Sept. 22, 2007
Charlottesville, Va. – Tommy Barnes, former Georgia Tech golf captain and one of Georgia’s most beloved and honored golfing legends, died at his home on Thursday, September 20. He was 91.
Thomas William Barnes Sr. was born in Monroe, Ga., on November 9, 1915. He compiled a legendary amateur golf record that remains impressive to this day. He won the 1935 and 1937 Atlanta City Amateur, and captured the Bobby Jones Four-Ball and Dogwood Tournament titles five times each. During his college years at Georgia Tech, Barnes captained the 1937 and 1938 Yellow Jacket squads, leading the 1938 team to victory in the Southern Intercollegiate.
Barnes won the 1941 Georgia Amateur at East Lake Golf Club, defeating another former champion, Augusta’s Frank Mulherin Jr., 3 and 2. Barnes also won both the Southeastern Amateur (1938, 1946) and Southern Amateur (1947, 1949) twice. He took the Pan-Am title in 1944, while serving in the U.S. Navy and won the 1946 Southeastern PGA Open. During this stretch he also qualified for the U.S. Amateur an impressive 16 consecutive times.
Barnes was the first alternate for the 1949 Walker Cup Team and played in the 1950 Masters Tournament. In 1988, at the age of 73, Mr. Barnes shot a 62 at East Lake Country Club, which broke Bobby Jones’ 1922 record of 63.
Barnes served as a GSGA director for 18 years and was a director emeritus at the time of his passing. He was also the USGA Southeastern Sectional Committee Director for 14 years, directed the Southern Golf Association and served as president of the Atlanta City Golf Association.
Barnes has been inducted in numerous golf and sports Halls of Fame, including the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame (1981), Southern Golf Hall of Fame (1987), Georgia Golf Hall of Fame (1989), Atlanta Athletic Club Hall of Fame (1995) and Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame (2007). The Georgia State Golf Association’s annual overall player of the year honor is named the Tommy Barnes Award. GSGA began bestowing the award in 1998 and presents it each January at its Annual Meeting/Players of the Year Luncheon. Bill Roberts of Pine Mountain was the inaugural winner. Reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Dave Womack of McDonough is the most recent Tommy Barnes Award recipient. Other past winners include Bill Ploeger of Columbus (1999, 2002), Laura Coble of Augusta (2000, 2005), Rick Cloninger (2001), Brian Harman of Savannah (2003) and Spencer Sappington of Milton (2004).
Story courtesy of the Georgia State Golf Association
