IN A CROWDED WORLD OF GOLF INFLUENCERS, BARBER STANDS OUT. In Virginia alone, names like Fat Perez( Nick Stubbe, Bob Does Sports), Gavinflo( Salsbury CC instructor Gavin Parker), the DOD King( Carter Smith), and The Pause King( Ben Kruper) populate the space, each offering something different but all inherently producing golf-heavy content.
Barber, who turned 30 this summer, took a different path to becoming an influencer. When we spoke at Keswick Hall in October, he noted that he was gaining close to 1,000 followers a day on Instagram, where he pivoted most of his content after starting out on TikTok. Close to 250,000 follow Barber’ s content on the platform.
Going by the handle @ the _ blackreign, Barber still provides golf content, trying out clubs and giving tips here and there. But the crux of his feed is comedy and satire, some reels saltier than others.
“ I, for one, appreciate how creative he is,” said Parker, a close friend of Barber’ s from college.“ And we need that in the space where everyone else is trying to retrace the old.”
“ I would be carrying the bags of these wealthy guys and just hearing their lingo and hearing the things that they would talk about— it was always just so funny,” Barber said.
The Birkdale-Brandermill connection was crucial to Barber securing his first fulltime professional gig after graduating from Campbell. At the time, Hanover Golf Club was under the Acumen Golf umbrella along with those two clubs— and it had a head golf professional opening. Seeing Barber’ s work as an intern prompted Acumen director of
GROWING UP IN THE ARTS Part of it is Barber’ s upbringing. Parents Lou and Tiki Barber are heavily involved in music, as is his sister Brazil, a rapper who goes by Rap-Unzel and gained national acclaim for her appearance on Lifetime’ s popular TV show“ The Rap Game.”
Barber attended Thomas Dale High School in Chesterfield, which is known for its vibrant arts program. He tried out for the Knights’ golf team and once he was able to consistently shoot 45 or better in 9-hole matches, he earned more playing time.
But his true love was in acting. As a youngster, he acted in plays and television commercials, and he did voiceover work. Barber applied to the renowned Juilliard School in New York City, but just missed the cut. His second choice helped forge a path in golf— Campbell University in North Carolina, where he double majored in marketing and professional golf management.
The PGM program opened plenty of doors to opportunities in Virginia, where Barber worked with the junior program at Independence and interned at Birkdale and Brandermill. Barber said his favorite summer gig was at Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale, New York, where many of the ideas for“ A Day at the Country Club” were generated.
At first, he worked in the pro shop, but he soon realized that caddying was a better source of quick income. It was those on-course conversations with members that fueled his future content.
26 V IRGINIA G OLFER | N OVEMBER / D ECEMBER 2025 vsga. org