I just got an email today (dated last night) on the passing of Biff Barfield from his long time doubles partner Glen Hale.

I will post more information when I get it, I don't want to call Mike to get more information. He will have enough on his hands right now.

Biff was one of the guys who was a mover and shaker when I first started up back in 1988. He was partly responsible for Greenbelt being in the ground. He also donated the original "round Nine" backet from the original Greenbelt course to be used for Jimmy Porter.

Biff was also one of the people who stepped up BIG TIME the year I stated "no more smoking" at tournaments. That year he donated $1000 in CFR plastic and even sponsored all his disc golf playing employees in the tournament.

Biff also is a past supporter and sponsor of The Big Show and VPO.

In recent years Biff has not been as involved in Disc Golf stuff because of his involvement in Boy Scouts and his company, Jus-Made. However he had overwelmed himself and had stepped back from most of his volenteer work (from what I understand) Unfortunatly, the pressures of his fast growing company must have got the best of him.

I talked with MaceMan a few minuets ago and he said Mike thought the funeral would be held Thursday.

I will post when I know more.

With a sad heart

Bryan James #5380

Wow, ever since I restarted playing disc golf about four years ago, I have missed seeing Biff on the course. I can remember when he and I use to play mini's at the original Greenbelt park with two young kids named Robert and Mike, and an up and coming player named Sam (you old timers will know who I am talking about). I can remember playing in Tim's mini's with Biff often kicking my rear.

Biff you will be missed.

Jerry Power #4207

Yep, I "use" to take skins money from those two kids, Mike and Robert.

As far as Sam, no one gave him more chances to turn his life around than Biff.

Don't know what to say. I'm shocked.

Haven't seen Biff in a while, and most of my reminders of him in recent years were related to everything he had done for others.

Prayers go out for him, his family, and everyone he helped in so many ways. RIP.

I'll never forget when the news did a story on disc golf. There was Gene...wading in the water...chasing his $8 frisbee. Watching a million dollar man disc diving for his plastic....PRICELESS. LOL.

RIP Gene. You will be missed.

Yea John, that might have been the last time I personally talked with him. When the PDGA head office called me to get in touch with channel 8 about the story, I called Tom, Mike and Biff to come out and help. I figured getting a VP and a few owners of local companys would be good.

You are correct James, I don't know any other disc golfer who gave so many second chances to turn there lives around.

The year the VPO was a 3 day A-tier was the year of the "No Smoking", I can't remember why I was talking to Gene, but he called and we were talking about the VPO. When he asked if I was playing, I told him I did not have enough money for entry fee. SO HE PAID MY ENTRY FEE!!!!!!!! Just so I would play. That really ment a lot to me.

Biff was one of my early mentors when he would come out to Skyline and play in the mini's run by the Metcalf's in the late 80's.
It would floor me every time he wiped me out at tournaments because at the time I was playing everyday and he only played a few tournaments a year! Needless to say he was an inspiration for me.
Adios mi amigo.....

Here's a link for friends to see:

http://www.mem.com/display/biography.asp?ID=1573857

For all of you who have shared your heartfelt condolences at learning of Gene�s passing, I want to thank you again. For you that have asked for date and time of the funeral, here�s that info.



Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home

7405 W. Northwest Highway

Dallas, TX 75225

Funeral is Thursday at 2:00 PM

Thanks for the Link and info John.

Mike Sayre just called me to make sure I knew what happened.

I told him I didn't want to bother him right now because I am sure he is very busy. He appologized for not calling me sooner.

I informed him I started this thread and that John provided the link and info for the services.

thoughts and prayers go out to Gene's family. He will be surely missed by the disc golf family. everyone should say a short prayer for his family at your next Mini or tourney. This year's VPO should be honored in his memory.

Man, I hate to hear this. I haven't seen Biff in years but we played a lot of rounds together at the worlds in Texas in 94 and 95. Life and health are so fleeting. Thanks for letting us know. I will be offering up prayers for his family.

This world has lost a great man and the next world has become a better place.
Pray for his family....they have the biggest loss.

Bryan or John!
Get some black ribbon and safty pins to VPO.
We as players should sport black ribbon at VPO

Some of this has aleady been posted, but Mikey Sayre asked me to post it again:

John, could you post this on the message board for me?


Thanks for all the kind words and phone calls from everyone.

For all of you who have shared your heartfelt condolences at learning of Gene�s passing, I want to thank you again. For you that have asked for date and time of the funeral, here�s that info.



Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home

7405 W. Northwest Highway

Dallas, TX 75225

Funeral is Thursday at 2:00 PM



If you want to see Gene�s Obituary you can go to www.mem.com (http://www.mem.com), put �Barfield� in the search area and Gene�s picture will be there in a list. Click on his picture and the obituary will pop up. Thank you for your continued prayers for the family.



