Laureation address: Lee Buck Trevino

Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws
Laureation by Professor Anthony Lang, School of International Relations

Tuesday 12 July 2022

Vice-Chancellor, it is my privilege to present for the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, Lee Buck Trevino. 

Lee Trevino is one of the greatest golfers ever; few have matched Lee when it comes to imagination, flair, and sheer shot making ability. Coupled with his personality, Lee’s skill on the course has made him one of the most popular golfers of all time. A child of Mexican American heritage, Lee was born into grinding poverty in Texas and raised by his mother and grandfather, and he worked as a caddie to help support his family. In 1956, he entered the US Marine Corps and served his country with distinction for four years. He then began work as a club professional in El Paso Texas and, only a few years later, qualified for the US Open. He soon established himself on the tour; in the course of one month in 1971, Lee won the US Open, Canadian Open and The Open Championship, becoming the first player to win those three titles in the same year. Lee amassed a total of 29 victories on the PGA Tour, a feat he would later repeat on the Senior circuit. Perhaps even more impressively, he won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest stroke average on the Tour five times. In team play, Lee was a member of six American Ryder Cup teams between 1969 and 1981 and was a non-playing captain in 1985. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. 

Off the course, he has been a philanthropist and supporter of numerous causes. Over the years, Lee has established several scholarships and offered financial aid to Mexican Americans. Closer to his home in Dallas, the Lee Trevino Foundation displays memorabilia to members of the general public to further the understanding of the game of golf and its history.

So Lee is known for his outstanding golf and his altruism, but he is also known for his personality. His humorous comments to the crowds and his fellow golfers made golf actually seem like fun, though I do wonder if there was a strategy in telling all those jokes to Jack Nicklaus as they fought for various titles over the years. One of his most famous pieces of advice to golfers was for those fearing to golf in a thunderstorm: “If you are caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a one iron. Not even God can hit a one iron.” I am not sure the Almighty got the joke, however, as Lee was struck by lightning only one week later at the 1975 Western Open (though perhaps he was not holding his one iron). 

Indeed, his commentaries on and off the course make him an ideal candidate for an honorary degree from this University. As many here will know, we academics like to talk, which is why we are called lecturers and professors. I suggest, now that we have given him a doctorate, we might want to hire him as a professor. Indeed, he is something of a historian of the game, knowing its medieval origins here in Scotland, including the decision by James II to ban the game in favour of archery. Perhaps, Vice-Chancellor, we might create a School of Golf Studies, and I would think Dr Lee Trevino would be an excellent inaugural Head of School.  

Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of his many contributions to the game of golf, I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on Lee Buck Trevino.