Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

Most of my friends know that, for some unknown reason, I like golf rules.

Perhaps because I want the challenge to understand rules that, based on how they are written by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the R & A in Europe, often don’t make much sense.

Another arcane golf rule bubbled up the other day on the course where I play, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem, Oregon.  It arose in a tournament for junior golfers.

Also, I suppose all golf rules are arcane, so perhaps it’s redundant to use that word as a way to describe the mystery of the rules.

Without much else to do in retirement, I researched the golf rules issue by heading toward the official rules publication, aided and abetted by Mr. Google.

The issue:  Is it ever possible to tee up your golf ball on consecutive shots?

Well, the answer doesn’t lend itself to a simple “yes” or “no.”  Of course, it is more complicated.

Here is what Mr. Google said.

“Good news for golfers who might (literally) struggle to get off the tee. Thanks to the USGA, we recently learned of a little-known rule in which you can tee up your ball on consecutive shots.

“Sound crazy?

“Just wait.

“In a video recently posted on the USGA’s Instagram, the governing body broke down the situation in which this scenario might come into play.

“For starters, to use this rule you need to top the ball.  Or sky it.  Or basically just hit it so poorly it doesn’t leave the ‘teeing area.’

“But you can make up for a bad swing by flexing your Rules of Golf knowledge and telling your buddies you can tee it up again for your second shot.

“Here’s how that works.

“First, you have to figure out if the swing counts.  If it was actually intended to be a practice swing — something we’ve seen a few times from none other than former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson — then you can simply tee it up and hit it again with no penalty.

“But, if you tried to hit the ball, then it counts. From the spot where the ball landed, even on the teeing ground, you are now hitting your second shot.

“But here’s the good news!

If the ball is still in the “tee box” — which is defined as the small box between the two tee markers and measuring two club-lengths back — then a player can pick it up and move it to anywhere within that teeing area.

“And, the kicker?  You can even tee it up for that second shot.”

The key here is the phrase “tee box.”  To repeat what’s above, that is the area between the two tee markers and measuring two club-lengths back.

The ball you just tried to hit cannot JUST be in the entire teeing area.  It has to be in the “tee box.”

If you think about it for only a second or two, it is almost impossible for this to happen.  Hit a tee shot, even poorly, and it ends up behind you a pace or two!

Not likely.

But, as this episode indicates, when you play golf, if you set your mind to it, you can learn something nearly every time.

And, this was true for me a couple days ago.