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.

Protocol is an interesting word.

According to the dictionary, here is what it means:  “The customs and regulations dealing with diplomatic formality, precedence, and etiquette.”

Lately, I have encountered this word – more accurately, this principal – on two occasions.

One relates to the short session of the Oregon Legislature which is under way in Salem, Oregon.

The other relates to golf.

So, here is information on both, even as I say that I like the word, both the way it sounds as it rolls off the tongue and what it means.

THE LEGISLATURE:  During my 25 years as a state lobbyist, I learned the value of protocols.

There are a number in the Oregon Legislature.  As I talked them through with a client, I remember he used the word “sideboards” to describe them.  His point:  There are ways of staying within boundaries at the Capitol in Oregon that increase, without guaranteeing, your chance of success.

Understanding the sideboards – read, protocols – is important.

Here is one major protocol.

When a bill you are supporting or opposing is scheduled in a House or Senate committee, remember this critical basic fact:  The chair of the committee, whomever he or she may be, is always in charge of the hearing process.

So, if you are at the witness table making comments or answering questions, always go through the chair when you introduce yourself or when you answer a question.

Like this:  Mr. or Madame Chair, the answer to your question Representative or Senator Smith is …………..

Following this protocol is one indication that you understand the Oregon Legislature and have respect for the law-making process.  It will pay off.

And, remember this:  If, somehow, you forget to follow this protocol, there is no penalty.  It just is a good thing to set out to follow it, thus illustrating your expertise.

GOLF:  Lately, I have been experiencing a violation of a couple important protocols in the sport I love.

In one case, a friend of mine doesn’t follow the protocol of hitting when it is his turn to hit.  If he is closer to the hole than me, he almost always hits first, even if I am addressing my ball farther from the green than he is.  HE does with other players, too.  Not just me.

The protocol is that the person whose golf ball is farthest from the hole hits first.

In a friendly game, if you nearer the hole than another player and if you want to hit first – for example, to save time – then the protocol is to ask the other player if he or she would mind if you went first.

Usually, the other player will say no, then don’t mind.  Then go.

Now, I add that, in friendly games, not a tournament, hitting first when it is not your turn, does not incur a penalty.  But, if this occurs frequently, it can be upsetting to the other players who might be standing around waiting for someone to hit out of turn.

In other words, try to follow this protocol.

One other protocol strikes me as I play with friends in La Quinta, California. 

One player appears not to recognize that, around tees and greens, there are concrete cart paths.  He ignores them, often driving right up to the edge of greens.  If he had a handicapped sticker, I would give him some space. But he doesn’t.

He just doesn’t use the cart paths.

My view:  If a golf course spends money on cart paths, they are there for a reason.  Use them!

At my home course in Salem, Oregon, the superintendent says, in wet weather, it often is best for players in golf carts to drive on the fairways he and his staff manicure with skill and dedication.  But, in very wet weather, the instruction is to use the cart paths and not any part of the turf, fairway or rough.

Do I always follow such golf protocols as these?  Of course not, though I try to do so for the love of the game.  I hope you try, too.