He knew he was close to history.
Walking up to the green on hole No. 18 at his home course, Vernon Golf and Country Club, Bryce Barker turned to Sunday morning fun round playing partners John Halliwell and his two sons, and asked if they knew what score he was looking at.
All the Halliwell trio would tell Barker is, ‘yes, we know what you’re putting for.’
“I assumed it was for 59. I didn’t add it (score) up,” said Barker, 29, a golf pro who works on the grounds crew at Vernon.
He was correct in thinking the putt was for sub-60. But it was actually for a 15-under-par score of 57.
The left-handed Barker two-putted the hole, one of three pars made on the back nine, and finished at 14-under-par 58.
“A 59 was pretty crazy in itself but maybe I took too long to line up the last putt,” he said. “It lipped out, I tapped in, asked the guys what was that and they said ‘58.’ I’m like, ‘Oh no way.’ Golfers always think ‘what if.’ I can’t believe I had a putt for 57.”
Officially, it’s not a course record at Vernon as the round was not played during a tournament. So Barker’s 58 – shot in the pouring rain on Sunday, April 23 – is the official non-tournament course mark. It is likely the lowest round ever shot at Vernon, and possibly in the Okanagan.
Shooting 60 or less is the stuff golf legends are made of. Only nine players on the PGA Tour have ever done it, including a low of 58 from Jim Furyk.
Barker knew he could be on his way to a good day when he started birdie-eagle (No. 2 is a par-5), then added another three consecutive birdies to sit 6-under after five holes. After back-to-back pars, Barker birdied 8 and 9 for a front-nine score of 28.
“I made the turn at 8-under and I knew I could do some damage on the back,” he said. “All I could think of at the turn was how bad I wanted to change my socks because they were so wet.”
Barker kept the soaked socks, and started the back nine with consecutive birdies to move to 10-under. He parred 12 and 13 – a par 5, the longest hole at Vernon at 543 yards from the back tees – then birdied the next four holes before finishing with the par on 18 for 30 on the back, 58 for the round, and a total of 22 putts on the day.
His lowest score prior at Vernon was an 8-under 64, and Barker seems to enjoy golfing when the weather’s wet.
“I had another round last year where I shot nine threes in a row, and I didn’t even eagle the second hole,” he said. “I shot seven-under, made six straight birdies and it was pouring rain that day. My friend said, ‘Man, you must be the best s——y weather player. Maybe it frees me up a bit, I don’t know.”
Nicknamed The Grounds Crew Pro by Vernon members, Barker followed his course record with a 69-68-73 showing at a tournament in the Lower Mainland. He hasn’t played Vernon again since his career round.
“My game’s going in the right direction,” said Barker, who credits a mental training program called Vision 54, developed by two women working with LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam, with helping him improve. Barker visited the women over the winter. The program has golfers envisioning making a birdie on every hole and finishing at 18-under for 72 holes.
“Annika shot 59 on the course I joined in Phoenix (Moon Valley Country Club) and now I shot a 58, so it’s all kind of cool,” said Barker, who won the Moon Valley club championship in March.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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