David A. King grew up in the Philadelphia area and, as a young 16-year-old, finished as the runner-up in the Philadelphia Junior Golf Championship. At the age of 19, he qualified for the 1960 U. S. Amateur. After high school, Dave went to the University of Wyoming, where he played No. 1 for the golf team all four years.
Dave came to Maryland in 1965 after earning a Master's degree in Statistics and has won over 100 amateur golf tournaments, including 19 club championships at various clubs. Regionally, he won 13 titles in the Maryland State Golf Association (MSGA), the Washington Metropolitan Golf Association (WMGA), and the Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA). His MSGA titles include the 1969 & 1971 Amateurs, the 1987 Mid-Amateur, and in 1999 captured, the Senior Amateur. To date, he is the only golfer to have won all three MSGA Amateur titles. His WMGA Championships include the 1982 Amateur, the 2001 Senior Amateur, and a Senior Four-Ball in 2003. Dave’s VSGA career highlights include winning the 2002 Senior Amateur while also being named Senior Golfer of the Year.
Dave competed in 17 USGA Championships: 8 Amateurs, 4 Mid-Amateurs, 3 Senior Amateurs, and 2 Senior Opens, reaching the round of 16 in a U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur, and U.S. Senior Amateur. He has won seven national-ranking senior tournaments. Additionally, he played in many of the most prestigious amateur tournaments internationally, such as the British Amateur, the Canadian Amateur, the Bermuda Amateur, and the Guadalajara Amateur in Mexico. Additionally, he persuaded Golfweek to implement and publish a national ranking system for senior amateurs, and he has started and run more than 50 national ranking senior tournaments throughout the country.
Dave’s lifelong commitment to the game of golf includes endowments to the MSGA and the VSGA for annual scholarships and annual gifts to the First Tee of Washington, DC. As of 2023, he has funded over 50 golf-related scholarships.
Dave was awarded the Dawson Stump Lifetime Achievement Award by the MSGA, and in 2011 Golfweek recognized Dave with the Yancey Ford Award for contributions to senior golf. He was named captain of the US team in the 2019 Friendship Cup versus Canada and was inducted into the VSGA Golf Hall of Fame in 2021.
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