By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

CHARLOTTE — Local golfer Charlie Barr has qualified for the U.S. Amateur, the world’s most prestigious amateur golf event.

“It’s all kind of surreal right now, just a very cool moment in my golf career,” said Barr, a 20-year-old rising junior at High Point University.

Barr qualified at Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte. It was a 36-hole qualifier, with both rounds played on a marathon Tuesday.

Barr was close to flawless during his first round of the day, a sizzling 6-under 65 with six birdies, three on each side, and 12 pars.

Then he was good enough to hold on in the second round, a 1-over 72 that included two birdies and three bogeys.

He finished first. There were two qualifiers from the field, with the second being Pinehurst golfer Joshua Martin (67-72 — 139).

“Long day with 36 holes and about a 45-minute break between rounds,” Barr said. “I had a good support system with my coach and teammates from High Point there with me and knowing my family was following the tournament closely.”

Barr said the key hole for him was the par-4 18th that concluded his first round. He played a safe tee shot, laying up in front of a water hazard. He hit a 7-iron over the water and put it within 7 feet of the pin. Then he made the birdie putt.

“Playing that hole so well calmed my nerves and gave me the confidence that I could finish the tournament on top,” Barr said.

Barr experienced an up-and-down sophomore season for High Point, but he turned in a stellar finish and took third place in the Big South Championships.

“I had a shaky fall, but then my swing coach, Brian Lee, fixed some things, got me straightened out and I had a very good spring season,” Barr said.

The site for the 2023 U.S. Amateur is Cherry Hills Country Club in the Denver suburbs.

It takes a very low handicap to enter the U.S. Amateur. There were 8,253 qualified entrants.

They will be trimmed to an elite field of 312 that will assemble in Colorado on Aug. 14-20. Barr will be one of those 312.

He’s been to Colorado before but never to Denver, a golf hotbed which has 94 courses in the city and suburbs.

“I’ll be playing in a tournament with the best in the nation, and it will be exciting to see how my game matches up with top players like that,” Barr said. “This will be, by far, the biggest event I’ve ever played in.”

Barr and Josh Brincefield were the winning team in last year’s Labor Day Four-Ball Championship at the Country Club of Salisbury.