AUNT CAROL KNEW IT ALL ALONG.

Byline: DAVE SHELBURNE Golf

Carol Altshiller suspected it might be a great week, but she had no idea how memorable her first trip to the Masters would become.

Altshiller, a West Hills resident and one of the top women golfers at Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, got her ticket to Augusta National when her nephew qualified for that tournament.

The qualifying was impressive enough for Ricky Barnes, who won the U.S. Amateur Championship last summer to get him, his aunt and the rest of the family to Augusta, Ga. Then, after playing a practice round with Arnold Palmer, the 22-year-old University of Arizona All-American was paired with Tiger Woods in the opening round - and shot 69 to finish seven shots ahead of the top-ranked golfer in the world.

``He played beautifully,'' said Woods, who told Barnes on the first tee to try to relax and enjoy himself - then watched Aunt Carol's pretournament favorite scramble from out of the trees for his first of five first-round birdies. ``He did all the right things and made a lot of good putts.''

Barnes held fourth place after that opening round, and Altshiller and her sister Cathy - Barnes' mother - could hardly contain their excitement while following his progress over a course left soggy by heavy rain.

``People were saying it's like the Ricky Barnes show,'' said Altshiller, who for years has been telling her friends about her talented nephews - including Barnes' older brother and fellow Arizona All-American, Andy, who caddied for Ricky at Augusta.

``It was fabulous,'' Altshiller said. ``Only the rain (which washed out Thursday's first round, forcing a scheduled 36 holes for Friday) made it miserable. But we got in some good days, and the best thing is, Ricky played well.''

Did he ever. By the finish, Barnes was tied for 21st, matching Matt Kuchar's 1998 placement that stands as the best by an amateur at Augusta since Sam Rudolph shared 18th in 1985.

Barnes narrowly missed a top-16 finish that would have earned him a repeat trip to the 2004 Masters. But he wound up with the sterling silver cup that goes annually to the low amateur in a tournament amateur great Bobby Jones started in 1934, and one which consistently has celebrated its amateur participants.

By the end of the most remarkable week of his golfing life, Barnes had been invited by Palmer to play in his Bay Hill Invitational next year, been invited by Jack Nicklaus to play in his Memorial this year and also been invited to play in next month's Colonial Invitational.

Altshiller expects her nephew to decline the Colonial and Memorial invitations and use his maximum of six possible sponsor exemptions for 2003 to play as a professional after concluding his amateur career with already-achieved berths in the U.S. Open, British Open and Scottish Open this summer.

Barnes' hope is to follow Woods' path to the PGA Tour by earning enough in late-season, sponsor-exemption opportunities to place high enough on the money list that he can bypass tour qualifying school.

Once he's finished as an amateur, Altshiller said, Barnes seems a lock to her to make it to the PGA Tour.

``He's so focused,'' she said. ``He'd be behind a tree and then he'd get the ball on the green and make birdie. And leading Tiger by six shots after 36 holes - this kid really focuses. He's a real competitor and he's a perfectionist. He's got the whole package: He's good looking, he's smiles a lot, he comports himself well and he's a good golfer.''

Barnes, who will play locally with his Arizona team when the Pacific-10 Conference championship is held in two weeks at Glendale's Oakmont Country Club, impressed the Masters' patrons with his length off the tee - often staying close to Woods in driving distance.

But he was as impressive for his resiliency at Augusta. Barnes followed a first-round double-bogey with a near eagle on his next hole and turned a near-disastrous hole into an occasion of thunderous cheers at Augusta's lake-flanked 16th hole Sunday.

On that par-3, he put his tee shot into the lake, took a drop and chipped over the green, and then banged a comebacker off the flagstick and into the cup for an all-world bogey.

``The crowd went nuts,'' Altshiller said. ``You could hear that roar all over the course and I'm sure people were saying, `Oh my gosh, he got a hole in one!' ''

Barnes settled for the distinction of being low amateur after a week that left golfers throughout the field talking about the golfer Altshiller has been talking about for years.

``When he went to the tournament,'' she said, ``his goal was to make the cut and be low amateur. It would have been nice if he could have been one shot lower and got a chance to come back, but it was very exciting. And I'm looking forward to going to the British Open.''

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Photo:

Amateur Ricky Barnes tied for 21st at the Masters last weekend, earning the sterling silver cup for the tournament's low amateur score.

Dave Martin/Associated Press

Box:

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