My name is Mardell Wilkins and I will be writing this column for the next year.

I hold Class A certification with both the LPGA and the PGA and I have been teaching at the Mission Viejo County Club for the past 25 years.

I have been choosen as one of the Top 50 Best Teachers by the LPGA for 2008-2009.

  I have been an LPGA Member since 1971, and played on the LPGA Tour from 1971  1984, during which time I had eight Top 10 finishes and competed in 12 U.S. Womens Open Championships.   My PGA Classification is A-6, which is the classification for Teaching Professionals, and I have been a Member since 1989.  I have been very active in the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Division, having served as President of the Western Section for four years.

Golf for Women included me in the inaugural Top 50 Teacher list in 2000, and I was chosen as the Western Section LPGA T & CP Teacher of the Year in both 1996 and 1998.  Golf Magazine has also included me in their top 400 Teacher list.

 I have been an instructor in the LPGA National Education Program and also teach in their Player Development Program.  I still like to compete occasionally and recently won the Square Two LPGA T & CP Team Classic Senior Division, along with my partner Patty Snyder for the third year in a row.

As a teacher, I try to communicate in a clear and understandable language and to help you set and reach goals, taking into account your individual physical characteristics, and time commitment. 

I try to educate my students to understand their swings and to be able to fix problems themselves between lessons. 

 With this in mind,  over the next few weeks I will be writing about  the Ball Flight Laws with the intent to start you off with the knowledge of cause and effect, so that you might learn to self correct on the golf course during those rounds where the ball is not flying the way you would like it to.  .

 You may contact me at top50teacher@cox.net or visit my website at www.orangecountygolflessons.com, or call me at 949-584-0574.  Please be sure to let me know any areas that you might be interested in reading about in future articles.