Young Gun With New England Ties Wins CVS Caremark Charity Classic
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
His first “thankyou” was to Paula Creamer. The LPGA stars late withdrawl from the CVS Caremark Charity Classic opened up a spot for him. And he took advantage of that opening winning the tournament along with partner J.B. Holmes.
Ricky Barnes is one of the “young guns” on the PGA Tour. He is among a group of talented 20-something golfers who is both the present and the future of the Tour.
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Tuesday he and his playing partner, 28-year old J.B. Holmes, shot a best ball score of 13-under par 58 to lift their two round total to 21-under par. That was good enough to take home the $300,000 first prize in the CVS Caremark Charity Classic.
Barnes is starting to like New England……a lot! The Stockton, California native played in the Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett three times where he twice finished second. His father, Bruce, also played for the New England Patriots serving as the teams punter from 1973-1974 which were his only years in the National Football League. Now Ricky just earned more money in New England in 48 hours than his father did in two full years here.
“I can’t thank Brad, Billy and Tom Ryan enough for having me here,” Barnes said. “Obviously, I’d like to come back as defending champion next year and I’d love to come back for many years to come.”
J.B. Holmes also seems to enjoy himself here. “I love this course,” he said. “On the PGA Tour they take the driver out of your hands a lot the way they make the courses. Here, you can hit driver all day. I could probably get around this course with a driver and a couple of wedges.”
Rhode Island Country Club is an old Donald Ross gem which played to 6,710 yards for the tournament. That may present a stiff challenge for the average golfer, but Holmes is anything but that. He is among the PGA Tour’s longest drivers of the ball. And when you’re used to playing courses that are more than 7,400 yards each week, 6,710 can seem like a pitch and putt.
Still, you have to make putts and Holmes did a lot of that on Tuesday. The Kentucky native birdied five holes in a row on the back nine (11-16) to lead their charge to the title. But it was Barnes who knocked his tee shot stiff on the par-3 17th which he birdied for the one shot victory over Barrington’s Brett Quigley and Angela Stanford.
“I was just happy to get off the horse and contribute,” Barnes said. “J.B. was on fire there on the back nine.”
The two also won the day’s only skin with a birdie on the par-3 5th. That was worth a total of $25,000 for the team which made their two day trip to the Ocean State quite profitable.
But this tournament was and still is all about the community here in Rhode Island. While the final numbers have not yet been tallied, this event has raised over 13 million dollars for local charities in its first eleven years.
It also gives golf fans in New England a chance to see many of the games greats up close and personal. Players like Hall of Famers Nick Price from the Champions Tour and Juli Inkster from the LPGA Tour. And future Hall of Famers like Davis Love III as well as our local stars and the aforementioned “young guns.”
For the 12thconsecutive year, the CVS Caremark Charity Classic hit the mark.
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