Steve Cohen, Founder Shivas Iron Society, Memorial & Golf Outing 10/28 @ Bayonet

[Steve_ Shaffer]

I received this invitation today:

On October 28, Steve Cohen's family and friends will gather to remember, honor and celebrate our dear friend and SIS Founder in Seaside, CA, at the Bayonet/Blackhorse Golf Courses where he often played.  You are invited to both the memorial and tribute round. Here are the details...

Friday, October 28, 2016
Bayonet/Blackhorse Golf Club (Seaside, CA)

11:00 am         Steve's Memorial

1:10 pm           The Steve Cohen Tribute Round & Dinner
                        ($160/pp includes lunch, dinner, green fee & cart -  alcohol not included)

In Steve's honor, the round will be structured to provide opportunities for learning, play, letting go, creativity, concentration, connection and self-discovery.  These possibilities for growth and self-awareness are distilled from years of the Golf In the Kingdom workshops and golfing journeys Steve (co-)led around the world.

For planning purposes, It would be helpful to know if you think you'd like to join us for the memorial (free of course) and/or for the tribute round/dinner (not quite free but at cost.)  If you choose to play, we'll need to firm up details by October 11th.  Just shoot us an email if you think you'll be joining us.

Finally, if you'd like to play golf on Saturday, October 29, let us know.  If there’s interest, we’ll organized it.

We hope to celebrate the spirit of our dear friend with you.

Sincerely,
Ben Kline
 ben@shivas.org

Prior thread:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,63453.msg1511078.html#msg1511078

[David_Tepper]

Steve -

Thanks very much for posting this. I will likely be in the Monterey area that day.

DT

[Ken Fry]

Steve,

Thanks for posting.  Unfortunately, I hadn't heard the terrible news of Steve Cohen's passing until I saw your post.

For many years I was a member of the Shivas Irons Society.  While some of the Society's programs may be "a little out there" for some people, I had the good fortune of meeting and playing with some nice people along the way, Steve Cohen among them.  (Mark Smolens is also part of that group.)

There are two events I remember very well.  One was played at The Dunes Club in New Buffalo, MI.  I was paired with Steve and there were different "games" or "challenges" on each hole if you chose to participate.  On the 2nd hole we hit tee shots with hickory irons.  On the 5th hole, we had to choose 1 club to use the entire hole.  The 3rd hole had a unique challenge.  Our foursome was to play the hole in complete silence, no exceptions.  It was a funny and enjoyable exercise.  Nice shots were given a thumbs up, for example.  For those who haven't played The Dunes, the 3rd is a par 5 over a couple waste areas.  It's a challenging hole.  Someone in the group hit short of the green about 30 yards from the pin.  They hit their pitch shot which proceeded to drop in the cup.  It was a heck of a shot.  We all adhered to the code of silence for the hole so picture the four of us all standing with our arms raised in celebration.  Big smiles all around.  After the last putt dropped, we all broke out in laughter.  Of all times for someone to hit such a beautiful shot.  Steve laughed the hardest.  We had an exceptional day together.

The 2nd event was played at The Warren Course at Notre Dame.  Has anyone else played with a Sharma??  I did.  All 5 feet tall of him, barefoot with a flowing purple/red robe.  He wasn't a particularly good player.  In fact if I remember correctly, he had only been playing for about 6 months.  Steve brought him along and paired me up with him as part of what turned out an annual Shivas meeting at Notre Dame.  Without Steve, I wouldn't have had that interesting day to laugh about.  It still ranks as one of the most interesting rounds I've ever played.

Thank you Steve Cohen for your camaraderie and leadership.  RIP.

Ken

[Ronald Montesano]

I think back to my enthusiasm for the two GITK texts as the path to my interest in golf course architecture and photography. I believe that each copy of the original GITK, along with the sequel, The Kingdom of Shivas Irons, came with a small-print invitation to look up the SIS. I did, joined, never had the money to go to an outing as the kids were growing up, then never had the money to remain a member of the SIS (things got very financially tight for a few years) and fell out of touch with Steve and the society.


GITK 1 and 2 awakened my senses and intellect to the something-more that many associate with golf and its playing ground. That verb, awaken, is one that I/we use to tasty excess when describing the process of opening a course each morning, of becoming aware of something previously unknown, and the like. I'll be forever grateful to Steve Cohen for always writing back to me, for encouraging many like me, and for preserving the SIS until his last breath in this kingdom.

[Mark Smolens]

My initiation to the SIS and Steve came from a buddy who met Michael Murphy while getting his Master's in Organizational Development at the California Institute of Integral Studies. After getting an autographed copy of the book (it may be "out there," but it's still pretty cool imo) I saw a review of the book by someone in SI (maybe Frank Deford?), and joined the Society. Shortly thereafter I got a postcard invitation to a SIS outing at Chicago Golf, hosted by (I later discovered) a friend of Steve Salmen's named Bill Gifford. I of course FedExed a check to the Society the next day -- Steve called the following day, saying "Mark, I guess you really want to play Chicago Golf don't you?" The start of a nice friendship with a real gentleman. Other SIS events followed, including a great two day at Lost Dunes and the Dunes Club -- where we ended up with the entire group in our cabin and Lost Dunes polishing off all of the frozen pizzas in the freezer and all of the beer in the fridge! -- where I had the pleasure of meeting and playing with Ken Fry.

I hadn't seen Steve for a couple of years, but follow the activities of the SIS on their website. Wish I could get out there to pay my respects, but I'll tip a wee dram or two on the 28th in Steve's memory. Good guy, who like the members of the SIS, loves the game.