Thinking back, golf instructor Barrie Bruce, 83, believes he got into the sport for two reasons. His father was an avid golfer and encouraged him and because he had a stutter as a young child.
“The thing that really caught my eye about golf, is—it is a really quiet game,” said Bruce, a Westford resident. That tranquil green appealed to him. And he didn’t have to speak much or reveal his stutter to play the game.
Bruce began golfing at age 5 around the Beverly, Mass., area where he grew up. By age 8, Bruce was winning junior tournaments. Then, he and his father, Ed, twice won a prestigious local tournament at the Winchester Country Club. Bruce says he has “a lot of fond memories of father and son tournaments.”
Recently, Bruce became the first golfer to be inducted into Tufts University Athletics Hall of Fame. At the Class of 2025 induction ceremony this spring, he was awarded a statue of “Jumbo,” the elephant school mascot, and recognized for his athletic ability and how he touched people’s lives as a golf instructor.
“The reason I got into golf as deeply as I did was because I had a dream, like many kids do,” Bruce said.
Finding his Place on the Green
When he was younger, Bruce spent a lot of time playing golf and learning from Phil Friel, a PGA golf pro in New England, who helped him after his father taught him the game.
Following in the footsteps of his older brother Laurie, who was attending and playing golf at Tufts University, Bruce also enrolled and joined the golf team. He would go on to lead the Tufts golf team to back-to-back New England championship titles that stand as the only Tufts’ wins at the tournament in the 90-year history of the event. Bruce was also the only Tufts golfer ever to win New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championship medalist honors.
In 1962 and 1963, Bruce qualified individually to play in the NCAA Tournament, traveling to Duke University in 1962 and Wichita State in 1963, according to a Tufts University news release. The prior year, a well-known Ohio State Buckeye named Jack Nicklaus, who went on to have a professional golf career, had played in that tournament.
Golfer Becomes A Teacher
After college, Bruce was playing in golf tournaments and working on his dream of playing for the Professional Golfer’s Association Tour, better known as the PGA Tour. He won the Massachusetts State Amateur Championship in 1967.
But after a few years, he decided to end the pursuit of his childhood dream and build his life. He had a girl waiting on him, Natalie, and he didn’t want to lose her. So, he got married. They are still married today.
Bruce said he realized he had to be “realistic” about his level of play and he felt he couldn’t win enough money to support his growing family. Barrie and Natalie have three children.
He began teaching math in Billerica Public Schools around 1972 and also became the golf pro at then-newly opened Country Club of Billerica, an 18-hole public course.
Teaching golf suited him. It helped him continue to be involved in the sport he loved and share it with so many people, Bruce said. Over the years, he became known in the community as an instructor for youth, adults, and business professionals. In the mid-1980s, he founded the Barrie Bruce Golf Schools, and, in the 1990s, he would make teaching golf his full-time profession.
His motto: “A pair of sneakers and a good attitude.”
Bruce is a member of the New England PGA as a teaching professional. In 2005, Bruce was named one of “Golf Magazine’s 100 Best Teachers.” He taught many good students, including Geoffrey Sisk, who went on to a successful career on the PGA Tour.
Kim Cliff of Billerica, a golf instructor at Bruce’s golf school, said he promotes golf as a family game that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. “He’s not here to make people join the PGA tour,” she said. Bruce himself said he advises parents not to start their kids in tournament play until the kids ask if they can compete at that level.
‘A Very Humbling Game’
Both Bruce and Cliff admit that golf can be frustrating. “My father always said to me at a young age: ‘This is a very humbling game. Once you think you have it—everything falls apart,” Bruce said.
Bruce advises his students to: Keep at it. Be patient with yourself.
Throughout his lifetime, he’s noticed positive changes in the sport. Now, throughout all age levels, there are equal numbers of females and males in his classes. On the professional level, the sport has become more international, with players from more countries participating, Bruce said.
Bruce’s own children are not passionate about golf. But, even so, his daughter Stacey Bruce, a Westford resident, said she spent quite a lot of time at the country club in Billerica when she was younger. She wanted to be near her dad—he was usually by the green, so she would often join him.
Her daughter, Emma Bruce, 14, also spent a lot of time with her grandfather at the golf school. Emma accompanied Bruce onto the stage to accept his Tufts award.
Bruce is still teaching, he just uses his cane to get around. He golfed until 78, when he couldn’t swing a club anymore due to balance issues.
He appreciates when his former golf students return years later and tell him he taught them as junior players and they still golf.
His love of the game remains. He carefully hand washes and scrubs muddy golf balls retrieved from the course after they land in water and brush. When the golf balls look shiny and new, Bruce uses them for motivational prizes for his younger students.
Of his recent award, Bruce said, “I was impressed and flattered, but there were a lot of people who went into my development, so I am not going to take too much credit for the family and people who taught me to play better.”
