Fritz Excels As Player

When the golf team tees off this weekend at the St. Bonaventure Leo Keenan Invitational — it’s first tournament of the year — it will be led into battle by three senior captains who have been playing together since freshman year. One of these three captains is Robbie Fritz, who has been the team’s No. 1 golfer since he was a freshman, will be looking to add to his already impressive golf resume. At Eastlake high school, Fritz was captain for three years running and captured a State championship. He was also named to first team All-Ivy as a freshman, and last season, he finished 13th at the Ivy championships in Galloway Township, N.J.
“I’m excited to play the golf course,” Fritz said. “I got third last year [(plus-2)], and I’ve always enjoyed playing it. It’s a course that the team can probably score very well on.”
The Red finished seventh out of 15 teams last year at the St. Bonaventure Invitational.
In addition to excelling in collegiate golf, Fritz is also the consummate team player.
“I’m a lot more interested in how the how the team does as a whole than how I do personally, and I find that I play better with that mindset,” he said. “My role has been to temper everyone’s competitive nature and to try to push everyone to be better and learn from each other.”
Fritz’s teammates agree that he’s been somewhat of soothing presence in the locker room.
“He calms all of us down a lot; I tend to get kind of nervous going out there,” said freshman Larry Heymont.
Frtiz has also left his mark on his younger teammates.
“He’s just someone you really enjoy being around. He always has a positive attitude, he’s always having a good time,” said sophomore Robert Cronheim. “He’s always laughing and he has probably the most distinct laugh you’ve ever heard in your life. You can hear him from probably three holes away. … It was also great having a couple of upperclassmen that I was close to and spent time with every weekend. … It made me feel a lot more comfortable, just having someone to look up to.”
“He’s the real deal in the sense that he knows what to do and executes,” Heymont added. “He’s just an all-around great leader, he really leads by example.”
Even though four seniors will leave the team after this season, Fritz knows the future holds great promise for the golf program.
“I’m extremely pleased with the freshman class,” he said. “This is the first freshman class I’ve been this excited about. [The captains] were worried about the future of the team, but after meeting the three freshmen on the team, we know the team will be in good hands.”