He was born in Addington, Surrey, England, and lives in England, but he represented Scotland at the international level Barnes was taught golf by his father who was Secretary at Burnham and Berrow Golf Clubs and later became a pupil (and future son-in-law) of Max Faulkner, the 1951 Open champion.
Barnes was educated at Millfield School in Somerset.
Barnes is noted for having beaten Jack Nicklaus twice in one day in singles match play, during the 1975 Ryder Cup on 21 September, winning 4&2 in the morning round and 2&1 in the afternoon session. He turned professional in 1964. Barnes was one of the leading European Tour golfers of the 1970s.
He placed between 4th and 8th on the every year from 1971 to 1980 (the 1971 money list was semi-official, and the European Tour formally commenced in 1972).
He had three top ten finishes at The Open Championship, the best of them a tie for fifth in 1972. In 1995, Barnes became eligible to play in senior tournaments, and was very successful.
Arthritis hampered his career and forced him to leave tournament golf in 2000. Barnes played for Great Britain & Ireland and finally Europe in six consecutive Ryder Cups from 1969 to 1979.
Barnes was responsible for one of the most atrocious putting performances ever seen in a professional tournament.
During the 1968 French Open, Barnes missed a short putt on the par-3 8th hole. Angry with the miss, he then tried to rake the ball into the cup, but missed. He then hit the ball back and forth while it was still moving.
After all of the missed putts and penalty strokes were counted, Barnes had scored a 15 for the hole.
1964 British Youths Open Amateur Championship European Tour wins (9) Other wins (8) European Seniors Tour wins (2) Champions Tour wins (1).
1964 British Youths Open Amateur Championship 1967 Flame Lily (Société Anonyme) 1969 Coca-Cola Young Professionals" Championship, Agfa-Gevaert Tournament 1970 Wills Australian Masters 1978 Northern Open 1979 Zambia Open 1981 Benson & Hedges Kenya Open, Zambia Open 1995 Senior British Open Championship 1996 Senior British Open Championship.
