LSU Men’s Golf senior Philip Barbaree and Trey Winstead and junior Garrett Barber each took part in the 120th annual U.S. Amateur Open beginning Monday, Aug. 10 at the Bandon Trails and Bandon Dunes courses in Bandon, Oregon.
Barbaree, who is ranked 84th among amateurs according to the World Amateur Golf Ranking, outperformed both of his LSU teammates and reached the quarterfinals before coming up short on Friday, Aug. 15. Winstead fell in the round of 32, and Barber was unable to advance out of the 18-man playoff that would have earned him a trip to match play. 
The field of 264 amateur golfers kicked off stroke play Monday at Bandon Trails. This was Barbaree’s, who has reached match play at the event in three of the last four years, sixth U.S. Amateur appearance after winning the 2015 Junior Amateur. For Barber and Winstead, this was their third and second U.S. Amateur respectively. 
Barbaree shot rounds of 68 and 75 to end Tuesday night at even par and in a tie for 36th, and Winstead posted rounds of 73 and 67 to finish the stroke play portion of the event tied for 18th at 3-under par, good enough for both to advance to match play at Bandon Dunes on Wednesday. 
Barber, who finished stroke play at two over par, qualified for an 18-man playoff to determine the final three spots of match play. After a par on the first hole, he failed to birdie the second, eliminating him from the event on Wednesday. 
Later that day, LSU became one of only five schools to have multiple golfers in the round of 32 after Barbaree and Winstead each won their respective matches. Winstead defeated Kevin O’Connell two and one, while Barbaree never trailed in his match. 
Thursday produced different outcomes for the two remaining LSU golfers. Barbaree gathered two match play wins to advance to the quarterfinals, while Winstead failed to defeat David Lamb of Notre Dame. Winstead held a lead after the 14th hole, but hole wins on 15 and 16 gave Lamb a lead he never relinquished. 
Barbaree’s run would come to an end on Friday, losing to West Virginia’s Matthew Sharpstene four and two that afternoon. Barbaree bogeyed the first hole while Sharpstene parred and was never able to catch up. The LSU senior cut the deficit to two-down after birdies on the 10th and 12th holes, but Sharpstene took control of the match with an eagle on 13. Barbaree was attempting to join Tiger Woods as the only golfer to ever win a U.S. Amateur junior title and U.S. Amateur title.
“Yeah I felt like I could make a run. I knew I was playing pretty well, and the golf course suited me. When I got there I figured hopefully I could make a good run,” Barbarbee told KTBS-TV following the tournament. “You never really know with match play and the course conditions and the kinds of draws you get in stroke play, but it ended up working out, and I’m just thankful I made it that far.”