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.

One thing I learned when I was a lobbyist in Oregon for more than 25 years was this:

Be hesitant to boast about achievements in one legislative session because another one is just around the corner.

So, if you consider golf for just a moment, my boast is this — the industry avoided any calamities in the most recent Oregon legislative session, which concluded on June 25.

The chief result:  Legislators did not consider an aggressive takeover of municipal golf course land to turn it into housing.

That’s important because such a tactic emerged in the last couple years in California.  As a lobbyist, I learned that both bad ideas and good ideas often move north and south along the West Coast.  So the “land takings” issue could have moved north.  It did not.

Avoiding this result in Oregon was especially important because it occurred – or, more accurately, did not occur — even though more housing was a major issue at the Capitol.  For example, it was a major priority for Oregon’s still-new governor, Tina Kotek.  But she didn’t go after golf course property to achieve her objective.

At one point during the session, some legislators got on their high horse and advocated doing away with two private golf course properties in Washington County (Pumpkin Ridge and the Reserve) and turning those properties into housing.  That, they said, was a way to avoid taking farmland for housing.

The idea, which generated headlines, was only a one-day story.  It appeared that generating media coverage was the goal because the screwy had nowhere to go.  Of course, no surprise to learn that these legislators did not talk with the private golf course owners about their idea.

Otherwise, for golf, there also were no negative environmental or land use proposals in the session.  A proposal to subject small engines, such as those on golf course, also died.

So, this is where the golf industry will be content to lie:  Tout the economic benefits of golf, along with important recreational opportunities, and leave it at that.

The industry will continue to keep its eye on future issues because the Oregon Legislature meets again for a short session in February 2024 and a long session in 2025.