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 of the most important credentials for golfers, both amateurs and pros alike, is this:  The ability to forget.

For example, a few weeks ago, down here in La Quinta, California, where I live in the winter, I played a round at a popular public course, Desert Willow.

To put it simply, it was a bad round for me, perhaps the worst one in several months.

So, the credential:  Forget that round and go on to the next one.  Which I managed to do the next day.

The same principle applies to individual shots on a golf course. 

If you hit a bad shot, go on to the next one.

That illustrates this accurate Q and A in golf.  Question:  What is the most important shot in golf?  Answer:  The next one.

I am learning and re-learning the ability to forget.

Including from this additional perspective.  I had the privilege recently of hosting the Oregon State University Men’s Golf Team recently at the course where I play in the winter, The Palms in La Quinta, California.

Neither the players, nor the coaches, had seen The Palms before, so my job involved shepherding them around the course, sometimes to aid with the difficulty of knowing the proper route between one green and the next tee.

So, I saw players hit shot-after-shot, impressed by their length and accuracy.

And, forgetting?  Yes.  I need to forget how far they hit the golf ball and how short I hit the ball in comparison.  Of course, 50 years or so difference in age illustrates the comparison.  I also may want to forget my age, too!