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.

I may have written about this before, but two points – (a) if I have, I am so old I cannot remember, and (b) I love the sport of golf.

Especially in Scotland.

The home of golf.

My current on-line issue of Links Magazine performs a service by listing what it calls “The Top 10 Courses in Scotland.”

I agree with the Links list.  And, it turns out that, on my trips to Scotland with my wife, Nancy (her parents, as children, emigrated from Scotland to the U.S.), I have played all but one of the Top 10.

Here is the list, with a few comments along the way:

1. ST. ANDREWS (OLD), St. Andrews

Six hundred years old and going strong.  The Road Hole, Hell Bunker, Swilcan Burn, and Valley of Sin all await at the world’s most famed and fabled course, which hosted a record 30th Open Championship in 2022.  [It’s a tough tee time to get, but worth the effort.]

2. MUIRFIELD, Gullane

The fairest and most straightforward test on the Open rotation, it can also be the fiercest when the thick rough is allowed to grow and the wind howls off the Firth of Forth.  [In the spirit of full disclosure, I have not played this course, but I did walk it as a spectator when my son, Eric, played in the British Mid-Am.]

3. TRUMP TURNBERRY (AILSA), Turnberry

Several recent renovations, most notably a re-configuring of the 9th and 10th holes beside the iconic lighthouse, have enhanced both the charm and challenge of Scotland’s most dazzling course.  [When I played this course, it was not owned by one Donald Trump.  If it had been, I would not played it.  When I did, the weather was as bad as it had been on any golf course for me, but I was leaving the next day, so I persevered.]

4. ROYAL DORNOCH (CHAMPIONSHIP), Dornoch

Imaginative routing, vexing plateau greens, and a magnificent setting make this gem of the northeast Highlands well worth the trip.  Play it in the spring when the gorse is in full bloom.  [Along with Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club, my home track in Salem, Oregon, Royal Dornoch is my favorite golf course in the world.]

5. CARNOUSTIE (CHAMPIONSHIP), Carnoustie

Even in calm conditions, this is a remorseless test, particularly off the tee, with meandering burns, out of bounds, and penal bunkers all competing for attention.  Add a stiff breeze and it’s one of the toughest tests in the world.

6. KINGSBARNS, Kingsbarns

This two-tiered 21st-century triumph from Kyle Phillips and Mark Parsinen, just 20 minutes from St. Andrews, has been on the must-play list since the day it opened two decades ago.  [This is the one on this list that I have not played, nor walked.]

7. NORTH BERWICK (WEST), North Berwick

It’s impossible not to have fun on this stretch of linksland hard by the Firth of Forth, where a veritable museum of hole templates and architectural gambits awaits.

8. CASTLE STUART, Inverness

Gil Hanse was given an extraordinary piece of land beside the Moray Firth and rose to the occasion with an ingenious routing of 18 holes that are as relentlessly engaging as the views.

9. ROYAL ABERDEEN (BALGOWNIE), Aberdeen

A classic out-and-back links running beside the North Sea, its majestic front nine is framed by mammoth dunes with the testing return on wind-whipped higher ground.  [There also is another adjacent to Royal Aberdeen.  It is called Murcar and legend has it that, at one point, a group of Japanese players made a mistake and played nine holes at Royal Aberdeen and nine holes at Murcar.]

10. CRUDEN BAY (CHAMPIONSHIP), Cruden Bay

One of the game’s great walks and a certified charmer, it winds in a figure eight past a tiny harbor through huge sandhills and beside a stunning beach.  Blind shots, huge drops, drivable fours, and back-to-back threes add to the joy.

There!  A list of great courses that, for me, bring back many fond memories.