Barrett makes strides, but keeps Dad off the course

Adam Candee

Wednesday, June 18, 2003 | 9:06 a.m.

A year earlier than most teenage girls do so, Katy Barrett bid farewell to her father Marty -- at least on the golf course.

"I don't let him watch me anymore," said Barrett, a soon-to-be Palo Verde senior. "I'd like him to be there, but he makes me nervous."

Marty Barrett, the former Rancho High and Boston Red Sox standout, introduced his only daughter to his post-baseball passion of golf at 7 years old, when Katy could do little more than steer the golf cart from her father's lap and knock around a few putts. Along with instructor Kim Dolan, Marty helped coach and guide Katy, and she has blossomed into one of Nevada's top junior golfers.

In Tuesday's opening round of the Sprint Junior Golf Championships at Boulder Creek Golf Course, Katy had no gallery as she shot a 6-over 78 to finish seven strokes off the lead.

"I'm her biggest critic, too," Marty Barrett said. "She feels me watch her and she knows I expect her to hit every shot perfect."

Marty said the last part with a laugh, knowing that whatever bothered his daughter about his presence is now a moot point.

"Now it's like a funny thing, like, you can't come watch me or I'll kick you off the bag," Katy Barrett said.

Father and daughter can both laugh now that Katy is learning to take a mature ownership of her golf future. The young woman who will travel to Oklahoma on her own for a juniors tournament next week is a far cry from the girl who almost dropped the game in middle school.

"When I quit, I didn't really think golfing was the cool thing to do," Katy Barrett said. "I really wasn't having fun."

With long practice hours and success as a freshman and sophomore at Palo Verde came that fun Katy wanted. A seventh-place finish at the 2001 Nevada State Tournament solidified Katy's place as one of state's best and, more important, her enthusiasm for the game.

"I just started practicing more and the next year, I played really well," she said of the time between her freshman and sophomore years. "I was No. 1 on my team. I helped them out in state and I felt good about that."

While Marty may not be allowed on course with Katy anymore, his influence is still strong. The 1986 American League Championship Series MVP and a 3-handicapper, Marty calls on his competitive experience to help Katy improve the mental aspects of her game.

The two recently sat down to talk about the drive to succeed, about how that quality is one that you either have or you do not.

"You have to want to win," Katy Barrett said, echoing her father's advice. "You have to want to be better. That's what he did with baseball."

That's what Katy is learning to do. Logjammed at the 16th tee Tuesday, she chatted about her round with fellow local junior star Chelsea Pendleton. All day, Katy hit accurate but grass-cutting drives, and she told Pendleton that she needed an hour on the range to solve the problem.

"Little things like that show me that she's really maturing," Marty Barrett said.

Katy admits she is still learning how to handle herself on the golf course, as she grows out of tempermental reactions to bad shots and the poor swings that can follow. She worked on that mentality, along with creating a draw out of her natural slice, last week at golf school at Purdue University.

A summer tour awaits as Barrett will play in Utah and Colorado after the Oklahoma tournament, with tournaments in New York and either West Virginia or Pennsylvania to follow. In addition to the exposure, she hopes this grueling summer schedule will help improve her competitive edge.

"Now that I've been competing more, I've been able to handle (pressure) really well," Katy Barrett said.

Now that Dad is on the sideline, the pressure is all relative.