Birdies & Briskets - Davis Love III

Just don’t ask him to choose. Davis Love III is a champion golfer, passionate about barbecue food and fellowship. RUPERT BATES talks to the American from his home on St Simons Island, Georgia.

‘On the grill from the USA: Davis Love.' A chat with golfing great Davis Love III about BBQ proves utterly compelling; his passion for the subject burning as bright as the Augusta National azaleas.

But I suspect I also trigger guilt in a man who won the 1997 US PGA Championship and led his country to Ryder Cup glory at Hazeltine in 2016.

The guilt is the thought that he should be spending more time on the golf course as he competes on the senior tour, and less time talking to an Englishman about smoke and food.

What the hell. The guilt is fleeting, for Love loves BBQ and is delighted to share that enthusiasm. The birdies can wait; for now it’s about briskets.

What the hell. The guilt is fleeting, for Love loves BBQ and is delighted to share that enthusiasm. The birdies can wait; for now it’s about briskets.

His BBQ passion was ignited by golf, as a club pro talked about a friend with a welding shop who wanted to build Love an 80-gallon offset smoker. He had no idea how to use it, but Love’s brother-in-law, Jeff Knight, did.

“The next thing I know I hear noises downstairs in my house early in the morning; it’s Jeff with a load of groceries and he proceeded to cook some amazing BBQ food in the smoker. I told him to take it with him!”

A BBQ team called DL3 was formed, competing with Lang smokers from Georgia.

“Initially, I was just the guy helping, putting the wood in the box, or stirring the sauce – but I was learning all the time.”

After his brother-in-law passed away, Love picked up the family BBQ baton. “I got so into it – not just the joy of cooking but the way it brings families and friends together.”

Love, born in North Carolina, lives on St Simons Island in Georgia, which has a restaurant called Southern Soul.

“I owned a building next door, so I then had a BBQ restaurant right by my office and my passion grew and grew.”

Southern Soul had a devastating fire not long after opening; Love helped out in the aftermath and eventually, by now great friends with founders Harrison Sapp and Griffin Bufkin, joined Southern Soul as a partner.

“BBQ, like golf, is a community of like-minded souls and both do a lot of charity. It is about fun, fellowship and doing good.”

The Firebox charity was started, supporting the food and hospitality industry. When hurricanes strike in the United States, BBQ cooks are mobilised, smokers and food trucks moved out to affected areas to feed those whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed.

The Davis Love Foundation runs a PGA Tour event, the RSM Classic, on the island, raising money for charity, and such is the fire food on offer, its reputation is as much about the BBQ as the golf.

“Travelling the world through golf, I came to realise what the food industry can do for a community, indeed for all of us. If you like to eat, there are people who take care of you and most don’t make a whole lot of money doing it. It’s a tough business, but so rewarding in so many ways.”

Love is now involved in a second restaurant with the Southern Soul team. Frosty’s Griddle & Shake is a burger and milkshake bar on the island – a take on an old South Georgia small-town, fast-food joint.

“There’s even the DL3 pimento cheeseburger, which started out as a promotion for the US Masters.”

Love has won 21 times on tour, with the highlight his Major win at the US PGA Championship in Winged Foot, New York.

He also played in six Ryder Cups and was captain twice, as well as finishing second in the Masters (twice) and the US Open.

This year he’ll be a vice-captain of the US Ryder Cup team in Rome, Italy, captained by Zach Johnson, a winner of the Masters and The Open and also a resident of St Simons Island.

While a consummate professional focused on his golf, Love admits that the first thing he types in when he sees his tour schedule is local BBQ joints.

“It started off simply because I get hungry and love to eat. Now it is full-blown research, heading to the best restaurants and sneaking round the back to see the cookers running and how the place is run. Obsessed? Yes, I think I am!” says Love.

“Stewart Cink (winner of the 2009 Open at Turnberry) has a similar golf schedule to me and has his own BBQ team called Que School. For us it is less about the state of the greens these days and more about the state of the restaurants.”

A recent medical check-up got round to the subject of cholesterol.

“I told my doctor it was hardly surprising given the number of pictures of me on the walls of BBQ joints across the States. I remember having a meal in Dallas, sitting on own, only to look up and see my picture!”

The younger generation of golfers regularly ask his advice – not just on their swings, but where to eat great BBQ food on tour.

St Simons Island, Georgia has become a hotbed of professional golfing talent, currently led by Open champion Brian Harman, who arrived back at the island’s airport clutching the Claret Jug and welcomed home by Love and other friends and fellow golfers.

A keen hunter, Harman loves his meat too and celebrated his Open triumph at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, by dining at Hickory’s smokehouse in West Kirby.

A barbecue round Love’s house is the hottest ticket in town and professional golfers on the island, including the quartet of self-styled Sea Island Boys, Harris English, J T Poston, Keith Mitchell and Patton Kizzire, refer to their mentor as Uncle Davis.

“He is great at grilling ribs. His barbecue food is insane,” said English.

When it comes to the RSM Classic, the PGA tour event hosted at Sea Island Golf Club by Love in November, Southern Soul is on hand during the week to feed players, caddies and the crews from all the equipment manufacturers – the whole tour entourage.

“It’s one big BBQ buffet. Our tournament might not be the biggest purse, but it’s the best food.”

I ask Love whether he’d prefer to shoot a 59 to win a tournament or cook the perfect low and slow brisket in his Lang smoker.

“That reminds me I need to shoot some low scores.” You didn’t answer the question Davis.

Family, as a grandfather, is so important to Love. not to mention a great excuse to cook a ton of food in the fires.

“I love prepping and cooking for the family, especially when they turn round and say: ‘that’s the best beef ribs I’ve ever had.’

It’s so rewarding. It’s like shooting a low score.” Still not answered the question Davis.

Whether it’s birdies or briskets, Love gives his all to everything he does, whether it is on the golf course, in the gym, on the fishing lake, or on his 1000-gallon smoker.

“Whatever I’m doing with whoever, I always say ‘I’ll bring the food’. When I get a free weekend at home, the first thing I plan is what to barbecue and who is going to eat it.”

Another hobby he has thrown himself into is welding, handy for modifying and indeed building smokers. His smoker is called ACE, not just representing a golfing hole-in-one, but the initials of his three granddaughters, Alice, Clara Mae and Eloise.

“Beef ribs are my go-to. If you’re coming over, that’s your tap in, your two-and-a-half footer. I’m getting better at chicken wings too, crisping up the skin.”

Love runs a flourishing business, Love Golf Design with his brother, Mark. For Love it is not just about the architecture of the courses, but the construction itself and he’ll happily operate the excavator, moving earth.

“If it’s outside I love doing it – golf, cooking, fishing. And I have instilled that in my kids and grandkids. Get outside.”

I’m getting on a plane first. Destination: St Simons Island. It’s far too late to do anything about my golf; but my beef rib handicap could do with coming down.

And if it doesn’t, who cares? Love is going to be doing the cooking anyway. When it comes to BBQ food, I eat off scratch.

Originally published by the BBQ Magazine