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.

Some days I think I know all I need to know about the Rules of Golf in the sport I love.

Then, I learn something new, which means, as all my friends will be happy to note, I am not as smart as I think I am.

So, here are three examples of the new information – or least reinforced old information:

#1/YOU CAN ALWAYS TAKE A “STROKE AND DISTANCE” PENALTY

With kudos to the Oregon Golf Association rules writer, Terry McEvilly, who also is a friend, I report this as he did:

“Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to the Rules of Golf.

“And knowledge is even more helpful when golfers come to the understanding that the Rules are not to be feared, but can instead be a help in lowering one’s scores and making playing the game more enjoyable.

“A great example of this is playing under stroke and distance, a simple concept that allows, with one penalty stroke, a player to play a ball from where the previous stroke was played.

“Rule 18.1 makes clear it is an option that the player always has, with no restrictions.  Even if a player isn’t sure where their ball may be, they can always proceed under stroke and distance.  And ‘always’ is the key word in the prior sentence.  At any time, a player may take stroke-and-distance relief by adding one penalty stroke and playing the original ball, or another ball, from where the previous stroke was made.

“It’s worth repeating — a player always has this stroke-and-distance relief option.  It’s a right granted under the rules that exists, no matter the circumstances.”

There.   My new knowledge.

I always had thought that there needed to be a specific reason for taking a new stroke from the spot of the last one, such as a shot going out-of-bounds.  McEvilly’s information is new for me.

#2/WINTER RULES:  WHAT IT MEANS

Another rule effects many people who live in cold and rainy climes – winter rules.

In the official Rules of Golf, “winter rules” go by this term “preferred lies” and are covered by Model Local Rule E-3.

So, how does it work?

Winter rules allow a player to lift his or her ball in the fairway and place it on a different spot, all because of adverse weather.  I knew this, but is more clarity.

The committee in charge or golf course should set the size of the relief area that the ball has to be placed in (such as 6 inches, a scorecard length or even a club-length).

This distance uses the original location of the ball as the reference point, and the ball can’t be placed any nearer the hole than that point.  Once lifted, the ball can be cleaned or even replaced with a different ball.  If this process were to allow the player to go from fairway to fringe, or even from fairway to rough, that is okay, as well.

Further, winter rules should generally be used only in the fairway of the hole being played.  If they are extended to areas outside of the fairway, it could result in a player unfairly getting free relief from a place where the ball might otherwise not have been playable, such as in a bush or group of trees.

Once the player places the ball using the procedure above, it cannot be lifted again and must be played as it lies.

Here, in the California desert, winter rules do not come into play, so I’ll remember this back in my normal home, Oregon.

#3/WHERE DID THE TERM “MULLIGAN” ORGINATE?

Let’s start with a definition.  In his book The Historical Dictionary of Golfing Terms:  From 1500 to the Present, Peter Davies wrote, “Mulligan means permission by a player (forbidden under the rules) to an opponent to replay a misplayed shot, especially a tee-shot.

Most of us knew that.

Plus, a friend of mine here is the California desert where I spend my winters told me the other day that, when he plays with his friends back in Montana, everyone gets one mulligan per round to use as he or she sees fit.

Sounds like a good approach to me.

As for the term “mulligan,” it arose from the surname of one or the other of two players back in the day.

Their names were David and Buddy Mulligan, whose tales played out at courses separated by 370 miles:  One in Montreal, the other in Essex Fells, New Jersey.

David Mulligan played in a regular foursome.   One morning, after a terrible drive off the 1st tee, he instinctively placed down another ball and whacked it again.  Simple enough, something you might do any time you play and not think twice about it.  But to this group, the re-do was a stunning moment.

Thinking fast, facing opposition from others in his foursome, he said his extra shot was a “mulligan.”

One of my on-line sources added this:

“It all worked out amicably enough, but after that it became an unwritten rule in the foursome that you could take an extra shot – but only on the 1st tee — if you weren’t satisfied with your original.  Naturally, this was always referred to as ‘taking a mulligan.’

There is alternative behind this story.  First, some claim that David Mulligan picked up and drove his playing partners to the course that day. The drive was rough and over an old rickety bridge.  Because his nerves and hands were shaking, he said he should be afforded a second tee shot after a poor attempt on the first.

Second, there is a dissenting camp that credits David’s brother, Buddy, with the mulligan name.

Either story is fine with me, as long as I get a mulligan!

Now, with all this, aren’t you glad you know as much as I do about golf rules – or at least made up rules if you are talking about a mulligan.