FORMER Europro Tour winner Dean Barnes is enjoying competitive golf again for the first time since turning his back on the sport at the end of 2007.

The 30-year-old Ferndown star played his first league fixture for the county since 2003 when he lined up for Dorset in their South East League curtain-raiser against Hampshire on Sunday.

“I never realised how much I missed the team aspect of golf,” said Barnes, who halved his singles match in Dorset’s 7-5 defeat at Brokenhurst Manor.

“I was second last out and for a while the result of my match could have been a deciding factor, and my game thrives in that position.”

Barnes quit the game just three months after receiving a cheque for £10,000 for winning the 2007 Europro event at Ufford Park.

“The touring lifestyle just wasn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy travelling and that would have become worse the more successful I became,” explained Barnes, who is training to become a carpenter while working for his father’s business.