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.

Why does this blog headline matter to me?

Well, it’s because I have Norwegian blood in my veins, so it was good to see a Norseman win on the PGA Golf Tour.

Here is how GolfWeek described the victory:

“Kristoffer Reitan has had to question whether he was going to get into the last two signature events.  He no longer has to wonder.

“The 28-year-old won the 2026 Truist Championship on Sunday, his first PGA Tour victory in his 15th start.  He’s the second player from Norway (Viktor Hovland is the first) to win on Tour and did so shooting 2-under 69 in the final round at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, to beat Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Hojgaard by two shots.

“’I don’t have any words, to be honest,’ he told CBS’ Amanda Balionis after the winning putt dropped.  ‘This is way more than I expected and for it to happen this quickly is just unreal.  Yeah, a dream come true.’”

Credit, obviously, goes to Reitan.  But I’ll take a small share as a fellow Norsman.