THUNDER BAY – Dustin Barr’s road to the Staal Foundation Open in many ways is similar to lot of 21-year-old golfers.
He’s put in thousands of hours of practice and play honing his craft in order to make a go of a professional golf career.
Unlike the rest of the field at Whitewater Golf Club this week, Barr has twice faced a battle of life and death, and stared it down as a champion.
At 17, the Thunder Bay-born Barr was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Ewing’s Sarcoma, which produces a tumor in or around a person’s bones and is usually found in people aged 10 to 20. It can also spread to vital organs.
In Barr’s case, it was his pancreas.
After going into remission, the cancer reappeared again last year, putting Barr back to square one with his treatment.
Needless to say it’s been a struggle for the young athlete, who has trained at the Core Golf Academy in Florida and was a member of the Thomas University golf team.
And yet he’s persevered.
Now it’s time to get down to business, after learning on Tuesday he’d been given a sponsor’s exemption into the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event, instantly becoming the golfer everyone is pulling for this week.
“It’s really an overwhelming feeling,” Barr said on Wednesday, following an abbreviated, rain-soaked practice round at the club he cut his golfing teeth on.
“It’s a bit of relief and a bit of a feeling of dreams coming true. When I had my surgeries, I told myself I would play golf at this level and I finally get to do that this week.”
Rather than let the disease get the better of him, he’s makes the most of his post-treatment time, spending three straight weeks on the golf course this spring after his latest chemotherapy session.
Barr had three chances to earn his way in to the tournament, but finished second in June qualifier, was well back at the Keg District Open and shot a four-over 76 at Fort William Country Club and missed Monday qualifying this week by six strokes.
“Golf is one of the most important things in my life, so I focused on that,” Barr said, explaining why he’s kept at the sport. “I talked to a lot of people. I went to Florida and talked to Sean Foley, Tiger Woods’ former coach.
“I had a great conversation with him and he told me to just keep a positive mindset. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that over the years.”
Now he’s got one goal in mind – become the first local golfer to make the Staal Foundation Open cut.
It’s not going to be easy, with large galleries expected to be following his group, which also includes four-time participant Evan DeGrazia and former NHLer Grant Fuhr.
“I just have to keep the ball in play, really. Hitting fairways, hitting greens, just playing the game like I know how – not doing to many crazy things, just playing a smart round of golf.”
Barr’s group tees off at 2 p.m. on Thursday and 9 a.m. on Friday.
