The Shadow
On a whim, Caleb Fry decided to take a trip to Fredericksburg over the weekend.
That decision and a 357-yard clout with his driver have earned the young man from Bath County a spot in the Amateur Long Drive World Championship next month at Myrtle Beach.
Fry topped a field of 20 drivers in the open men’s division of the Mid-Atlantic Region event in the ALD championship series Saturday.
Region ALD events and long drive leagues are held all across the country and in Canada with the best qualifying for the world championships at Myrtle Beach’s Barefoot Golf Resort.
“It was kind of like a spur of the moment thing,” said Fry of his first-ever long drive contest. “I’ve been wanting to do it for a while. I wasn’t expecting to win it. It felt pretty good.”
Golf runs deep in the Fry bloodlines, including Caleb’s father Mark, the Director of Golf at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, and his grandfather Basil, who is also an accomplished player.
“I’ve had a lot of opportunities with my Dad and the people at The Homestead,” Caleb said.
He’s taken advantage of those opportunities.
Always a long hitter off the tee, Caleb has gotten even longer over the last year.
“I was always hitting maybe 20 or 30 yards past kids (in high school),” he said. “I never really thought much of it. But now I’ve been building my muscle up and getting more flexible and I’ve really seen a difference in the past year or so.”
Fry was first to the tee Saturday and had a 341-yard drive early in the competition.
“I was holding on to that for a while,” he said. “But then a guy hit 346. I finally got the grid figured out a little bit. I realized if you hit it in a certain spot of the grid it was going to roll a little further. I was able to hit it where I wanted and I got 357.”
Caleb is looking forward to the big stage at the world championships and beyond.
“This is not like the big ones you see on TV with big money, those are the pros,” he finished. “But one day I want to get to that point. I probably won’t stop until I get there.”
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Caleb Fry (right) won an Amateur Long Drive regional major qualifier on Saturday at The Gauntlet Golf Club in Fredericksburg with a drive of 357 yards. With the victory, Fry, from Hot Springs, qualified for the ALD World Championships at Barefoot Resort and Golf in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, August 13-15. With Fry is Kevin Porter (left), of Amateur Long Drive, Inc.
