Doug Barron has spent his entire life on the golf course.
“My dad got me into golfing,” he recalled. “I grew up in the fifth house built at Windyke Country Club. I think I was three the first time I held a club. All my life, I’ve played golf. I played in my first tournament when I was 10; after that, I started to win a bunch of tournaments when I was young.”
He was an American Junior Golf Association All-American at 16, and the momentum grew from there.
Doug graduated from Germantown High School in 1987 and played golf for LSU from 1987 to 1988. He then attended Mississippi State University from 1988 to 1992, graduating with a BBA in marketing.
He turned pro in 1992 and earned his way onto the PGA tour by 1997. He spent time on and off the tour in the early 2000s as he battled various health challenges and setbacks on and off the course. His early career struggled to get momentum, but that would all change in time.
In recent years, Barron has been featured in prominent golf magazines and local and national sports media circles for what some might call an unexpected “come-back.” The PGA Tour’s senior tour, known as the PGA TOUR Champions, had proven to be the stage for a burgeoning second round.
In 2019, he won his first career Champions tour at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, New York, where he came away with a two-stroke win over World Golf Hall of Famer Fred Couples. In 2021, he again won by two strokes at the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary.
In an interview for the Commercial Appeal in 2022 with Phil Stukenborg, he stated, “I’ve always been a competitor, but having this chance to compete again — and to compete against guys I maybe didn’t do as well against when I was younger — it’s kind of fun,” Barron said. “Now it’s kind of reversed.”
His most recent achievement was his crown jewel — winning his first Champions major. He won the Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, in May 2024, surrounded by family, friends, and a supportive golf community.
In addition to his success, he is a grounded family man and an avid advocate for his own health. He works out daily with a mixture of strength training and cardio. When on the road, he has the guidance of a trainer but enjoys working out in his home gym.
He continues to pursue a life-long dream when others may have thrown in the towel. From early on at the inception of a Memphis golf staple at Windyke to the national stage, Doug embodies persistence and perseverance. We look forward to what this future holds for our hometown golf hero.
By Amanda Tompkins
Photo by Tindall Stephens