Barrow finds joy in creating
four-legged friendships

Joey Terrill

although it’s accurate to call Barbara Barrow a former LPGA Tour winner, she is perhaps better described as a Renaissance woman. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of San Diego State who once contemplated becoming a professor, Barrow instead parlayed her golf success into a career beyond the game. Winner of the LPGA’s Birmingham Classic in April 1980, she has devoted herself for the last two-plus decades to nonprofit work. Currently she serves as the Southwest region executive director for Canine Companions for Independence, a national organization that provides assistance dogs to adults and children with disabilities.

Growing up outside of San Diego, Barrow learned golf
from her father, Bill, a scratch player. She stayed close to
home for college, winning the AIAW Championship (the
precursor to the NCAA Women’s Championship) in 1975
and finishing second to Nancy Lopez in the event the next
year. A member of the 1976 U.S. Curtis Cup team, Barrow
earned her LPGA card in 1977 but coached the Long Beach
State women’s golf team for one season while cutting her
teeth on tour. “Being the practical sort, I thought I’d better
have a backup plan if I didn’t qualify,” Barrow says. “I don’t
think you could do both now.”
Barrow’s lone LPGA victory came on a wet, blustery
Alabama Sunday. With a final-round 67 at Green Valley CC,
she edged future Hall of Famer Beth Daniel by a stroke.
“Beth had to eagle the last hole to force a playoff, and she
almost holed it out,” Barrow recalls.