I can’t think of many childhood memories that don’t include my parents … and a set of golf clubs.
Growing up as an only child, I went pretty much everywhere with them, and that included lots of golf courses. One of my first golf memories involved my dad, his friend John Elway (yes, the legendary quarterback), and a golf cart. My parents never missed The John Elway Classic in the 1980s, and I always got to tag along as the “cart girl,” which basically involved me sitting in the cart drinking Coke and eating snacks, along with the occasional driving lesson.
When you’re young, you don’t realize you are making core memories that will stay with you. We made many more memories as a family, some with me playing golf alongside my parents at places like Horseshoe Bay Resort, TPC San Antonio, Lajitas Resort, TPC Sawgrass, Whispering Pines, Barton Creek, and TPC Vegas.
My dad spent many years managing and operating golf courses and resorts around the United States, so it was completely normal for him to say, “I smell golf” anytime we drove by a golf course. And while my mom didn’t grow up playing golf, she came to love it almost as much as she loved him. I, on the other hand, was holding a golf club by age 6 and listening to my dad say, “This is a lifelong sport; you’ll thank me later that you know how to play.”
While golf wasn’t my first love, I always loved being the cart girl. I played a little golf in college, but I always thought being the cart girl was way more fun. As I got older, those Cokes got replaced by Coors Lights (my dad’s personal favorite) and more meaningful lessons on life, love, family, and the future.
When my dad was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, my parents moved from Port Aransas back to Central Texas to be closer to the grandkids. And wouldn’t you know it, they ended up living by a golf course—Double J Ranch Golf Club in Wimberley, to be exact. My dad immediately got a job managing the golf course and working in the pro shop. It gave him an outlet and something to focus on besides the cancer that was slowly killing him.
As my dad progressed through chemo and radiation, my mom decided she’d get a job at Double J as well. I suspect she wanted to watch over my dad, but she also enjoyed making friends and socializing—and boy, did they socialize. It wasn’t long before they both knew everyone in town, including the entire Wimberley High School golf team, which practiced at Double J daily. The kids would ask my mom for drinks and golf balls, and they’d seek out my dad for advice. While he wasn’t a golf pro, he did give them guidance and love, both of which high schoolers need deeply.
As cancer slowly took its toll on my dad, he left Double J and entered home hospice in July 2023. My mom and I united in taking care of him. It was one morning after my mom returned from work that she brought up the idea of creating a scholarship fund in my dad’s name to be given to a high school senior pursuing a college or technical degree.
On August 28, 2023, the day he passed away, we formed The Stanley J. Barnes Memorial Golf Scholarship. With donations from family and friends, we were able to provide two scholarships.
Around this time, my mom and I started to toss around the idea of a golf tournament at Double J to help fund the scholarship for another year. Unfortunately, my mom was never able to see that golf tournament come to fruition, as she passed away on July 17, 2024, just 10 months and two weeks after my dad.
One afternoon in October 2024, while watching my son practice with his golf coach and prepare for team tryouts, I decided I wanted to try to make my mom’s dream of a golf tournament a reality. I held the first annual Stanley J. & Edna Barnes Golf Scholarship Tournament in March 2025. It was a labor of love and completely out of my comfort zone, but I knew I had to do it, even if it was just a few teams playing. I wanted to carry on my parents’ name and their love for the game of golf. If any good has come from the death of my parents and the grieving process, it’s the nonprofit I set up in their name. Knowing this scholarship is helping kids deepens my love for the game and makes the weight of my grief a little easier to carry.
Facebook.com/p/The-Stanley-J-Edna-Barnes-Memorial-Golf-Tournament-61569236906629
When you’re young, you don’t realize you are making core memories that will stay with you.
I was holding a golf club by age 6 and listening to my dad say, “This is a lifelong sport; you’ll thank me later that you know how to play.”