Dave Barr | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Dave Barr

Dave Barr, golfer (b at Kelowna, BC 13 Apr 1952). Barr learned his golf while banging balls around a Kelowna schoolyard before joining the Kelowna Golf Club on a junior membership. He later attended Oral Roberts University on a golf scholarship, and turned professional in 1974.

Self-taught, he brings to the game a natural and free style that is the envy of many who watch him.

His victories include the 1981 Quad Cities Open in Coal Valley, Ill, on the US Tour; the individual championship in the 1983 World Cup in Jakarta; the 1985 Canadian Professional Golfers Assn Championship in Brampton, Ont; the team title in the 1985 World Cup in La Quinta, Calif, with fellow Canadian Dan Halldorson, and the 1987 Georgia-Pacific Atlanta golf classic. He also tied for second in the 1985 US Open in Birmingham, Mich, one shot from the lead. That was the best finish ever by a Canadian to that point in a US Open. Barr plays the US tour regularly and competes frequently in Canada, being a strong supporter of Canadian golf.

1994 proved to be Barr's most successful year on the PGA Tour in the US although he did not score a tournament victory. He won well over $300 000 and placed in the top 50 money earners on the tour. He capped the year off by teaming with Ray Stewart and Rick Gibson to win the prestigious Dunhill Cup international team tournament for Canada at St Andrews in Scotland. Barr defeated three of the world's top golfers, Nick Price, Bernhard Langer and then Tom Kite of the US in the final to propel Canada to its first ever Dunhill Cup victory.

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