Brian Barnes (golfer)

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Brian Barnes
Personal information
Full nameBrian William Barnes
Born(1945-06-03)3 June 1945
Addington, Surrey, England
Died9 September 2019(2019-09-09) (aged 74)
West Sussex, England
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight238 lb (108 kg; 17.0 st)
Sporting nationality Scotland
ResidenceStorrington, Sussex, England
Spouse
Hilary Faulkner
​
​
(m. 1968; died 2014)​
Career
Turned professional1964
Retired2000
Former tour(s)European Tour
European Seniors Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins23
Number of wins by tour
European Tour9
PGA Tour Champions3
European Senior Tour2
Other11
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 1972, 1973
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open Championship5th: 1972
Achievements and awards
European Seniors Tour
Order of Merit winner		1995

Brian William Barnes (3 June 1945 – 9 September 2019) was a professional golfer. He won 9 times on the European Tour between 1972 and 1981 and twice won the Senior British Open.

Barnes played in 6 consecutive Ryder Cup matches from 1969 to 1979. He was noted for having beaten Jack Nicklaus twice in one day in singles match play, during the 1975 Ryder Cup on 21 September, winning 4&2 in the morning round and 2&1 in the afternoon session.

Early life and amateur career[]

Barnes was born in Addington,[1] Surrey, England, by Scottish parents, and represented England at international level. Barnes was educated at St.Dunstan's School, Burnham-on-Sea and Millfield School in Somerset.[2]

Barnes was taught golf by his father who was Secretary at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club. He won the British Youths Open Amateur Championship in 1964, having represented England in the youth international against Scotland that preceded the championship.[3] He turned professional soon afterwards.[4]

Professional career[]

Barnes became one of the "Butten boys", a group of young British professional golfers who were part of a training programme, funded by Ernest Butten, an entrepreneur and joint founder of PA Consulting Group. Starting in 1963, Butten had funded a residential golf school at Sundridge Park in Bromley, Kent. Max Faulkner was employed as the teaching professional.[5]

After turning professional Barnes continued to be considered an English golfer, representing England in the 1967 R.T.V. International Trophy. In 1971 he joined the Scottish PGA and subsequently played for Scotland in international competitions.[6][7]

Barnes won the Flame Lily Open in Rhodesia in March 1967 and won two British tournaments, the Agfa-Gevaert Tournament and the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship, in 1969.[8][9][10] In 1970 he won the Wills Masters in Australia.[11]

Barnes was one of the leading European Tour golfers in the early years after the tour was founded in 1972. He placed between 4th and 8th on the Order of Merit every year from 1972 to 1980. He won nine events on the Tour between 1972 and 1981. He also played regularly on the African Safari Circuit, winning the Zambia Open in 1979 and the Kenya Open and Zambia Open in 1981.[12][13]

Barnes completed all four rounds of the Open Championship 16 times in succession from 1967 to 1982 and had three top ten finishes, the best of them a tie for fifth in 1972. He played in the Masters Tournament in 1972 and 1973 but missed the cut on both occasions.

Barnes played for Great Britain & Ireland and finally Europe in six consecutive Ryder Cup matches from 1969 to 1979. He has a 10–14–1 win-loss-tie record including a 5–5–0 record in singles matches (there were two sets of singles matches in some of the Ryder Cups in which he participated). He had a successful partnership with Bernard Gallacher in foursomes and four-ball matches, the pair having 5 wins and a half in their 10 matches playing together. He is, however, best remembered for beating Jack Nicklaus twice in one day in 1975.

After the 1984 season, when Barnes fell to 79th on the Order of Merit ranking, he only played a few tournaments the following year and retired to run a golf course in Sussex, England together with Max Faulkner; West Chillington. He made a semi-comeback in 1989 and played a full schedule of 25 tournaments, 46 year old, in 1991, reaching a 4th place finish at the Portuguese Open and finished 12th at the British Masters.[14]

In 1995, Barnes became eligible to play in senior tournaments, and was very successful. He won the Senior British Open Championship in 1995 and became the first man to successfully defend the title in 1996. He topped the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit in 1995, and went on the play the Champions Tour in the late 1990s with moderate success. Arthritis hampered his career and forced him to leave tournament golf in 2000.

