What do exotic cars and golf have in common?

I was wondering what my subject should be, when I reminded myself that our evening in Italy party at Cavallini actually had a link to golf! Let's talk about fabulous cars and the golfers that love them.

Let's start with No 1 him self Sir Tiger. With his well publicized sponsor relationship with Buick, the real cognoscenti know that Tiger LOVES his Porsche(s) ... Mr. Appleby can be seen parking his yellow Lamborghini in the Bay Hill parking lot every March.

But who among pro golfers is the most prolific car aficionado? There is no contest here ... Darren Clark is well known for his passion of fast and exotic wheels. Well there you have it... last Wednesday at Cavallini in Beverly Hills we organized a client appreciation event with Ferrari race car driver Costantino Bertuzzi ... if only Darren could have been there. We will draw a race experience with "Costa" during the Cavallini Holiday party on Dec.11, so for all you golfers in the SoCal area, come on over!

Golf Cognoscente taking shape beautifully in tough times

I am delighted to report that the premier issue of Golf Cognoscente is taking shape beautifully. We are receiving a tremendous amount of support in these tough times, due to the fact that we are creating a luxury lifestyle Golf magazine/HD video DVD property unlike any other.

The support from our publishing partner Beverly Hills Report is amazing and the content will be focusing in-depth on Couture and Golf. We will be shooting at Stone Eagle in Palm Desert on Dec. 5 and our major marketing partners HONMA equipment, Blue Star Jets private planes, Antas custom Golf slacks and Walter Genuin Golf shoes will be showcasing their product.

We can't wait to launch the premier issue at the PGA Show in Orlando and share our passion with 50,000 global attendees. I will keep you posted on developments closer to the publishing date.

Ciao....Auke.

Severiano Ballesteros the virtuoso is in my prayers

The latest news is that Severiano is stabilizing after three brain surgeries. I hope and pray he makes it through the toughest challenge of his life and will be able to enjoy health and prosperity in his later years. Having read most or all of the news articles during these trying times for "Seve", something was amiss.

Yes, a reference to the European Arnold Palmer was nice, but here is my contention. Where are the personalities today? Some cognoscente in the fine arts state that supreme talent only arrives once a century, well I guess we'll have to wait maybe 10, 20 or 50 years? What about Tiger Woods? With all due respect to Tiger and his phenomenal record ... a lot of what made Seve truly Seve was his swashbuckling personality in his prime.

Let me go back a little further in time in the American Golf history books and give you my equivalent of Seve on this side of the pond ... Walter Hagen. A self made swing and a short game that would put the scare in every player that walked up to the first tee to face him! In today's global commercial sports world a kid with that much talent would be "robotted" by age 12.

I am reminded of Payne Stewart's dad to his new high school coach....."You can teach him to be on time and behave, but don't change his swing". When I used to watch the Chrysler Cup in Sarasota in the early '90s, I was always mesmerized by Chi Chi Rodriguez' incredible talent and individualism. Will we see another Walter Hagen, Chi Chi Rodriguez or Seve Ballesteros among the crop of current or up and coming Tour players? Will we be impressed by low scores and long drives for the sake of the game or are there others yearning to have virtuosity and individualism sprinkled in among this great game's most important ingredients?

Seve you are an original ... may you fully recover to enjoy the golden years of a life that has given so much joy to golf aficionado's the world over.

In creative spirit

Auke