Bless You All,



Michael Sayre

There is not enough space here to say all of the good things that need to be said about Biff. What a great man. It is a very sad day for DFW, one of the truly great men is no longer with us.

My memory is quite suspect and I have been trying to remember any specifics about Biff from over a decade ago. Correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to remember that Biff used quite a runup off the tee and that it took a while for me to learn to put my bag much further back from the teeing area than I was used to. Any truth in that memory?

yes his run up was very long....much like his passion for life

yes his run up was very long....much like his passion for life



He definitely had the longest run-up I've ever seen....Texas-style! He was also one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet...on or off the course.

We'll miss you, Biff....

REST IN PEACE MY BROTHER OF ANOTHER MOTHER!
See you in the streets of gold!

Great guy, always courteous and respectful. I am blessed to have known and played with you Biff.

It was a nice service with standing room only.

Fellow disc golfers in attendance were (in no particular order)

D. Bryan James #5380
Mike Sayre #4665
Glen Hale #2461
Scott Cook #7778
Danny Waldron #3970
Bill Burns #581
George Jordan #5041
Randy Greywolf #9945
Travis Powell #14055
Dave O (Oringderff) #5367
Mike Kennedy #2993
Brian Mace #7477
Doug Brashear #5753
Joe Morrison #6172
Sam Graziffe #4607
Robert Knight #4663

There was another fellow disc golfer there, but I can't remember his name. He use to work at JusMade.

I hope that was everyone.

Great guy, always courteous and respectful. I am blessed to have known and played with you Biff.



So True Brian, Such a kind person, I'll miss you Biff.

My memories are from late 80's tourneys @ skyline...
and you are right, what a run up. :D
He was a super nice guy. :D
He will be sorely missed. :p
D.P. 4121
Bartlesville, OK.

yea, even the tee pads in Lewisville were not long enough for Biff.

BTW, keep those comments comming. They are much appreciated by those that loved Biff. I got several "Thank You's" today for starting this thread.

REST IN PEACE MY BROTHER OF ANOTHER MOTHER!
See you in the streets of gold!



And on the tee pads of gold, Vinnie....really, really long tee pads of gold. :)

I'll be bringing a roll of black ribbon and safety pins for anyone who would like to remember Gene "Biff" Barfield at this years VPO. Look for it at tourney headquarters Saturday morning. Thanks.

Gene Barfield was a truly good man that will be missed dearly by the disc golf community all over the country. Biff touched many peoples hearts in his walk thru life, including mine!

I wish that I could have attended the funeral service, but my thoughts and prayers were there.

I hope that you bring me a black ribbon to Florida Johnny, as I will dedicate my play at the Players Cup to Biff, as I will miss his grace the he gave to all the people he encountered in life!

I never knew Biff but my heart goes out to his family and friends.
It sounds like we lost a true ambassador to the game.
R.I.P. Biff -

Biff was such a great asset to our community, as I'm sure he was to every other community he joined.

As a person, he was a prince. Friendly, compassionate, generous, humorous, kind... and so thoroughly dedicated to family, work, and God.

As a competitor, he was a great sportsman and comrade. And exceptionally talented.

And yes, he did have impact on course design in Texas. Not just for the original layout of Carrollton's B course, which we dubbed "Biff's Aerobic Adventure" (did he design the A course, too?), but for encouraging designers like me to at least try to provide longer run-ups.

He was a huge help with courses and tournaments, and I enjoyed the Barfield's hospitality and their couch on several occasions. Those were the good old days. And there were many dinners at Mexican restaurants, with margaritas made from Jus-Made mix.

He virtually adopted lots of young golfers, for whom he became a role model. He provided advice and even employment, and he always set a great example.

It's truly sad to think that we'll no longer have his warmth and caring, but we will always enjoy the legacy and the memories. I hope he has found the peace he sought and deserved.

Ironically, I was working in Dallas recently and thought "I need to give old Gene a call." That same night I heard the news. When I got home, one of the first things I did was to call a friend I hadn't talked to in several years... just to say hi and stay in touch. I hope that will be just one of the lessons I'll keep from the life -- and far too early death -- of Gene Barfield.

Well said, Mr. Houck...I never knew Biff but you gave us the sense that he was a truly good man.

My condolences go out to his family and friends.

Great Post John...I didn't know him myself even though I play GB all the time, but with DJ, Pizza, Mace and many other great players posting his donation to our sport

He will be missed by many

Wow! Biff Barfield will be missed, my condolence to his Family. This is a sad day for all discgolfers.

I have read this thread through and through...

Being new to disc golf, and being over-competetive and a oft-hot headed playter, I have much to learn by the words you all have said about this man.