Barnes was responsible for one of the worst putting performances ever seen in a professional tournament. During the 1968 French Open, Barnes missed a short putt on the par-3 8th hole. Angry with the miss, he then tried to rake the ball into the cup, but missed. He then hit the ball back and forth while it was still moving. After all of the missed putts and penalty strokes were counted, Barnes had scored a 15 for the hole.[15]

Personal life[]

Barnes married Hilary Faulkner, the daughter of Max Faulkner, in 1968 and they had two children, Didi and Guy. Hilary died in 2014. After having heavy alcohol drinking habits during his life and golf career, in early 1993, he checked himself in for a successful drying-out period, remained sober and continued his golf career, two years later with great success in senior tournaments.[16][17] Barnes died on 9 September 2019 of cancer at the age of 74, he was with his son and daughter at home.[18][19]

Amateur wins[]

  • 1964 British Youths Open Amateur Championship

Professional wins (23)[]

European Tour wins (9)[]

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 10 Jun 1972 Martini International −7 (72-69-70-66=277) 1 stroke Australia Jack Newton
2 11 Aug 1974 Dutch Open −5 (71-69-71=211)* 5 strokes England Peter Oosterhuis, New Zealand Simon Owen,
England Glenn Ralph
3 4 May 1975 French Open −7 (68-69-71-73=281) 2 strokes England Neil Coles, Republic of Ireland Eamonn Darcy,
South Africa Dale Hayes, Republic of Ireland John O'Leary
4 5 Sep 1976 Sun Alliance Match Play Championship 4 and 3 Wales Craig Defoy
5 22 Apr 1978 Spanish Open −12 (67-75-70-64=276) 2 strokes England Howard Clark
6 18 Jun 1978 Greater Manchester Open −5 (69-71-69-66=275) Playoff New Zealand Bob Charles, England Denis Durnian,
England Nick Job
7 15 Apr 1979 Portuguese Open −5 (69-75-71-72=287) 2 strokes Spain Francisco Abreu
8 6 May 1979 Italian Open −7 (73-70-71-67=281) Playoff South Africa Dale Hayes
9 13 Sep 1981 Haig Whisky TPC −8 (73-70-71-62=276) Playoff England Brian Waites

*Note: The 1974 Dutch Open was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

European Tour playoff record (3–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1977 Dunlop Masters England Guy Hunt Lost to par on third extra hole
2 1977 Italian Open Spain Ángel Gallardo Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
3 1978 Greater Manchester Open New Zealand Bob Charles, England Denis Durnian,
England Nick Job 		Won with birdie on first extra hole
4 1979 Italian Open South Africa Dale Hayes Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
5 1981 Haig Whisky TPC England Brian Waites Won with par on fourth extra hole

Safari Circuit wins (3)[]

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 1 Apr 1979 Zambia Open −12 (280) 3 strokes Scotland Sandy Lyle
2 15 Mar 1981 Benson & Hedges Kenya Open −10 (65-70-71-68=274) 1 stroke Scotland Bernard Gallacher, Scotland Sandy Lyle
3 31 Mar 1981 Zambia Open (2) −16 (70-67-69-70=276) 1 stroke England Howard Clark, England John Morgan

Australasian wins (1)[]

Other wins (7)[]

Senior PGA Tour wins (3)[]

Legend
Senior major championships (2)
Other Senior PGA Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 30 Jul 1995 Senior British Open −7 (67-67-77-70=281) Playoff United States Bob Murphy
2 28 Jul 1996 Senior British Open (2) −11 (72-65-66-74=277) 3 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles, United States David Oakley
3 21 Jun 1998 AT&T Canada Senior Open Championship −12 (68-68-68=204) 2 strokes United States Tom Jenkins, United States Dana Quigley,
United States Bruce Summerhays

