LSU senior golfer Philip Barbaree’s tee shot on the 16th hole in the David Toms Intercollegiate Tournament Saturday morning at Southern Trace Country Club in Shreveport, Louisiana, will not be a typical drive down a normal fairway. 
Southern Trace’s 16th green is the site of Barbaree’s first hole-in-one, a feat he says he accomplished when he was eight. 
And the Tigers would be playing in a normal tournament, merely a casual fall tune-up that they have dominated in recent years, except for the fact that this year they are playing, literally, in Barbaree’s backyard.
Barbaree will play a competitive round at his home course for the first time since his final home event at C.E. Byrd High School in 2016. Southern Trace was where he took his first swings, honed his mechanics and fell in love with the links, as he made five or six excursions to the course each week as a young golfer, he says. 
He knows the course well. 
Southern Trace is a treeline course, he says. Its fairways are not too narrow. It’s a little shorter than most courses, making it easier to get into a rhythm. The most challenging aspect of the course is its bunkers and water hazards, which surround most of the greens. 
“I know a bunch of family and friends will be out there watching which will be really cool,” said Barbaree, who in August was added to the watch list of the Haskins Award, bestowed annually on the nation’s best collegiate golfer.
Among the family and friends will be his father, Phil, who Barbaree credits with facilitating his early development as a golfer by playing the course with him so often and finding coaches to work with him, placing him on the path that Barbaree believes will lead him to the PGA, a dream as old as his first Southern Trace scorecard. 
On his journey to the pros, Barbaree will make a stop at home where his path first began. There he will reflect on his memories and look to what lies ahead. 
“I’m really excited for the future,” he said.