Written by Wes Gilbertson, The Calgary Sun

A Resilient Love

This article was originally published in the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

THERE WAS NO RECAP IN GOLF DIGEST AND NO HIGHLIGHT PACKAGE ON GOLF CHANNEL’S MORNING DRIVE, BUT IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG FOR WORD OF JAMES LOVE’S EMOTIONAL WIN AT THE 2015 ALBERTA OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP TO SPREAD AMONG SOME OF THE BEST IN THE BIRDIE-MAKING BUSINESS. WANT PROOF? CHECK HIS IPHONE.

There was an incoming call from Saskatchewan’s Graham DeLaet, a close friend and arguably Canada’s brightest star on the PGA Tour. Love also received shout-outs from B.C. buddy Nick Taylor, who just months earlier had joined the exclusive list of guys from the Great White North to triumph on the PGA Tour, and from Ontario’s David Hearn, who a few weeks later would come oh-so-close to ending the lengthy home drought at the RBC Canadian Open.

There were many more messages, too.

“Just the texts and the emails that I got from guys around golf that I hadn’t talked to in a long time… It’s nice to know that I still have people in my corner that follow me and still care about me doing well,” Love said.

“Golf is definitely a lonely game and sometimes you feel like the game has passed you by or all your peers have moved on to bigger and better things. So when you can win any professional event, it means a lot when world-class players shoot you a text or call to say ‘congrats’ and ‘keep it up’”

Truth be told, it had been a long while since Love had received any congratulatory texts from his pin-seeking pals. The past couple of seasons have been a struggle for the Calgary-raised, Denver- based golfer. He was bothered by a nagging neck injury and his tournament results were often painful, too.

But during Alberta Golf’s marquee event last summer, Love proved he’s again healthy and still capable of leaving a lot of circles on a scorecard. He mixed three birdies and a bogey en route to a 2-under 69 in the opening round of the Alberta Open at Carnmoney Golf & Country Club in De Winton, leaving him two shots off the pace at the midway mark of the 36- hole shootout.

His only blemish during the final round was a double bogey on the second hole. He erased that damage – and then some – with seven birdies, including a string of five in a row, registering a grand total of 15 strokes from the tee box at No. 9 until he scooped his ball out of the cup at No. 13.

Just as important, Love drained a 60-yard shot to save par – he pulled his drive into a bunker and then chunked his second from a horrible lie into the water – on No. 16.

He had to sweat for a few minutes after missing a short birdie putt on the finishing hole at Carnmoney, but the contenders in the last group couldn’t force a playoff . Strathmore’s Dustin Risdon and Tyler Saunders of Glendale shared second, one shot shy of matching Love’s two-day tally of 7-under 135.

“It was a really good, fun couple of days,” Love said. “It was nice to win, obviously. It’s been a while since I had had a win. The one thing that just sticks out is that it was really cool to win an event in Calgary and have some family there to share it with.”

Unfortunately, his personal cheering section at Carnmoney didn’t include his biggest fan – his father. Rod Love, a prominent political strategist and right- hand man to long-time premier Ralph Klein, passed away in October, 2014 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

His son choked up outside the clubhouse at Carnmoney when a TV reporter asked how Rod would have reacted to his triumph. James later admitted, “He would have enjoyed it more than I would.” The 2005 Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur champion is certain his proud pops would have enjoyed the victory party, too – a low-key family gathering at a nearby watering hole.

“We just went to a pub and had some beers and talked about the shots and talked about the tournament and how it transpired. That’s exactly what my dad would have wanted to do,” Love said. “He was my biggest fan. He never missed an event that I played in anywhere close to Calgary, and he was the first guy that I would call or email after any round – good or bad – anywhere in the world.”

Love called his parents, Rod and Charlene, immediately after working overtime to win the 2009 Canadian Tour Championship in St. Catharines, ON, defeating Brazil’s Lucas Lee in a playoff. Other notable names in his rear view mirror that week included DeLaet and James Hahn, all now regulars on the PGA Tour. Love, who turns 33 in July, is determined to join them.

It was great to hear from his pals and peers after his victory at the Alberta Open Championship at Carnmoney, but he would prefer to be chatting with them on a weekly basis on the practice range or in the locker room at Colonial, Harbour Town or Torrey Pines.

“I think I struggled a little bit over the last few years, especially the years after everybody kind of moved on. I wasn’t really sulking but I was also not necessarily looking at it from the best perspective,” admitted Love, who made a dozenWeb.com Tour starts in 2012 but has mostly teed it up on what’s now known as the Mackenzie Tour- PGA Tour Canada.

“I should have looked at it as, ‘That’s how close I am.’ I wasn’t resentful, by any means, that they were there and I wasn’t. It was more like, ‘I should be there, too.’

“To be honest, it’s hard at times keeping the faith,” he added. “You’re only as good as your last round, but I know how well I can play. For whatever reason, over the last little while, it hasn’t happened for me in the events in which I needed it to. I’m still enjoying trying to get better and doing the things I need to do on and off the course to make it.

“The desire hasn’t gone away at all. It’s just a matter of doing it at the right time.”

A Resilient Love

This article was originally published in the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.