Clarksville, TN – I’ve watched Ryne Fisher grow up, learning to play golf at the same time he was learning to walk. He played all the sports growing up, and he was good at everything, but he was great at golf.
He got it naturally.
His father Mickey was a great athlete, as was his father George.
Kinda runs in the DNA, huh?
I haven’t really kept up with Ryne since he moved away, but it was good to see that he still competes, and he’s still tough to beat.
Fisher won the Tom Hoover Ozark Invitational in Poplar Bluff Missouri. One of the best golf tournament in the state. The field is mostly college golfers and ex-college golfers who come together for the weekend to see who’s still “got it.”
Ryne Fisher’s still “got it.”
Fisher shot a six under par 136 to win by one shot, tapping in a birdie on the final hole of the tournament to break a log jam of six golfers who were tied for the lead at the time.
Pressure. Not a problem. Been there done that.
“It was really lightning in a bottle this weekend” he told me. “I had very low expectations for this tournament. I figured I would shoot a couple of 75’s and be done, but my putter was magical. I made everything I stood over.”
Winning golf tournaments, and sinking pressure putts is nothing new to Ryne Fisher. He won the Commanding Generals Golf Tournament at Fort Campbell when he was fifteen years old. His grand-dad, George Fisher, won the same tournament.
It’s apparently a Fisher family tradition.
A lot has been happening in Ryne Fishers’ life since college. He married his college sweetheart, Ellen, and they moved to her hometown of Kansas City. He works as a sales rep for a copier and software company, but still manages to play every chance he gets.
“I play in a few of the local tournaments here, kind of like when I was in Clarksville, but nothing real serious” he said. “My priorities have changed, but I still love the game.”
It’s hard for me to imagine Ryne Fisher playing in a golf tournament and not seeing his parents, Mickey and Mary, and his grand-dad George standing in the trees watching every shot, but life goes on.
It’s gratifying to me to see our young people grow up and become fine adults. Finding their careers, and finding their life partners, because life goes by so fast. In Ryne Fisher’s case, it’s pretty special, because I watched his dad’s career and that makes me feel old.
So we should all be proud of the accomplishments of our children. I know I am. And I know somewhere, Mickey Fisher has a big grin on his face because this weekend, his baby boy won another golf tournament.
