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.

If you asked golfers the question in this blog headline, you’d likely get this answer:  Fix the “divot rule.”

What’s that?

Here’s the way GolfWeek on-line magazine put it:  “The issue has long been one of golf’s most debated rules, with players and fans divided over whether a golfer who hits the fairway should be penalized when his or her golf ball finishes in damage caused by another player’s shot.”

Under the current Rules of Golf, a ball in a fairway divot must be played as it lies.  It is not classified as ground under repair, meaning players are not entitled to free relief.

So, as a long-time golfer, I say change it.

In a story in GolfWeek, a writer explains why one PGA Tour player, Michael Kim, says the current rule should stay in place.

“I don’t think you deserve a perfect lie just because you hit the fairway.  Ending up in a divot rarely happens and it becomes tough to determine where a divot starts and ends.”

More from Golf Week:

“The debate centers on the fundamental principle of golf that players should play the ball as it lies.  Opponents of the existing rule argue that a player should not be punished for hitting an accurate tee shot into a damaged patch of fairway.”

Supporters contend that you should “play the ball as it lies.”

“The difficulty for rules officials is determining where a divot begins and ends, particularly when the turf has started to recover.  That uncertainty has been one of the longstanding arguments against introducing a blanket rule.”

So, there you have it.  As with almost any other issue in golf — or otherwise — pros and cons spark the debate.

An example illustrates the problem with the current “no relief rule”

In the 2022 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Florida, England’s Paul Casey suffered a brutal break.  He was in contention during the final round of the unofficial fifth men’s major.

He hit his drive down the middle of the 16th fairway but couldn’t believe his luck when he found his ball had ended up in another player’s pitch mark.  He was only two strokes behind the leader and was only 209 yards from the pin, a tough but normal shot for a pro.

His only option was to knock one down the fairway and play for par, which he did – and lost. 

With the relief I would advocate, he might have at least tied for the lead.