ALL IN THE FAMILY: Chloe Fritch’s Love for Golf Was Formed at Early Age Thanks to Her Father, Mother and Grandparents

KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — When Chloe Fritch was just two, she picked up a golf club for the first time.

Her instinct then as a toddler was to swing left-handed. Her father — an avid golfer himself — set out to switch her around to the right.

“Me being a little selfish as a right-hander, I had her swing right-handed,” said Eric Fritch, smiling. “Just to make it easier on myself, I guess.”

(Pictured above, Chloe Fritch with her father, Eric Fritch)

Chloe was a regular on the links growing up. An only child, her golf partners were her father, mother and grandparents.

Over time, she started to show signs of being something of a golf prodigy. Her scores were low for her age. Her enjoyment of the sport high.

Now a junior at Karns City and the defending District 9 Class 2A girls champion, Chloe has continued to raise the bar on the course.

“Since she was two, she’s loved the game,” said Eric, who is also the golf coach at Karns City. “Just like with any other sport, really, if you start early with the correct things, it makes it a little bit easier. It wasn’t just me helping. We got her lessons every week — someone else talking to her, as well — which has really helped.”

Chloe finished runner-up in the district behind Clarion’s McKayla Kerle as a freshman and sophomore, but broke through this fall to win the D9 title.

She also won the prestigious Butler Eagle County Amateur tournament this summer in her flight.

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“As a coach, it’s obviously very exciting to see her do so well,” Eric said. “But as a dad, as a parent, you’re just through the roof with it. It’s everything that you want for your kid. You want your kid to be happy, No. 1, in whatever they are doing. We’ve never pushed her. Golf is a lifelong sport. We want her to enjoy it as much as she can.”

During that freshman year, it was briefly taken away from her.

Chloe also played soccer that season and suffered a broken foot, which not only kept her off the pitch for most of the season, but also the course.

She returned for the district tournament, wearing a special brace on her foot to enable her to take to the links again.

Now Chloe focuses solely on golf in the fall. She also plays basketball in the winter and is a member of the track and field team in the spring.

Golf remains one of her prime passions.

Governing those passions can be difficult sometimes for Chloe, who admits she scuffles the most with the mental approach.

“That’s always a battle with me,” she said, chuckling. “But when I see progression and success, that helps calm me down a little bit, knowing that I can put things together. Having a successful year this year, I’m just really excited for next year.”

On the Fritch property sits a shed. Inside is a golf simulator.

Chloe spends some time down there, getting in swings now that the weather has turned.

Surprisingly, however, she doesn’t live down there in the simulator during, taking swing after swing.

“Just hitting on that simulator helps keep the form,” Chloe said. “It’s always going to help just because stopping for a month of two really hurts your golf game. I went down there three different times during Thanksgiving break, but I’m not the type of person who is going to spend hours and hours there. I don’t have a long attention span for that. I spend about 10, 20 minutes, just to keep that muscle memory intact.”

Chloe and her family will also try to get out on the course whenever possible.

But there are limits to the weather she will tolerate.

“We’ll go out if its 40 degrees and sunny,” she said, smiling. “There were some days late in the season, like at districts and states, where I wouldn’t go out in that weather if it was my choice.”

Chloe is hoping to golf in college one day.

“I mean, I’m not looking to go pro,” she said, laughing. “I would love to compete in golf in college. I look at people who played high school golf and then went to college and seeing their progression, it has been dramatic. That’s what I want because I want to play golf the rest of my life.”

She hopes to go to a college in the south.

“Better weather,” she said, smiling again. “I’ve gone on a couple of visits, but I’m leaving that door wide open.”

While Chloe is certainly passionate about golf, she is also driven in the other sports she plays.

A guard on the basketball team at Karns City, Chloe is gearing up for another season. Last year, she was a big part of a team that won the District 9 Class 3A title.

As a hurdler, she reached the PIAA Track and Field Championships.

For her, those sports are different that golf.

Golf is more personal.

“For me, basketball and track are a high school thing, playing those sports with your friends,” she said. “For me, golf is a family thing. I’ve always gone out and played with my family. That’s all I’ve really known. That’s why I stick with it because I’ve been doing it all my life and I enjoy family time with them.”

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