Former Towson University golfer Matt Fry ('14) got off to a hot start to 2018 on Wednesday.  
 
Playing in the Disney's New Year's Open on the Florida Professional Golf Tour, Fry followed up an opening round 64 with a final round 68 for a seven-shot victory, a rarity in professional golf.
 
Over the two days at The Disney Resort's Magnolia Course he made 13 birdies and an eagle, finishing 12 under par for the event. His closest competitor finished at 5 under. It's his fifth professional victory, with the first coming on the Moonlight Golf Tour in March of 2016.
 
Fry missed qualifying for the PGA Tour Canada by a single stroke a few years ago, and he leaned on the lessons learned from that experience to help him overcome the nerves of sleeping on a six-stroke lead.
 
"It helped me learn how to treat every tournament, every round the same, because I really got ahead of myself and started thinking about what was going to happen if I didn't play well, or if I played well," Fry said. "That really helped me going into (the final round), because when you shoot a round like 64, the first thing was 'how am I going to follow it up the next day?' The first thing I said to myself was 'I just have to treat it like it's another day. That round's in the books, there's nothing you can do about it. Tomorrow's a whole new day.' I think that really helped me."
 
Since moving to Florida in September of 2014, Fry has learned a lot in the world of professional golf, and is starting to trust his ability.
 
"This game, once you get to a certain level, it's really a lot about the mental game and how you control yourself out there," Fry said. "If you don't have the mental ability to pull it off in the biggest moments, it just looks good, but the results aren't going to be there."
 
He credits his work with his coach Gary Gilchrist for his recent success.
 
"The biggest thing I've learned the last couple years, especially from Gary, is at some point you've just got to let loose and trust yourself."
 
Fry tees it up again next week at the Alaqua Lakes Classic, January 15-16. He will also be back at PGA Tour Canada Qualifying this year which takes place March 27-30 at The Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
 
You can follow Fry's progress on both the Florida Professional Golf Tour and the PGA Tour Canada by clicking the links below:
FPGT- http://www.floridaprofessionalgolftour.org/Pages/default.aspx
PGA Tour Canada - https://www.pgatour.com/canada/en_us/tournaments/schedule.html