[Yoda]

Thank you Yoda for all that you've done for me and for all you continue to do.

Homer Kelley wrote, "The instructor can only inform and explain--the student must absorb and apply."

And you've definitely done your share this year, Ted. I am proud of you! Not only for what you have accomplished in your own game, but for what you do every day for your students.

And you're right: I have never viewed golf instruction as a competition. It would be nice to make the various 'Top Instructors' lists at some point, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. I am not saying that the goal to be "#1" is wrong. Properly pursued, striving to be "the best" is always a worthy goal.

But...I am concerned only with being "the best" I can be. It is not my mission to be better than 'you'. The truth is that there will always be greater and lesser persons against whom to measure ourselves. In fact, if I can help you become the best you can be, then I want to do it. And if that makes you better than me, well then, good deal. Mission accomplished!

In my golf life, here's what's important to me:

-- The success of my students.

-- The respect of my peers.

-- The continued, selfless allegiance of those who help me every day to deliver our message to the golf world.

These three things get me out of bed each morning and tap-dancing to the keyboard and lesson tee. To wake up every day knowing you can do a little something that makes a difference is what it's all about. And that job well done results in the sudden rush of self-esteem we call happiness.

The pursuit of same is the promise of America, and I am humbled by the opportunity to serve.