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.

Given the current political season when polls are made public every day, I am talking my own poll.

Not on politics because, if for no other reason, I already have voted using Oregon’s mail ballot voting process.  Kamala Harris and Tim Walz get my vote!

But, if you were king or queen for a day, what golf rule would you change?

For me, the answer is easy.  If a player hit a good golf shot, but it ended up in divot created by another player who did not fix it, I would give free relief.

Now, there is no relief as so many golfers have found, including the late Payne Stewart who hit into a divot once in a late round of the 1998 U.S. Open, couldn’t get out cleanly, and ended up losing the tournament to Lee Janzen, though Stewart won the next year just before he unfortunately died in an airplane accident.

Given Stewart’s experience, not to mention my own, my summary above is such an obvious rule change that I cannot believe everyone doesn’t agree with me.

So, my poll – obviously not a scientific one – produced these results, which I list without the names of those who made each suggestion:

• From a friend:  Nothing matches your suggestion about being able to move a ball which rests in the divot of another careless golfer who failed to replace or sand it.
  
  I’d also change the rule about grounding a club in a sand bunker.  Why is the sand such a holy place?  We have to hit from the divots of others.  We can now ground our club in penalty areas, why not the sand?

Comment:  Good point.  Plus, if you were to take time to read official golf rule #12, you would find out a lot of other stuff that makes this friend’s point even more solid.

• From another friend:  I would pick either free relief from a tree root or raise the limit on the number of clubs allowed. 

Comment:  The root rule makes good sense; in the games I play at my course, all of us follow this rule.  As for more than 14 clubs, my golf bag is already too heavy.

• From another friend:  First, this isn’t fair because you know all the rules and I don’t.  Therefore, I am going to suggest that a rule be added that allows one mulligan per round.  I mean, yes, I already golf that way, but I think it should be more formally part of the game.

Comment: This is not a rule change, but a new rule – and a good one.

• From another friend:   I’d suggest re-visiting the language on pin placement.  I believe it says there “should” be 3 feet of level ground on all sides of the pin.
  
  We’ve all had instances playing impossibly tough pin placements where there was only a yard or so of flat ground prior to a steep hill. Not a fair pin and significantly slows pace of play.  Perhaps language should say “must” be 3 feet.

Comment:  Good point.  The language on pin placement, as I understand it, is advisory.  Placing the pins still relies on the judgment of the person doing the work, so it is important for that person on the maintenance crew to understand placement realities.

• From a head golf pro:  He said he would “play the ball down” every time, thus not allowing “preferred lies” around any golf course at any time.

Comment:  This would be tough, especially in inclement weather in the Pacific Northwest, but, to be sure, this head pro knows more golf than I do, so I’ll take him at his word.

• From another pro:  He said he would always place bunker rakes outside the bunker, not inside.  This is not necessarily a rule change, instead a change of advice, but, as the poll taker, I rule that it is a permissible comment for this poll.

Comment:  I can go both ways on this suggestion – rake inside or outside the bunker.  As I understand it, the United States Golf Association (USGA) advice is to keep rakes outside, so the USGA agrees with this pro.

Good suggestions, all.

So, I’ll be talking with the USGA and the R & A about adding these changes and additions to the next official golf rules book.