bell, Sr., was a more accomplished golf course architect, but appears to have passed down his ability to his son.

The father and son tandem have been described this way:

“The Bells: California’s First Family of Golf Course Design.  

While literally hundreds of golf course architects have designed or re-designed courses in California, few have had the lasting impact of William P. and William F. Bell.  [The former is the senior Bell; the latter, the junior.]

Bell, Sr. served as a construction superintendent for two famous architects, Willie Watson and George Thomas, Jr., before eventually stepping up to golf course architecture on his own.  He spent his first years as a course architect collaborating with Thomas on his great designs of the 1920s, including the Bel-Air, Riviera, and Los Angeles Country Clubs, the latter of which just hosted the U.S. Open.

Along the way, his son had a top-rated tutor in the golf course design business.

Bell, Sr. died in 1953, leaving behind his vision for the design of Torrey Pines, which his son went on to complete.

It was Bell Jr. who then worked on Illahe Hills, which opened in 1961. 

I have not been able to talk with Illahe’s founding members about why they hired Bell, nor how they enticed him to come to Salem to design a new course in a small city compared to major enclaves in California. 

But it was a good decision, given Illahe’s stature today.

Based on Bell’s design, the course where I live in Salem, Oregon has come to be a landmark in the state, a course known for its manicured fairways, hundreds of trees that come into play on every hole, about 80 re-worked bunkers, and greens that register among the best in the state as they often run to 11 on the stimp-meter.

If anyone plays Illahe for the first time and I get a chance to speak to them before they tee off, I always say this:  Try to stay below the hole on each of the 18 greens.  If you do, you’ll have a chance to score.  If you don’t, say goodbye to a good round.

It’s good advice for regular players, as well, including me.

Here’s what the Illahe Hills website says about the course and Bell, Jr.: “Welcome to Illahe Hills Country Club, providing a challenging golf experience in a grand setting.  A backdrop of trees line the traditional layout, designed by renowned golf course architect William Bell and opened for play in 1961.  Illahe Hills has played host to many of Oregon’s major golf events, as well as USGA Championships.”

Am I biased?

Sure.

I have been a member at Illahe for about 35 years and, during that time, one of my favorite sayings is this:  I never get tired of playing the course.

It offers something new every time I arrive at the 1^st tee.

So, thanks to Billy Bell, Jr. for a great golf course design.