Paul Barjon goes deep on Golf’s Next Wave podcast
5 Min Read
HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA - MAY 2: Paul Barjon gets a hug from his caddie on the 10th hole after winning the Korn Ferry Tour Huntsville Championship at the Ledges Country Club on May 2 2021 in Huntsville, Alabama. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Paul Barjon earned his first Korn Ferry Tour victory at the Huntsville Championship Sunday, outlasting Billy Kennerly and Mito Pereira with an eagle on the third playoff hole. Barjon, a 28-year-old TCU grad, is now on the verge of his PGA TOUR card and could become the first PGA TOUR member ever from New Caledonia.
Barjon sat down with the Golf’s Next Wave Podcast with host Kevin Prise earlier this year, and Barjon dropped some interesting tidbits on what current PGA TOUR member used to crush him as a junior, what New Caledonia’s like, what sports he used to play as a kid and how he ended up all the way at TCU from New Caledonia.
How’d you get started in golf?
I actually didn’t like golf the first year, but my parents signed me up for the golf school and they were like we paid for it, so you’ve got to do it now and finish the year. So, I finished it, made some friends and had a blast for the next 10 years playing in New Caledonia with those guys.
Did you play any sports besides golf as a kid?
I played a little bit of basketball, but I wasn’t very good. I played a little bit of rugby, but I got beat to death, so I was like, ‘No, I’m not doing this. It’s not fun.’
What’s the culture of New Caledonia like and is there anywhere you would compare it to?
It’s kind of like Hawaii. Hawaii is very similar. The weather is always good. In the winter in the morning, you need a sweater. But it’s laid back, and warm, and the people are friendly. It’s tough to be stressed out and not happy over there. The weather is just great. So very laid back and fun.
What was the course like you played as a kid in New Caledonia?
It’s called Dumbea. When I was younger, the clubhouse burned down one night. So, for the last few years when I was there, there was no clubhouse. There was a little container or trailer to house the golf shop but just a flat course. There was one hill where there was a green on top of the hill and a tee box, so you would go up and down just once at that course. But you know pretty wide and kind of kikuyu grass everywhere. It was pretty fun. When I think about it, my best score over there is probably like 67. I don’t know why just maybe I wasn’t way better than 67 or maybe because the greens were tough to putt on. I haven’t gone back there for a while, but it was just fun. Not very many people played with carts, so we’d use push carts most of the time and there’s a river going around it pretty much and we’d go swimming over there in the summer. We’d play in the morning and then come 3 or 4 o clock we’d go jump in the river and have some fun. So that was great memories.
How did you end up at TCU?
Until I got to high school, I really didn’t know anything about college golf or the PGA TOUR. I didn’t really know anything about TCU but one of my best friends, who was a groomsman in my wedding, went to TCU a year before I was going to go to college. And so, I went for a few visits to UCF, Texas Tech, Memphis and it just happened to work out that I talked to the coach at TCU, and he was like, ‘Hey, we’ve got a good scholarship for you if you want to come.’ So, I asked my buddy, and he was like, ‘Yeah you should come. You don’t have to come visit. I’ll tell you right now it’s nice. Great town. Great golf courses. And then the program is great, and the coach is great.’ So yeah, I just kind of followed his footsteps really, and he had an unbelievable college career. He was a three-time First-Team All-American his first three years, and he kind of slowed down that last year, but still he probably was the No. 1 guy on the team even though it was a slow year for him. He was a year ahead of me and we went to the same high school and the same national team, so I followed his footsteps. Then he went to Canada after college, and I did that too. So, I joined him his second year on the Mackenzie Tour and then he moved on and went back and played in Europe. But yeah, I really trusted him, and I never looked back really.
Was there anyone you played against in the past that stands out where you were like, ‘Wow that guy’s really good?
Yeah, when we would go to Australia, Cameron Smith was just absolutely smoking us, and I think he was a year or two younger than me. But he just kept winning everything, and I remember my last tournament he won the tournament four rounds at -17, and I think that’s when he was 17 years old, and I was like alright I’ve never been close to shooting 17-under ever. Even if it’s a little bitty course. So, he’s always been like this guy is just better than anybody else in his junior years and next thing you know he’s kept his card and played well on the PGA TOUR for all these years. So, yeah, that’s the one guy really in Australia at least that’s been playing better than anyone else. Then in Europe all the guys I played in high school with some of them succeeded and some of them didn’t, but we have a guy whose name is Alex Levy and I think he won four or five times on European Tour and he was our best player. So, most of the guys I’ve looked up to, and Alex was one of them, have had pretty good careers.