To be special is not to be great at the sport, but to be a great person while playing. I can only hope that, like myself, others will be influenced by the lives of those whose temperement and attitude on and off the course will be as legendary as their skills.

I vow to become a person whom aspiring disc golfers look up to, and in that way, will hopefully influence others to embrace the sport as strongly as I have.

Biff, you will be missed by more than just those whom knew you.

With respect, Brandon Goldner

I would like to know if any of the disc golfers out there would like to donate disc golf discs, memorabelia and other related items for an auction to raise money to dedicate a hole at the new National Disc Golf Center for Gene "Biff" Barfield?

I have been in contact with a PDGA representitive and have been told that the money needed to Honor Biff is in the $5,000.00 range.

My goal is to raise the money in the form of an E-Bay auction listing. The name of the auction would be "The Gene "Biff" Barfield Memorial" and all proceeds will be used to reach the goal of the hole sponsorship. All donations would be inventoried with quantity and value so that anyone that donates can see the true value that I would have availible on E-Bay. I will keep a running total posted here on the thread for all to see. Any funds aquired that will exceed the amount required shall be used to do any hole improvements in the form of landscaping and benches.

All interested parties that would like to donate to this cause, please contact me via private message for any questions or details. I have already had many commitments from people that were at The Players Cup in Florida, and I hope that I will recieve many more.

Sincerely,

Craig Leyva
PDGA 5787

Just wanted to rename this thread and get it back up to the top.

I have already had some response for donations, I hope and pray that more of you can help out this worthy cause.

Great idea, Craig. I would love to have the Biff Barfield hole on the South Course, which is the one I designed. I'll start thinking about which hole might be most appropriate. There are a couple that have creek running through it, Carrollton-style.

And count me in for some memorabilia.

Thank you Rappin, I will send you an e-mail with my shipping address.

I was going to ask if we could sponsor a hole on your course at the National Disc Golf Center, it seemed appropriate!

Yo, Lefty. I will pm you. Send me your address and I will look for something for you to put on E-Bay. I look forward to the Biff hole on John's course. It better have an extra long tee pad to make it official.

Stan,

I will make sure the John knows that we need to make the "Gene Barfield Memorial Runway" as a tee pad. John is also looking to make the hole run along a creek as Biff's courses did the in Carrolton, Tx.

Please let anyone else know that this auction is in the collection stages, and I have already had several people commit to donating items. I will be setting up an E-Bay account today, and it will be named "The Gene "Biff" Barfield Memorial auction.

Once again, I sincerely thank everyones effort to making this happen for our dearly departed friend!

Craig Leyva

Talk to Mike. Gene's widow might donate some of Gene's collection of discs to help raise the funds. I will dig out some old Carrollton Discs for the Auction too.

Mike inheretd all of Biff's collection!

Please help me keep this up on top? I have already started recieving plastic, please keep the idea moving. If you can donate anything at all, even if a group of people can put a package together, it is greatly appreciated!

I have had a lot on my plate, but I have not forgotten and will send you some plastic soon. Thanks for what you are doing Criag.

Uh,,,, make that Craig. I don't really know what I Criag is.

Thank you very much Stan!

I have already started recieving shipments from people across the country.I have had commitments for almost 150 discs. I hope that more of you can find it in your heart to donate some items to this worthy cause.

The auction should be set up by the end of the week, as I will have close to 70 items listed.

Thanks to all of you that have donated already!

You should have recieved my contribution by now. I hope this goes well and then necessary funds are raised. Catch you later,

I got your package Stan. There is some great stuff in there, thank you so much!

Craigy,

Sending a bunch of plastic from Sandalman(pat brenner) and myself. Expect it Mon or Tues.

Thank you Johnny!

I will be getting to work on this stuff when I return from San Fransisco this weekend.

Thank you Johnny and Alex! I got your packages over the weekend, whay interesting items that you both sent. Please hang in there on the E-Bay auction set up, it has been a crazy time over the last few weeks and I promise that this will happen!

I told a few friends of Biff about this earlier and they recently asked me about the progress. What can I tell them? has any of the merchandise been put up on ebay yet?

Not yet, I do plan on getting this started very soon. I have recieved close to 100 items to be put up for auction. I promise to have this started by April 1,2007

Biff's Birthday is comming up in April. Mike Sayre said the family wanted to plant a tree at one of the Carrollton Disc Golf courses in his name.

I have not heard anything but I think they were shooting for April 14th.

any news on the auction?

Yea Craigy. What's up? Are you waiting for Amy and i to produce a baseball team? 2 down 7 to go. :D

Soon, very soon. It has been a very rough year for me to this point. I have only one more hurtle to overcome!