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.

The number of golf rounds played in the United States is up halfway through 2026. 

That news comes from the National Golf Foundation (NGF), which said this:

“Rounds played in the U.S., through June, have been ahead of or even with every year month in 2025, which set the all-time record.  At the year’s halfway mark, play is about 4 per cent ahead of this same period a year ago.

“The pre-pandemic era record for rounds was set in 2000, but then was topped in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025.”

Why? No one knows for sure, but I believe the following is true:  Golf remains a challenging game and it’s fun to be outdoors instead of inside some kind of gym or facility.