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1995 Senior British Open United States Bob Murphy Won with eagle on third extra hole

European Senior Tour wins (2)[]

Legend
Senior major championships (2)
Other European Senior Tour (0)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 30 Jul 1995 Senior British Open −7 (67-67-77-70=281) Playoff United States Bob Murphy
2 28 Jul 1996 Senior British Open (2) −11 (72-65-66-74=277) 3 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles, United States David Oakley

European Senior Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1995 Senior British Open United States Bob Murphy Won with eagle on third extra hole

Results in major championships[]

Tournament 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Masters Tournament
The Open Championship CUT CUT T25 T6 T40
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament CUT CUT
The Open Championship T32 64 5 T10 T44 T23 14 T36 T34 T50
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament
The Open Championship T58 T14 T35 CUT
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Masters Tournament
The Open Championship CUT T60

Note: Barnes only played in the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Senior major championships[]

Wins (2)[]

Year Championship Winning score Margin Runner(s)-up
1995 Senior British Open −7 (67-67-77-70=281) Playoff1 United States Bob Murphy
1996 Senior British Open (2) −11 (72-65-66-74=277) 3 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles, United States David Oakley

1Defeated Murphy with an eagle on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff.

Results timeline[]

Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
The Tradition 24 30 T9 WD
Senior PGA Championship T4 T23 CUT WD WD
U.S. Senior Open T11 T17 T49 T4 WD T58
Senior Players Championship 3 WD T39 T14 T12
The Senior Open Championship 1 1 WD 3 T27 WD
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Mason, Peter (12 September 2019). "Brian Barnes obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Distinguished Old Millfieldians". Old Millfieldian Society. Archived from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Barnes Youth's New Champion". The Glasgow Herald. 8 August 1964. p. 5.
  4. ^ "Brian Barnes". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  5. ^ "European Tour hosts Butten Boys' 50th Reunion". PGA European Tour. 20 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Barnes applies to Scots P.G.A." The Glasgow Herald. 14 May 1971. p. 8.
  7. ^ "Scots bid for new title". The Glasgow Herald. 21 October 1971. p. 6.
  8. ^ "Barnes wins flame lily event". The Glasgow Herald. 6 March 1967. p. 4.
  9. ^ "Barnes advances towards Ryder Cup place". The Glasgow Herald. 25 May 1969. p. 4.
  10. ^ "Gallacher beaten at extra hole". The Glasgow Herald. 1 September 1969. p. 4.
  11. ^ "Wills Masters". The Canberra Times. 45 (12, 725). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 19 October 1970. p. 12. Retrieved 24 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Scots first and second in Zambia". The Glasgow Herald. 3 April 1979. p. 23.
  13. ^ "Zambia title for Barnes". The Glasgow Herald. 30 March 1981. p. 22.
  14. ^ Ohlson, Jörgen (May 1992). "Skotten som gett boomen ett ansikte" [The Scotsman who gave the golf boom a face]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 5. pp. 93–94.
  15. ^ Zullo, Allan, "Astonishing but True Golf Facts", Andrew McMeels Publishing, Forest Fairview, North Carolina, 2001.
  16. ^ Brian Barnes obituary, Maverick golfer celebrated for beating Jack Nicklaus twice in one day by Peter Mason,The Guardian, 12 September 2019
  17. ^ DRY RUN MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME, BRIAN BARNES IS BACK ON HIS GAME NOW THAT HE'S OFF THE BOTTLE by Tim Rosaforte, Sports Illustrated, 8 July 1996
  18. ^ Rodger, Nick (10 September 2019). "Colourful Scottish golfer Brian Barnes dies at 74". The Herald.
  19. ^ "Brian Barnes: Former Ryder Cup player dies aged 74". BBC Sport. 10 September 2019.

External links[]

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