Golf Cognoscente Consortium pavilion in Vegas? Golf as Art?

Will the PGA Merchandise Show in Las Vegas see the first Golf Cognoscente Consortium pavilion? Is the world ready for Golf as Art?

After being back in Sarasota for a little more than a month, here's an update on Golf Cognoscente developments. We are working on a Golf Cognoscente Consortium pavilion for the PGA Show in Las Vegas. The final proposal will go out to all the marketing members by the end of next week. With the PGA Show coinciding with Fashion Week, this would a FABULOUS way to launch our Consortium on a national level.

Golf as Art ...

After great deliberation and consulting with some people in my inner circle ... you heard it here first ... Golf as Art will be a paradigm shifting teaching facility in Sarasota ... that's all I can say right now. Stay tuned....

Auke

A return to my American roots in Sarasota, Fla.

It's been a few weeks since my last report of Style & Fashion in Golf. Reason being, my return to the first place I settled in America in 1984 ... Sarasota. I felt I needed a place where I could manifest my creativity and for that to happen, water has to be a part of the equation. Sarasota has very special meaning to me and the fondest of memories. I lived here from 1984 till 1995 and have to say ... it has always been, is, and always will be a special place of residence for me. The aesthetic beauty, the unrivaled beaches, the balmy weather and the amazing cultural options are second to none.

Sarasota's greatest claim to fame is as the winter home of the Ringling Barnum & Bailey Circus. Golf plays a big role in this cosmopolitan Florida Gulf Coast retreat. The historic Bobby Jones course was the site of a memorable Bobby Jones exhibition and a Paul Azinger City Championship some years ago. Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones dueled on the classic Sara Bay links. The LPGA played 17 years at Bent Tree Country Club and the Senior version of the Ryder Cup was hosted by the TPC of Prestancia during the late '80s and early '90s.

Recent Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger resides in Bradenton just to the north where David Leadbetter's Junior Academy is located. The Concession is a recent Jack Nicklaus/Tony Jacklin addition and Tom Fazio sculpted a beauty of a course for the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. I am sure you didn't know a few or all of these "local" facts.

This will be my place of residence for now and forever ... it is just THAT good. If you have any plans to visit call my new 941-320-2291 number and I'll be delighted to host you. Of course I'd had to be reconnected to the clothing industry and am delighted to report that my dear friend Hank Battie with his one-of-a-kind custom haberdashery Cravats' is my new sartorial abode. Check out www.CravatsCustomClothier.com for the unique offerings of a man I have called my friend for almost 20 years. In the near future we will be making announcements of which role the Golf Cognoscente Consortium will play at Cravats'.

For now ... balmy greetings from Sarasota ... lush fairways, perfect greens and only One putts!

Ciao...

Auke