BOSTON, Mass – – Davis Love III, whose charity work has raised millions of dollars and touched thousands of lives through the years, has been named the recipient of the Golf Writers Association of America’s Charlie Bartlett Award, given to playing professionals for their unselfish contributions to the betterment of society.
“I’m honored to receive this meaningful award from the GWAA and to be associated with such a distinguished list of former recipients,” Love said.
“I caught on early with my dad hosting a PGA TOUR event and me playing in so many to know what (giving back) meant. Then watching Arnie and Jack and all of them as their careers wound down and they created tournaments and kept giving back. Being on the TOUR Policy Board five times I know the Tour is all about it.
“It’s what these tournaments are all built on. They’re for charity. I’m happy to give back to something that’s given so much to me.”
The Davis Love Foundation was created in 2005 and it has raised more than $9 million through the RSM Classic, which Love hosts each year at Sea Island Golf Club. The Birdies Fore Love initiative was created on the PGA TOUR in which the three players who make the most birdies over an eight-tournament stretch receive a total of $500,000 to distribute to charities of their choice.
Love has been a long-time supporter of Safe Harbor Children’s Center in Brunswick, Ga., and in 2004 he donated his $700,000 check from a runner-up finish in the Accenture Match Play Championship to his church.
He will be honored April 10 at the ISPS GWAA 47th Annual Awards Dinner presented by the LPGA, PGA of America, PGA TOUR and USGA. Others being honored include Players of the Year Brooks Koepka, Ariya Jutanugarn and Bernhard Langer, Ben Hogan Award winner Tiger Woods, William D. Richardson Award winner Johnny Miller, ASAP Sports/Jim Murray Award winner Geoff Ogilvy and PGA of America Lifetime Achievement Award winner Doug Ferguson.
Past winners of the Bartlett award, named for the former Chicago Tribune writer and first secretary of the GWAA, include Ben Crane, Peter Jacobsen, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Ernie Els, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Patty Sheehan, Betsy King and Lorena Ochoa.
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