Ten years is a long time in any walk of life, and a decade on from a burgeoning career in the car industry, it has very much been a tale of forecourt to fairway for Jason Barnes as he gets behind the wheel for a Race to Dubai test drive in 2015.
Fresh from a 15th place finish on the European Challenge Tour Rankings after a dramatic final day at the Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club, in which his place on the starting grid amongst Europe’s elite was by no means assured, the Englishman will now hope for a fast start to the new season.
The 31 year old had the best year of his professional career in 2014, one that hit top gear at just the right time, as Barnes posted consecutive podium finishes in two of the last three events of the campaign.
His ties for third at the Foshan Open in China, and the following week at the National Bank of Oman Golf Classic, saw the Kent native climb into 14th position on the season-long list with 72 holes to go, but his eventual tie for 18th in Dubai teed up a nervous wait, as the Rankings fluctuated during a tense final afternoon in the desert.
One bogey and eight pars over his closing nine holes had looked like leaving Barnes on the outside looking in, but at the end of an emotional hour or so waiting for play to conclude, it was good news at the end of his third year on the second tier.
“Honestly, I was a mess,” said Barnes, also posted a runner-up finish earlier in the season at the Aegean Airlines Challenge Tour by Hartl Resort, en route to a career-best prize haul of €77,793.
“I said to my girlfriend Melissa – who was caddying for me – on the 16th, having seen the names on the leaderboard, my position, and my score, that a Tour card was done. I couldn’t finish top 15, but I could still finish as strong as possible and then just see how it went.
“I didn’t even finish that well in the end, it was horrendous to be honest, but I got in and signed my card and then asked the recorder to put me out of my misery. I looked at the updated Rankings at that point and it said 15th, so for the next hour of my life it was just a waiting game, and it was the worst I’ve ever experienced.
“I never want to go through that again, and words can’t describe how happy I am. The weeks in China and Oman are what put me in that position and gave me a shot at it, but I was confident of carrying that form to the Grand Final.
“I played good in the first round to be seventh, then dropped down a little bit, then a little bit more, and I thought ‘oh no, no, no’, but so many things have gone right for this to happen. I feel massively sorry for everyone who missed out, but as last man in I can’t feel too bad. It was a real emotional roller coaster.
“I’m just excited to try and beat the guys I’ve seen on TV and to finally earn some real money playing this game, to enjoy playing golf on the big stage and to see what happens.”
Unlike many up and coming professionals, Barnes’ path to the top did not involve countless hours spent on the range as a youth, travelling the globe competing against the best the amateur world had to offer.
For him it was life on the car showroom floor and a low single figure handicap until he realised that life was not turning out quite as he had wanted – and more importantly, he posted a runner-up finish in his local county championship which proved to be a turning point in not only his career, but his life.
“I started golf late and went to work,” said Barnes, who had previously never finished higher than 51st on the Challenge Tour Rankings. “I used to work for Mercedes, Toyota, Volvo, Ford, whereas a lot of these boys have just done golf. I worked for a living, firstly as a consultant, then I was selling, before it dawned on me that I had lots of money and things were going well at work, but I had no time to spend it, no life.
“Then I played in a county championship and finished second, and decided to take a year out and play golf, and from then I have never looked back. I was 21 when I did that, and hadn’t considered playing it for a living before then, as I had played off a two or three handicap.
“Since I turned professional I have been on a steady incline, I have always gone up, and never stagnated or gone down. It had been a slow start to the year until I finished second in Germany, and from there I really started to kick on, before losing my swing completely and then regaining it in time for the last few weeks. It’s such a buzz.
“This sport just takes over your life, it takes over everything you do. When you get a win, progress and earn some money, so your hobby and passion becomes your job as well, it is just unbelievable.
“The last couple of years I have dreamed of playing on The European Tour, and I thought I’d do it, eventually, but you never know. So to actually do it is great.”
Now he has the keys to his European Tour race car, all that remains to be seen is what he can achieve by the time the chequered flag falls come the end of 47 laps through 27 countries in 2015.
“To keep my card, win a Tour event and do all the things you dream of doing – they’re the goals for next year,” said Barnes. “I look back on when I was stood over a six footer on the putting green for the millionth time pretending to win the Masters or the Open, hopefully now I can actually do it for real!”
