Upholding the Tradition of the Game
As Davis' father taught him the game of golf, he always stressed that golf should be a pleasure.
"Don't think of it at work," Davis Jr. would say, "think of it as play."
In 1994, this philosophy of pleasure in the game would be translated into a new area of golf for Davis
when he and his brother, Mark, formed Love Golf Design — a golf course design firm based in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
It was on St. Simons Island that Davis got a "private tutorial" from one of golf's most renowned modern
architects, Rees Jones, while he was designing the Ocean Forest course at Sea Island where Davis and his
family are members. Bill Jones III, a close friend to Davis and the chairman of the Sea Island Co.,
asked Rees if Davis could tag along.
"I like working with other people. I don't get to do that much in my day job."
— Davis Love III
"Rees was happy for me to do so," recalls Davis. "He liked the idea of having a tour player, a
club member, a Sea Island Company board member, and a friend of Bill's alongside him. But I felt I had the
better end of the deal. I learned from one of the best."
This experience, along with their father's lessons and years of playing and studying the world's finest courses,
have led Davis and Mark to make a name for Love Golf Design in the world of golf.
"My first goal as an architect," Davis explains, "is to change popular opinion about what a modern
course is. In the last 20 years, it seems most golf courses were built to be dazzling or stupendous. 'Stupendous'
should not be the goal. 'Pleasing' should be the goal."
Love Golf Design has accomplished this goal with more than a dozen finished courses to date. Critics and raters have
said playing a Love Golf Design course a return to the classically designed courses of golf's honored past. Critics
and raters have said playing a Love Golf Design course is like a return to the classically designed courses of golf's
honored past. In short, their courses are a true pleasure.
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