SAN DIEGO — “A day without golf is like a day without sunshine — it just doesn’t work,” said 84-year-old golfer Mike Barber.

Barber echoes the sentiment of many golfers, emphasizing it even more the older he gets.

“I’ll be playing golf right up until the last day,” said Barber.

The Montreal native spends six months out of the year in San Diego. However, this year was different.

Barber sought to break the Guinness World Record for most rounds of golf played while shooting his age or under.

“There was one time, there was one stretch where I played 18 days in row,” said Barber.

The previous record was 1138 rounds. Barber broke that record on April 19, pending approval by Guinness.

Once he got to his final hole on the record-breaking round, he says he felt a greater appreciation for what the professionals do.

“I’m trying to shoot 84, they’re trying to win the Masters — how do they do it? It was too nerve wracking,” said Barber.

When he broke the record, people at The Heights golf course in Rancho Bernardo were inspired by his accomplishment.

“I hope I’m walking,” Paul Devine, The Heights general manager, said jokingly about being able to golf at Barber’s age. “I’d love to be able to golf that well when I’m 84. I think we all do.”

Barber says he was introduced to the game by his father in 1947 and he plans to play as long as he can. With his DNA, that could very well be a long time.

“My mother was 88, my father was 95 and my great aunt was 106, five months and five days,” said Barber.

Just when it seemed like there was nothing Barber couldn’t do, he admitted that he has one weakness.

“That’s one of the problems, if I don’t play golf I’m bored. I don’t have anything to do,” said Barber.