Everyone I Built A Course

I Remember What A Thrill It Was To Attend My First Champions Dinner. Just Being In The Same Room With Some Of The Guys I Had Admired Growing Up And To Be There Because I Had Won The Masters Was Quite An Honor. I Still Attend The Dinner Every Year And It Is One Of The Highlights Of My Time At Augusta During Masters Week.

From The Beginning It Was Drilled Into Me That A Golf Course Was A Place Where Character Fully Reveals Itself -- Both Its Strengths And Its Flaws. As A Result, I Learned Early Not Only To Fix My Ball Marks But Also To Congratulate An Opponent On A Good Shot, Avoid Walking Ahead Of A Player Preparing To Shoot, Remain Perfectly Still When Someone Else Was Playing, And A Score Of Other Small Courtesies That Revealed, In My Father's Mind, One's Abiding Respect For The Game.

The Game Has Such A Hold On Golfers Because They Compete Not Only Against An Opponent, But Also Against The Course, Against Par, And Most Surely- Against Themselves.

Golf Is Deceptively Simple And Endlessly Complicated; It Satisfies The Soul And Frustrates The Intellect. It Is At The Same Time Rewarding And Maddening - And It Is Without A Doubt The Greatest Game Mankind Has Ever Invented.

It Is Such A Disappointment In American Political Reaction And Actions. When Some Of Our Politicians Are Flying Around The Country In Private Airplanes All The Time, Using Public Services As Their Mode Of Private Transportation, And Then Criticizing Us Who Are In Business.