Baton Rouge, La. – Philip Barbaree and Garrett Barber, two members of the LSU men’s golf team, are set to compete at the 2019 edition of the Sun Bowl All-America Golf Classic in El Paso, Texas, Nov. 24-26 at the El Paso Country Club.
A long drive contest and putting contest will take place on Sunday morning at the course before play begins on Monday. The competitors will play 36 holes on Monday and close out the tournament with 18 on Tuesday. Barbaree and Barber are the first two Tigers to play in this event since Sam Burns and Luis Gagne did so in 2016. Burns won the 2016 event with a score of 12-under 201.
The 2019 field will feature 37 of the finest amateur golfers around the world. It’s the most golfers the tournament has ever hosted – the previous high was 32 in 2009. The Sun Bowl Classic dates all the way back to 1974 and is widely known as one of the premier amateur golf tournaments in the states. Jordan Spieth, Tigers Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Justin Thomas are just a few of the famous alumni from this event.
Barbaree and Barber both had strong fall seasons for the Tigers. Over four events played, Barbaree registered three top-five finishes, and Barber notched two himself. Barber’s low round of the fall, a 9-under 63 at the David Toms Intercollegiate, matched the LSU school record for lowest round in relation to par in school history. Eight of Barbaree’s 12 rounds played during his senior season have been under par, and he ranks No. 2 on the squad with a scoring average of 69.67. Barber and Barbaree are both even in rounds contributed towards LSU’s team scores this season with 10 of their 12 rounds factoring into LSU’s combined score.
You can follow @LSUMensGolf on Twitter for updates throughout the tournament.