Barry Cheesman to Make a Run at the Champions Tour

Remember Barry Cheesman? Many amateur golfers in the Sarasota area do.
      
The former minor-league baseball player started playing amateur golf in Sarasota at Rolling Green Golf Club with a group called the “Animals.” Cheesman became their hero. He went on to win the Florida State Amateur, qualified for the Nationwide Tour and eventually the PGA Tour.

As a professional, Cheesman earned $1.8 million in prize money but then dropped off the face of the golfing globe. His last year on the PGA Tour was 2001. But he turned 50 in August, won the senior division of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Open and has decided to give professional golf another try.
      
Cheesman plans to attempt to qualify for the Champions Tour in November.
       
Until this past summer, he hadn’t played golf in two years. But don’t rule him out. When he played on the PGA Tour, he was consistently one of the longest hitters. Since last December, he has been teaching golf at Evie’s on Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota.
       
“I love to teach,” he said. “I think I have a lot to offer students.”
          
Cheesman has the pro tour bug again, and he also loves to compete.