Barnes makes comeback in Par 3 Championship

Six-time Ryder Cup player and double British Senior Open winner Brian Barnes will compete in his first professional tournament for 10 years at Nailcote Hall, Warwickshire for the British Par 3 Championship, from August 7th.

Barnes was one of the most colourful, popular and recognisable golfers of the 1970s and 80s. A regular winner on tour, he was a charismatic and mercurial talent who could beat any player on his day and was as good as any player in the world when he got on a roll.

Having suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since the 2000 Hawaii Open, Barnes has been prevented from playing golf by the condition, which cruelly seriously affected his wrists, causing him excruciating pain when playing the sport that he took up when in his teens.

With the condition now in remission, Barnes has been able to start playing golf in recent months and is set to make a hugely popular return to professional tournament golf when he plays in the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship later this year. 

Nowhere was Barnes’s tremendous talent more evident than in the final day singles at the Ryder Cup in 1975. Barnes was part of the team captained by veteran Bernard Hunt who has also played in the British Par 3 Championship.

The team included such greats of the game as Tony Jacklin, Peter Oosterhuis, Christy O’Connor Jnr, Maurice Bembridge and Tommy Horton. Coming in to the Ryder Cup, the USA team was expected to be supremely dominant, and none more so than The Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus himself, who had recently secured his fourth PGA Championship victory and his second Major Championship of the year.

However, drawn against Barnes on the final morning of the competition, Nicklaus came up against a highly skilled and most certainly undaunted golfer with the experience and the confidence to take the biggest scalp of the competition.

After defeat in the morning singles (in the old format of the matches), Nicklaus wanted revenge in the afternoon, so made a request to captain Arnold Palmer for a rematch in the afternoon. Request granted, on the first tee of their afternoon match Nicklaus confidently told his sparring partner: “There ain’t no way you’re going to beat me again”.

However, despite a fine start from Nicklaus with two birdies, it was Barnes who strolled to another victory, this time 2 up with 1 to play.

Throughout his career, Barnes was mentored by his friend and father in law, the late, great former Open Champion Max Faulkner, whose daughter, Hilary, Barnes is married to and who was a great believer and supporter of Barnes’s huge talent.

By attending the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship this year, Barnes is yet again following in the footsteps of Faulkner, who played in the event from 1999 – 2001.

This year, the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship is hosted by 1969 Open Champion, 1970 US Open Champion and Ryder Cup legend Tony Jacklin CBE. Joining Jacklin on the Cromwell Course at Nailcote Hall by the best ever field of golfing legends, including 1991 Masters Champion Ian Woosnam OBE, Solheim Cup-winning Captain Alison Nicholas MBE, US Senior Open-winning Larry Laoretti, Senior Tour star Gary Wolstenholme MBE, Former Ryder Cup player Tommy Horton MBE  and current European Tour Stars Marc Warren, Graeme Storm and Scott Jamieson.  

The Championship runs from 7th August to 10th August at Nailcote Hall, Warwickshire. For ticket information, visit http://www.britishpar3.com