History of Barrie Bruce Golf Schools

The development of the present Barrie Bruce Golf Schools did not begin until 1983. Although Barrie has been employed at the Country Club since 1973 and has been giving golf instruction since then, the impetus of the Schools creation was the construction of a teaching facility (1982) that included practice tees, practice greens, and sand traps. In the fall of 1983 a "school" was established through a local adult education program and fourteen students signed up as a class to take advantage of this new facility. Success was immediate.

In the spring of 1984, a season's schedule of nine schools was advertised in the local newspaper as well as at an open house evening held at the Country Club of Billerica function hall. The enthusiasm and interest shown by many golfers served as a catalyst for expanding the planned nine schools into fifteen.

It was also during this year and the next (1985) that the ever-increasing number of students necessitated the expansion of the School's curriculum. First year students wanted to know what would be offered to them the following year. Two sessions - Ball-striking and On the Course - became Golf School I. Golf School II, also containing two sessions, took interested graduates of Golf School I (there were many!) and taught skills in areas not covered in Golf School I along with offering 9-hole fun tournaments.

In the early 1990's, the interest in junior golf really exploded. The surrounding town's recreation departments offered junior clinics through the Golf Schools and by 1997 and 1998, over 600 youngsters were in attendance. This keen interest resulted in the creation of such programs as the Junior Invitational Workshops, Golf for Girls, and the Little Tykes Programs.

The dramatic increase in the number of students, the number of schools being offered, the development of an improved and expanded curriculum, and the increase in the size of the teaching staff are all indications of the tremendous success and reputation enjoyed by the Golf Schools. The Schools are playing and will play a most necessary and prominent role in the golf boom that the game of golf is experiencing. It is truly "A Game of a Lifetime".