Craig Barlow was the 1994 Southern Nevada Golf Association Player of the Year and he also played in his first U.S. Open that year. How time flies, and nearly 30 years later he will now make his U.S. Senior Open debut later this week. He has agreed to share daily updates with us to follow his experience. — by Brian Hurlburt, Founder, www.lasvegasgolfinsider.com
Re-visit this page for daily updates direct from Barlow. The SNGA thanks Craig for taking the time to share his experiences.
Day 8 – Round 4 of Tournament
What a final round and what a week it was at the 2023 U.S. Senior Open for 1994 Southern Nevada Golf Association Player of the Year Craig Barlow. Barlow finished with a 4-under par, 67, one of the best rounds of the entire tournament by any golfer. The final day total catapulted him up the leaderboard to a tied for 14th position at the end of the four rounds.
He met his goal of making the cut and his mini-goal on Sunday, to finish in the top 15, which means a guaranteed trip to the 2024 U.S. Senior Open. Barlow was beyond words as he took time to reflect on his epic week, which included Sunday playing partner Bob Estes, a Tour veteran, telling Barlow, “You definitely belong out here (on the PGA Tour Champions.”
From Barlow:
“I am speechless with how special this week was. I had LeeAnn, my son, Riley, and a lot of friends here. The reason I wanted to share these daily updates is because I wanted everyone back home in Las Vegas to share in the experience of a big-time tournament. “
A complete recap article will be coming soon.
“I am speechless with how special this week was. I had LeeAnn, my son Riley and a lot of friends here. The reason I wanted to share these daily updates is because I wanted everyone back in Las Vegas to share in the experience of a big-time tournament. “
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Day 7 – Round 3 of Tournament
With the cut made a goal met, Barlow was able to relax a little more for round 3. But, he was one of the last to finish round 3 and had quick turnaround for his Saturday morning tee time.
No matter, Barlow went out and shot one of the better rounds of the day, a 1-over par 72. He was within the top 40 as of this posting and slowly moving up the leaderboard as the players who teed off after him had difficulties.
From Barlow:
“I felt a lot more comfortable today. Making the cut seemed to free me up a bit. I was happy with my driver and putter. Irons could have been better. Most important, I’m having a blast. Played with Philip Archer, European player from England.
“I am very tired as my turnaround was very fast. I finished last night at 8:20 PM and was back at Course at 6:30 AM today. Resting this afternoon and will watch a little golf.”
Day 6 – Round 1 of Tournament
Barlow Makes the Cut with a STRONG back nine finish. He stands T38 heading into the weekend.
Barlow is scheduled to play on Saturday with Phillip Archer at 6:67 am PST.
Day 5 – Round 1 of Tournament
For those of you following closely, there was plenty of times during the first round of the U.S. Senior Open that Craig Barlow was in the top 10. He was -1 for much of the round, but late troubles, including a bummer of a double bogey on the final hole, saw him drop down the leaderboard.
He finished at +3 and as of this posting was T44 with players still on the course and finishing the afternoon wave of golf. Barlow is scheduled to tee off at 12:36 pm on Friday for the second round.
From Barlow:
“I was very happy with 90% of the day. My adrenaline and nerves got me a few times today. It felt great to be back in action. I definitely had a punch in the gut to Double Bogey last hole today. My goal for tomorrow is to stay patient, breathe better and slow my mind down.”
From Day 4
From Day 3
From Day 2
The first practice rounds today. The weather was a bit cool, high 60’s with 20 mph winds. I played 9 holes, the front 9. Ilayed with Brett Quigley and Jeff Brehaut, two good friends. The course played really tough and pretty long because of the rain from yesterday, which made the course soft. Greens aren’t firm yet, but were rolling really nicely. They are 11.5 on the Stimpmeter. Hitting it in the rough is NO GOOD. The key to this week will be keeping it out of it and making 5 footers. That is no different from any other U.S. Open. The course is really fair, just very demanding.”
Barlow is wearing sponsors Carvalho & Associates on his hat and The Wealth Consulting Group along with Reflection Bay Golf Club on his shirt.
Day 1
The big week is here and Barlow reported in immediately after arriving onsite.
“After Traveling all day Saturday, we checked into house rental for a week,” Barlow texted. “It was very hot and sticky, however, now it’s Sunday and the temperature has really dropped and it is pouring rain and Thunder. I will go walk the course after it stops, and map out the greens to get familiar with pin locations and green surrounds. This helps me understand which pins I have to be aware of and where I want to leave approach shots. The temperature is now 65. That eels great coming from the Vegas heat.”
The Preview
“I am very excited and curious to see the course, set up, and start feeling the nerves again,” Barlow texted before heading to Wisconsin and the SentryWorld Resort course June 29-July 2.. “I WILL enjoy the journey of the week.”
Just after winning medalist honors in Oregon, Barlow, a 2011 Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame inductee, talked with me about how his experience and knowledge he will help in the event this year, having now made 170 PGA Tour cuts and played in six regular U.S. Open events.
“It will be nice knowing what to expect and realizing things that I would like to do differently.,” said Barlow, now the director of instruction at the High Performance Golf Institute at Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas. “To now have another crack at trying to use experience on my side will be cool. Every U.S. Open I played in was definitely a learning experience. I always felt like I tried harder than I needed to and I tried to be too perfect. You have to play good golf, but it’s just golf. A U.S. Open is about being smart when you’re out of position and trying to take advantage when you are in position. It is easy to get caught up in trying to do too much in those things.”
He also mentioned he will pause and enjoy the “beautiful” journey, something he may not have done during his official PGA Tour career when it was more of a grind. Check out more from Barlow here about the U.S. Senior Open and qualifying.
Also, you can view some video interviews that his home club created in his honor.
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