Barnes remains calm during daunting schedule

On Wednesday afternoon, Ethan Barnes sat near the anchor at Newport Harbor High and thought about his daunting golf schedule in the upcoming days.

As he usually is, he appeared calm and low key as he talked about a rigorous four days of competitive golf. He began with 36 holes on Saturday in the TTC College Showcase at La Costa in Carlsbad. Then another 18 holes on Sunday for the College Showcase.

Monday is 18 holes at Skylinks for the CIF Southern Section Southern Individual Regional Tournament.

Then, he’ll play 18 more in his first U.S. Open local qualifier on Tuesday at Andalusia Country Club in La Quinta.

During the summer, Barnes, 16, says he plays golf every day, but this will be the first time he’s ever played competitive, meaningful rounds for four straight days.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Barnes, a Sailors sophomore said. “It’s definitely going to test my game. I’ll take it one round at a time.”

The round at Skylinks on Monday will definitely be important. Last year, Barnes missed the cut to compete in a playoff to advance by one stroke. He doesn’t want to miss out this year.

He said he just wants to have the same mindset as he did on April 26 when he opened the Sunset League finals with a four-under-par 68.

What was he thinking?

“When I played well, I didn’t have any thought I just played,” he said. “When I was at the scorer’s table I was like, ‘Oh I shot 68, that’s cool.’ I really wasn’t thinking that much. That’s probably why I played well. It was pretty fun.”

Barnes battled winds the next day and finished with an 81, but it was enough to win the Sunset League championship, and he was also awarded the league MVP award.

Scott Tarnow, in his 18^th season as Newport Harbor coach, described Barnes as ho-hum after his 68 and taking the first-round lead at the Sunset League finals.

“That was probably one of the top five individual performances of all time in Newport history,” Tarnow said.

Barnes became Newport’s first boys’ champ in Tarnow’s time with the Sailors.

“He expects that out of himself,” Tarnow said. “He knows he can do it. He’s very determined, very driven. He wants to play college Division 1 golf. He already has people looking at him. He practices hard. He’s very consistent with his effort.”

Barnes knows it will take a lot of effort to make it to the next level and play for an NCAA Division I program. He wants to play in the Pac-12. Making it out of Southern California, a hotbed for elite junior golfers, will be very challenging, much more than this four-day grueling schedule.

Barnes is passionate about reaching his goals, and it’s a big reason why he continues to work hard. When he has tournament golf on a weekend, he’ll set up time to go to the golf course Tuesday through Friday, on the driving range, chipping and putting, and also playing nine holes on Thursday and another nine on Friday.

“I have guys like [Corona del Mar High standout and UCLA commit] Clay Seeber around me. I see what they’re doing and they are right across the bay here,” Barnes said. “It definitely motivates me. I realize that here, Texas and Florida, they’re the top three places for junior golfers to come out of. I just know that if I can make it here in Southern California I can probably make it anywhere. It definitely motivates me because I see all these guys committing to colleges. I have to take my game to the next level if I want to do that.”

Barnes loves being on the course. He admires pros on the PGA Tour and believes it would be fun to have that job. For now, golf is like a job, but Barnes is having fun with it, as he’ll sometime play with friends.

It seems Barnes has always loved golf, even though he took up team sports during his childhood. He became more serious about junior golf and reaching a college team about three years ago.

“I just want to go to a place where it betters my game to the point where I can compete on the PGA Tour,” Barnes said. “I just want to go to a place where I can excel and take my game one step up.”

He said he was introduced to golf at Big Canyon Country Club, when his grandfather, Dave, and father, Michael, took him to the course. Barnes said he shook Tiger Woods’ hand when the famed golfer was a member there.

Also, when Barnes was 5, he enjoyed going to Newport Beach Golf Course, the public course near the airport, with his father.

Barnes remembers sleeping in the car while his dad practiced. When Barnes woke up, the two played nine holes.

After the nine, the father would tell the son, “All right let’s go home.”

But the young Barnes said, “No. Let’s play the back nine.”

“I’ve always enjoyed it,” Barnes said.

Barnes plans to enjoy Monday, on the course at Skylinks, too.

Ethan Barnes

Born: Dec. 21, 2000

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 5 feet 8½

Weight: 162 pounds

Sport: Golf

Year: Sophomore

Coach: Scott Tarnow

Favorite food: Poke

Favorite movie: “Ocean’s Eleven”

Favorite athletic moment: “It’s gotta be in baseball.” Barnes made a spectacular diving catch for an out in the outfield to save the game and gave his Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. team a chance to win and it did during extra innings to advance to the Zone tournament.

Week in review: Barnes shot 68-81–149 on the par-72 Skylinks Golf Course to win the Sunset League championship. He was also named the league MVP on April 27.

[email protected]

Twitter: @SteveVirgen