On a Tuesday in Timnath, the game of golf knelt at Austin Barry’s feet.
Barry was vintage Tiger with the drive. He was classic Mickelson with his irons. And the senior was superhuman with the putter, all en route to an eye-popping round of 59 during a league meet at Harmony Golf Club on Aug. 27.
There is no official CHSAA record book for boys golf, but Barry’s 59 is believed to be a Colorado high school competition record.
“After I shot 29 on the front nine, that felt really special,” Barry said. “But throughout the whole round, I just kept gaining momentum. A lot of people say the phrase ’59 watch,’ because it rarely happens. But I birdied my last three holes to do it. I just kept going and going, and I kept making birdies. It was a once-in-a-lifetime round.”
Barry carded an eagle, 11 birdies and six pars en route to 13-under. In addition to being a likely unofficial state prep mark, his 59 also set the Fossil Ridge program record (a 64 previously shared by Barry and Dillon Stewart) in addition to tying the course record at Harmony. The only other person to shoot 59 there was Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson, who did so as a pro.
Throughout Barry’s historic round, Fossil Ridge golf coach Jamie Menefee said the 18-year-old was “cool as a cucumber.”
“He’s one of the most emotionally level golfers I’ve ever been around,” Menefee said. “He just doesn’t seem to get rattled by anything, he doesn’t get mad at himself. He doesn’t get too high when he’s going good. Throughout the round, he showed very little emotion.
“The kids in his group, coming down 16, 17, 18, seemed to be more excited than he was. And I know I was more excited than he was showing. He finally did smile after making the putts on 17 and 18, and got big hugs from the coaches.”
The hugs were well-deserved.
Breaking 60 in golf is akin to throwing a perfect game in baseball.
On the PGA Tour, Jim Furyk owns the scoring record with a round of 58 at the Travelers Championship in 2016. The week before, Stephan Jaeger also notched 58 at the Ellie Mae Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. And this year, Cristobal Del Solar reset the overall professional single-round low with a 57 at the Astara Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Barry’s rare round started rather innocuously with a pair of pars. But then on the par-5 third hole, he hit his second shot to about three feet and made eagle.
The Wyoming commit followed that with three straight birdies, notched another birdie on the eighth hole, and then closed the front with a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth.
“I just remember the goosebumps after watching him sink that putt,” Menefee said. “We were only halfway home, but wow, 29. That’s when I started to truly believe he had a legitimate chance at 59.”
Barry carried his swagger onto the back nine, where he opened with consecutive birdies. Then after a par at the 12th, he stepped to the tee box on the 13th and used his 3-wood to go for the green on the par-4 hole.
But Barry mishit his drive, hooking it into the native grass about 30 yards short and left of the green. It was his one bad shot of the day, and for a moment, Barry feared his ball was lost and he’d have to take a penalty stroke.
With the help of coaches and other players in his group, Barry found his ball. Luckily, he was sitting just ahead of a tree, with a clear line to the green. He proceeded to hit a masterful recovery shot, a punch out of a lie in the thick grass that stayed low off his club to avoid overhanging tree branches. The ball landed about 20 feet from the cup, and Barry two-putted for the par save.
“From that point forward, that was the last hiccup he had,” Menefee said.
After a birdie on the 14th and a par on the 15th, 59 was within Barry’s grasp. But the pressure was setting in, even more so when he stepped up to a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th.
“I was really nervous going into the last few holes,” Barry admitted. “But I knew I was making putts all day, so I had a lot of confidence built up. On the 16th green, (the prospect of 59) was weighing on me. I knew I needed to sink that putt to keep it going and have a chance. If I missed it, I knew I would need to go birdie-eagle to finish.”
Barry drained it.
“He was making almost every putt he looked at — long putts, short putts, they were just all going in,” said Poudre junior Max Riley, who was in Barry’s group. “After he made what seemed like his fifth 25-footer (on the 16th), I just started laughing. I was in shock. This was probably the coolest, craziest golf experience I’ve ever been a part of.”
With ice in his veins, Barry hit his six-iron off the tee box on the par-3 17th from 209 yards out to about three feet, resulting in a birdie. Then on the par-5 18th, he again found the green in two — the fourth time he did so across the five par 5s that day — and found himself staring at a 15-foot eagle putt for 58. Furyk territory.
By this time, a small gallery of about 40 onlookers stood around the green to watch Barry finish out.
“I jokingly said to our athletic director who was standing there, ‘If he three-putts for 60, I’m demoting him to JV,’ Menefee said. “When he knocked that first putt about four feet by, I was a little nervous for speaking that into the universe.”
But Barry calmly drained the birdie putt right into the back of the cup to secure his 59. He described the putt as “the most nervous I’ve been on a four-footer, ever.”
With 59 now in the rearview, Barry believes his historic round can be a springboard to finally earn him his elusive individual title at the Class 5A state tournament on Oct. 7-8 at CommonGround Golf Course.
Barry finished tied for second at state as a sophomore when he had a four-stroke lead after shooting 64 on the first day at City Park Golf Club. But he couldn’t hold on, even as his play helped propel the SaberCats to the team title. He lost by one stroke. Last year, Barry was also in contention for the crown but ended up finishing fifth, eight shots back.
“I’ve been really craving an individual state championship,” Barry said. “I came really close the last two years, but was just a little bit off. … (In 2022), I lost confidence a little bit during the final round. My putting wasn’t great, I wasn’t hitting great shots. I kind of gave it away, pretty much. And last year, I was in contention on No. 10 on the second day, when I was one shot back. But then (Rock Canyon senior) Charlie Tucker ran away with it. He deserved to win.
“But I know if I go play my game and I play good, it’s going to be hard for other people to beat me this year.”
Fossil Ridge believes it can make another run at the team title, which would be the program’s third since 2018. The SaberCats still have three of the four golfers from that ’22 title team, including senior Kaden Devenport and junior Landon Houska, in addition to Barry. Other teams, such as Cherry Creek and Cherokee Trail, are in position to challenge.
And while Barry faces serious threats to his individual title quest such as his teammate Houska and Fairview junior Miles Kuhl and Cherokee Trail junior Brayden Forte — both tied for second at state last year — no matter what happens in October, Barry now has a round to brag to his grandkids about.
“I’ll always remember the support from my teammates, and how excited they were for me, and the feeling after making the final putt,” Barry said. “And walking up to the 18th green, all those people standing there and cheering for me. Everyone was so kind. … It just feels amazing to have this record.”
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