For nearly 50 years, Barrie McWha has made his mark as a builder of the game of golf across Western Canada. He first attracted attention in 1967 when he joined the Canadian Professional Golfers Association as an apprentice under head pro Bill Thomson at Southwood Golf and Country Club.
In 1968, he attended the first business school organized by the PGA of America. He was named head pro of the Wildewood Club in Winnipeg in 1969, then moved west to serve as assistant pro at Calgary Golf and Country Club in 1970 and in 1971 at the Canyon Meadows Golf Club before returning to Winnipeg in 1973 as head pro at Southwood, succeeding the retiring Bill Thomson.
He was elected president of the CPGA of Manitoba in 1977, and went to the CPGA board of directors in 1971. He served a two-year term as president of the CPGA in 1983-84. He was named general manager and head pro at Southwood in 1985 and also found time to be chosen Manitoba head pro of the year in 1981 and to establish a course record 64 at Southwood in 1979. He played a major role in the growth of the Manitoba Open championship from 1985 to 1990 at Southwood.
McWha headed west again in 1990 and took on duties as director of golf at the new Fairwinds Golf Resort near Qualicum Beach, BC. In 1995, he became manager of the PGA of BC trade show. In 1997, he was named general manager and chief operating officer of Glengarry Golf Links at Qualicum Beach. He later led the rebuilding of the golf course and the rezoning of the property to be a destination resort with 18-hole championship golf course and golf academy with a new brand — Pheasant Glen Golf Resort. In 2006 he left the company to pursue consulting opportunities and in 2008 joined the BC Golf House Society as Executive Director and stayed there until 2012.
Barrie McWha is an inductee into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame and Museum Inc., September 28, 2015.