One year ago today, the PGA Tour was making its annual stop in our region.

For the last 27 years, the tournament — whether called the Reno-Tahoe Open, Legends Reno-Tahoe Open or Barracuda Championship — was part of the area’s summer offerings.

But there is no Barracuda Championship this week. I’m not sure how many have noticed. The tournament was not included on the PGA Tour’s 2026-27 schedule released last August, and the last ditch effort to try and save the Tour stop was apparently unsuccessful. It’s a shame.

While the Barracuda Championship was long in the shadow of the local summer events, whether it was the Reno Rodeo, American Century Championship, Hot August Nights or even Artown, it was always cool to have a PGA Tour stop in Reno (or, in its later years, in Truckee).

Following the footsteps of the American Century Championship long left the Barracuda in the shadows, like a band hitting the stage immediately after the Beatles played. Watching Erik van Rooyen and Chez Reavie play golf doesn’t hit like watching Stephen Curry, Charles Barkley or Justin Timberlake on the shores of Lake Tahoe. The American Century Championship is a college house party. The Barracuda was more akin to a 70-and-older dinner party.

The intention is not to bury the Barracuda. Instead, we’d like to praise it. When it was created in 1999, few would have believed it’d last 27 years. But it did because of the persistence and effort of the tournament’s small-but-mighty staff coupled with the PGA Tour players’ love for the annual stop near Lake Tahoe. There’s not many high-elevation mountain glof stops on the schedule, and the tournament’s Modified Stableford scoring system was unique, too.

The PGA Tour never fully invested in the Barracuda Championship, which was opposite the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational or British Open, impacting the field quality. As an encumbered event, the winner didn’t earn an invitation to the Masters, either. That alternate-event status was always a difficult challenge, with the Barracuda’s spot on the PGA Tour schedule being given this week to the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic.

The tournament persisted despite having a title sponsor only twice in its first 15 years of existence. That’s basically unheard of. It continued after Montreux’s members voted against holding the tournament following the 2019 event, forcing a move to Truckee’s Old Greenwood course. Barracuda Networks stepped into the title sponsor role in 2014 and supported the tournament for the last 12 seasons. But it didn’t renew for 2026, which proved to be a death knell.

The event featured its share of memorable moments, starting with the inaugural winner Notah Begay III, who at the time was a big name given his relationship with Tiger Woods. Nevada Wolf Pack alum Kirk Triplett won the 2003 tournament in his return to Reno. Vaughn Taylor secured back-to-back titles in 2004-05. In 2006, Yusaku Miyazato hit a pair of hole-in-ones in the same round. Greg Chalmers won in miraculous fashion in 2016 while on veteran member status. Planning to retire at the end of the year, Chris Stroud won in 2017. Two years later, future Tour star Collin Morikawa lifting the trophy in his sixth pro start, becoming one of two Barracuda winners to go on to secure a major championship (2013 winner Gary Woodland was the other).

Often a launching pad for young golfers or first-time Tour winners, the Barracuda could be reanimated as a calendar stop for the Korn Ferry Tour, LPGA Tour or Champions Tour if any of those organizations want to keep pro golf in the Tahoe region.

For now and perhaps forever, the Barracuda Championship is gone. Did you notice?

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.