The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2016
Sport: Golf
Inducted: 2016
A two-year letterwinner and member of the Southwest Conference champion golf team of 1954, Davis Love, Jr. went on to a remarkable career in professional golf that included success both as a teacher and a player at the highest level of the sport. Following the style and the teaching approach of his mentor and UT golf coach, Harvey Penick, he went on to become one of the most respected teachers in the game before his untimely death in a plane crash at 53 years old in 1988. Following his time at UT, he quickly rose to success as a PGA teaching pro, becoming the head professional at Sea Island Golf Club in Georgia. At the same time, he remained extremely competitive on the golf circuit. In 1969, he finished tied for sixth with Jack Nicklaus in the British Open, which followed a remarkable performance nine years earlier where he qualified for the 1960 U.S. Open despite six stitches in his right index finger. While Penick was keeping notes in his famed "Little Red Book," Love would apply the same common-sense touch and a philosophy that took complicated things and made them simple. With those, he would fill countless legal pads. His most famous player, of course, was his son, Davis Love III, who is the current captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. After his dad's death, Davis Love III established an endowed scholarship in his father's name for Texas Golf through the Longhorn Foundation. A contemporary of the younger Love and a fellow pupil of Penick, Longhorn legend Ben Crenshaw applauded the elder Love's induction. "I was fortunate to meet Davis Love, Jr. through Harvey," Crenshaw said. "He was a disciple of Harvey's teaching principles and helped many golfers through the years. He was a very fine player in his own right and played in several Masters and on tour for a few years. When his son, Davis Love III, first came out on tour, I can remember Mr. Love following us around, and he had a wonderful, mild manner about him. He left us far too young, and the golf community still misses him. I know the Love family will be honored and proud by his induction into the Longhorn Hall of Honor."
