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 encountered an interesting golf rules issue the other day on the course – and, also, know this…I am addicted to learning more about golf rules.

This was the issue:

• A player in the group I was in hit a good shot on a par 3 hole to within about five feet of the cup.

• A second player hit a similar shot that struck the first ball and one of the balls ended up about two inches from the cup.  At the time, we thought it was the second shot that came up just short.

• But, when we got to the green, we learned that it was the first ball that, atter being hit, rolled toward the hole.

So, what is the proper golf ruling?

It would be this.  The first ball on the green would have to be replaced as close as possible to the spot it held when it was hit.  Not where it ended up almost in the hole.

The second ball would be played from where it ended up after the hit.  No penalty.

So, what would happen if the first ball on the green had gone into the hole after being hit?  Same answer.  It would have to be placed as close as possible to its original spot on the green.

Tough stuff, you say.

Consulting Mr. Google, I confirmed that this situation is covered by Golf Rules 18-5 and 20-3a.  You can look if up if you want.

Confirmation from Mr. Google:

“Question:  If I am off the putting green and my ball, when chipping onto the green, hits a ball on the putting surface, is there a penalty, and if so, who gets the penalty?

“Answer:  The easy thing to remember about this situation is that whenever a ball in play and, at rest, is moved by another ball in motion after a stroke, the moved ball must always be replaced (Rule 18-5).

“It is a principle of the rules of golf that a player is entitled to the lie and line of play that he or she had when the ball came to rest.  When a ball is to be replaced, the player, his or her partner or the person who moved it must place it on the spot from which it moved (Rule 20-3a).

“The player must make his or her best judgement to estimate where the ball was lying before it was moved.  The player whose ball hit the stationary ball must play their ball from wherever it came to rest.”

There.  Aren’t you glad you know all of this?