Golf has been part of Cameron Barnhardt’s life as long as he can remember, and his playing days are still only beginning.
Barnhardt, a senior at Durango High School, signed a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to play college golf for Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
“Probably around my freshman or sophomore year I started getting better and knew I could probably do this at the next level,” the son of Beth and Bob Barnhardt said. “All the hard work I’ve done is finally paying off.”
Barnhardt said he considered not playing golf in college but an offer from Oregon Tech was too good to turn down because the school also offers his preferred field of study in engineering.
He will join the Owls team coached by Jeff Corkill.
Barnhardt grew up at Dalton Ranch Golf Club and remembers when he first picked up clubs trying to keep up with his father. Bob Barnhardt is one of the area’s top amateur championship flight golfers.
“I’m always around golf,” Cameron Barnhardt said. “It’s always on my mind, and I’m always practicing.”
Barnhardt was a member of the three-time regional champion Durango High boys golf team, giving him three cracks at the state tournament. He said that experience has taught him more about the mental side of golf than anything.
Always one of the calmest players on the course, DHS head coach Kirk Rawles described Barnhardt as a grinder.
“When he needs to make a 6- or 7-footer even for bogey, he would make it,” Rawles said. “He would grind to get a score. He was never too whacked out as far as scores go. He has a good, even-keel mindset when he’s on the course.”
Barnhardt said he hopes to play well enough to make Oregon Tech’s travel team, and he will get plenty of chances with the NAIA school in the Pacific Northwest. Rawles is excited to see how much Barnhardt improves as he continues to get bigger and stronger.
He already has the mental side of the game down.
“Playing at Durango taught me we can win even if we’re not necessarily the best team,” Barnhardt said. “Any given day we could win. It made me a lot tougher mentally through all of our tournament experience and wins.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
