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Doug Davis, PGA, and Six Decades of River Greens Golf Course
For Doug Davis, golf has never simply been a game. It has been a family business, a classroom, a passport to the world, and a gathering place for generations of players. As the Head Golf Professional at River Greens Golf Course, Davis doesn’t just oversee daily operations—he carries forward a legacy that began long before he ever picked up a club.
River Greens traces its roots back to the 1960s, when Doug’s father, George Davis, made a decision that would forever alter the family’s future. After returning from the Navy in the 1950s, George farmed a small piece of land in West Lafayette. Like many family farms at the time, making a living was difficult. Watching farms convert into golf courses, George began to consider a bold alternative.
George sought out Jack Kidwell, a Columbus-based course architect, and walked him through two family farm parcels. Kidwell identified the land that would eventually become River Greens. Construction on the first nine holes began in 1965, and the course officially opened in May of 1966. The original plan was modest—open nine holes and plant corn where a future second nine might one day exist.
That plan didn’t last long.
“Jack came back and told my dad to stop planting corn,” Doug recalled with a laugh. “He said, ‘You need to build the second nine.’”
By 1967, the second nine holes were complete—the same year Doug was born. River Greens was truly a family operation from day one, and Doug grew up quite literally on the course.
“It’s all I knew,” he said. “I learned a ton—not just playing golf, but working on the golf course. And honestly, most of my memories are about the people.”
Doug mowed fairways, picked the range, watered greens, and absorbed every aspect of the business. His mother, a nurse by training, retired not long after the course opened and handled payroll while also working in the kitchen. The entire family was involved, including Doug’s older sister, Lynn Russell, who remains part of the operation today. Her son, Daniel—who completed the turfgrass program at Ohio State—is now stepping into the superintendent role, continuing the next generation of leadership at River Greens.
A third nine holes opened in 1995, further cementing the course’s place in the community. In 2026, River Greens will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
Doug’s own golf journey paralleled the growth of the course. He earned a golf scholarship to Ohio State, where he studied turfgrass management through the College of Agriculture—an education that blended perfectly with his upbringing. He graduated in 1990, married shortly thereafter, and returned home after a short stint of traveling to Australia for Q-School alongside his freshman college roommate, Steve Parker. By 1991, he had entered the PGA Professional Golf Management program.
Doug became a PGA Member in 1996 and has now spent more than 25 years as a teaching professional. Over that time, all four of his children—two daughters and two sons—worked at River Greens at some point. While none chose golf as a career, Doug encouraged them to pursue their own passions.
“All the kids still play golf,” he said. “They just found their own paths, and that was important to me.”
George passed away in 2010 but the Davis family honors George’s legacy through the George Davis Memorial Scholarship Fund in Florida at Doug’s uncle’s course. Each year, Doug travels south with friends and family to play in an annual scramble tournament that supports the fund, a tradition that keeps his father’s memory close.
“He’d be really proud of the condition of the golf course and what we’ve done with it,” Doug said. “He put his heart and soul into this place. He’d work all day, come in for dinner, then go back out fertilizing and watering all night. The passion he had—I still shake my head thinking about it.”
Ironically, George didn’t grow up playing golf at all.
“He told his dad he was thinking about turning the farm into a golf course,” Doug said. “And my grandfather said, ‘What in the hell is a golf course?’”
Once the course was built, George learned the game and became a solid player himself, fully embracing the sport he had helped bring to the community.
For Doug, the greatest reward of the profession isn’t trophies or titles—it’s people.
“There’s not a day I’m here that I’m not laughing with someone,” he said. “How many people can say they go to a job where people come to have a good time?”
That philosophy defines River Greens. The atmosphere is relaxed. The course is fair and fun. The staff focuses on how people are treated and the experience they walk away with. Over the years, River Greens has hosted countless high school and college events, quietly becoming part of thousands of golfers’ personal histories.
Golf has also given Doug experiences far beyond West Lafayette. He’s played in Japan and Australia, stayed at Jack Nicklaus’s home, competed alongside Gary Nicklaus, and finished his collegiate career paired with Phil Mickelson at the NCAA Finals.
“It was never about trophies,” Doug said. “It was about the experiences and the people I got to meet. The game gave me all of that.”
As for retirement?
“I don’t know what that looks like,” he said with a smile. “My uncle runs a course in Florida and he’s 75. I don’t ever see retirement happening.”
After nearly six decades of River Greens and a lifetime in golf, that answer feels fitting. For Doug Davis, PGA, the course isn’t just where he works—it’s where life happened, and where it continues to unfold every day.
