When Barry Wells was a boy growing up in Virginia, he thought nothing of roaming around his hometown in bare feet.
Wells was raised in Norfolk, Va., a short bike ride from the beach, and it was natural for him to spend his days without shoes.
“I went barefoot everywhere,” said Wells, now a 69-year-old Greeley resident. “Even in pick-up games at the park, I’m barefoot. Everybody went barefoot, and we played in yards. Sure, we stubbed a toe from time to time.”
A national nonprofit is asking motorists to drive barefoot for the weekend of June 5-7.
So, why would Wells, a longtime golfer, lace up his spikes for a round of golf? The truth is he does when necessary, but it’s not his preference. In local golf circles, Wells has been known as “Barefoot Barry” for the last 40 years.
“I think everyone thought he was from California,” said Wayne Leighton, city of Greeley manager of golf and Wells’ long-time friend. “I used to think it was kind of strange, back then. But since that time, I’ve played in sandals and I thought it was hard to play in metal spikes.”
A 7.5-or-8-handicap, Wells describes himself as a “fair-weather golfer,” who plays two to three times a week — most of those rounds at either Highland Hills or Boomerang Links, both city courses.
Wells said he prefers to play in bare feet because it’s better for his swing.
“It helps you swing easier,” he said. “You don’t swing as hard because you don’t have the traction. That’s the key to golf, if you swing easy.”
Wells, who said he’s never seen another golfer play in bare feet, is in good company historically among bare-footed golfers.
Seven-time Major champion Sam Snead, a Virginia native like Wells, was known to golf barefoot and said he learned to play golf bare footed. Snead, who had a smooth and controlled swing, advocated golfers try the swing in bare feet if they tended to over hit the ball.
Snead once played nine holes at the 1942 Masters in his bare feet as he “tried to regain that smooth swing and steady rhythm that was the benchmark of his game,” according to this 2010 www.pgatour.com story.
There are no rules at city courses mandating the use of shoes, according to Leighton. The city courses would be more concerned with golfers who tried to play while wearing big-heeled shoes because of the damage they could do to the greens.
Rules at Boomerang and Highland Hills prohibit heeled boots or shoes, leather-soled shoes or shoes that cause damage to putting greens such as a women’s high heel or even a cowboy boot.
Among the proper footwear allowed, according to Boomerang and Highland Hills policies and rules, are: golf shoes with soft spikes, sneakers, flip flops, sandals and any other soft rubber soled shoes.
Wells said he owns two pairs of golf shoes: one he keeps here and the other remains in Arizona, where he and his wife, Carol, visit a couple times per year.
In Colorado, Wells said he plays in bare feet as the temperatures begin to move into the 60s and 70s.
“I got a good tan on my feet,” he added.
Wells moved to Colorado in the early 1970s intending to play baseball at the University of Northern Colorado. He’s always been an athlete. At Granby High School in Norfolk, he played football, baseball and basketball. After high school, he picked up golf and rugby, a sport he liked even better, calling it “my passion.”
Wells played in men’s basketball leagues until he was in his 50s and he was in softball leagues into his 60s. He goes to a gym to work out six days per week before often heading to Kersey, where his son, Brian, and his daughter-in-law, Amanda, now run Kersey Pizza, previously owned by Barry.
Wells said he wears golf shoes when he travels to other courses, and he’s happy to do that. He doesn’t want to break any rules — or put his foot down that he has to play without shoes.
Once at Highland Hills about seven or eight years, Wells said he was asked during a round by a course ranger to put on shoes. The ranger explained that it was the rule of the course. After the ranger spoke with Leighton, he found Wells was in the clear.
“Here, the guys all know me,” Wells said. “I get grief when I show up with shoes on.”
