Golf, Swimming, Baseball
Favorite athlete: Fred Couples
Favorite team: Philadelphia Flyers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Being zoned in on the mound.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: I missed my race in a summer swim meet and watched my own race on the side of the pool like an idiot.
Music on iPod: Wiz Khalifa pandora
Future plans: To play golf in college
Words to live by: “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and take a look around once in a while, you could miss it.” –Ferris Bueller
One goal before turning 30: Win a major GAP tournament
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m a part of two team relay records for our swim team.
By Mary Jane Souder
There were early signs that Tom Fisher was going to be a natural on the golf course. The first indicator might well be the family photos of the Hatboro-Horsham senior taking swings at a whiffle ball when he was four years old.
When Fisher arrived on the high school scene, it didn’t take long for coach Mike Harmon to realize he’d inherited a special talent.
“We’ve had quite a few good ones come through Hatboro,” the Hatters’ coach said. “It’s easy to see when you’ve seen it before. I knew he had some talent.”
Fisher has been Hatboro’s number one golfer the past two years and aspires to play at the Division One collegiate level, and while golf is his unmistakable passion, he is hardly one-dimensional.
For the past three years, he has been part of swim team relays that advanced to the state meet. His name is on the record board at Hatboro-Horsham as part of two relay teams that hold records.
“He’s been a sprinter for us,” coach George ‘Kip’ Emig said. “He’s a big strong kid, and big, strong kids make great sprinters.”
Fisher not only was part of the swim team in the winter, he also played baseball in the spring, a rare three-sport athlete in an era of specialization.
“I played sports every season,” he said. “Even when there was snow on the ground, I was swimming. There were never-ending activities after school.”
And that, according to Harmon, sets Fisher apart from the rest.
“With the idea of so many coaches wanting their kids to be one-sport athletes, it’s very unusual in this day and age,” the Hatters’ coach said. “I’m glad to see he’s doing that.
“It makes you a well-rounded athlete, it makes you a well-rounded individual. If you talk to a college scout, if a kid is just playing one sport and that’s all they’ve ever done, there’s a good chance that kid has already peaked in high school.
“Meanwhile, if they’re honing other skills for other sports, sometimes they can use that to their advantage and become better at whatever sport they’re going to compete in at college.”
Talk to Fisher – a natural lefty who grew up playing baseball, and it’s clear he believes that his experience on the diamond aided him on the golf course.
“I was a pretty good left handed pitcher, but I batted right handed so I could still play golf right handed like a normal person,” he said. “Everybody thinks a baseball swing and a golf swing are so different.
“I grew up doing that, and I don’t really think there’s that much of a difference. There are a lot of similarities between posture and the weight shifts. I can connect with the way you throw your wrists into it – the two swings are not that different.”
Although he has found time to enjoy swimming and baseball, Fisher has invested countless hours on the links.
“I pretty much would play golf every day and weekends,” he said. “I would caddy in the morning at Commonwealth, so even when I’m not playing, I’m still learning.
“If I caddy a good member at Commonwealth, I can learn a good bit from the way he would play. It’s just constantly learning and practicing and trying to sleep a lot.”
Fisher, one of the SOL’s elite golfers, is captain of his high school squad.
“He’s more of a quiet leader,” Harmon said. “He’s a lead by example type kid.”
With five sophomores on the varsity, Fisher was asked to take a more active leadership role when it was clear the younger players, who lacked tournament experience, were taking things too lightly.
“The younger group was kind of laughing, and I could tell it was getting to Tom,” Harmon said. “I know I would say things as a coach, but sometimes saying things as a coach isn’t enough, so I asked Tom to say something.
“Tom would be more of a passive leader, just showing ‘This is what I’m going to do on the golf course. We need you to step it up.’ To be honest, since he’s said something, I think he’s realized maybe he does need to speak up more. Not that we’ve won more matches, but we’ve certainly scared a lot of teams.”
“I didn’t really see myself as a leader in the beginning,” Fisher admitted. “I thought of myself as their friend, and I was just playing golf with them.
“As the matches went on, I realized I was the only one steadily going along. They would all look at me and say, ‘How are you doing this?’ I finally told them, ‘You have to do this.’”
Fisher has the singular and very realistic goal of reaching the state tournament after just missing out last season.
“He is very solid, and he’s very determined to make up for what he feels is a mistake in the fact that he didn’t get to states last year,” Harmon said. “He was a state caliber player last year.”
Fisher shot a 77 and lost in a playoff for a spot in states to two players shooting birdies.
“It’s not like he took himself out of it, the other kids just played better, but he was upset,” Harmon said. “I always tell my kids – when you get to the postseason, five 75s will get you a state medal. That’s historically what happens.”
Fisher hasn’t shot higher than 73 on 18 yet this season, and in the three 18-hole tournaments the Hatters competed in this fall, Fisher finished first or tied for first in all three. He heads into the postseason with a quiet confidence.
“This year I took three putting lessons, and in those three lessons, I’ve learned so much more about putting,” Fisher said. “The way I’m lined up – I’m rolling the ball so much better than last year.
“In the next four tournaments, if I could finish in the top three, even par will do it, and that’s what I’ve been doing so far.”
Interestingly, he is one of three siblings on Hatboro’s squad along with twin brother Matt and sister Cameron, a freshman on the girls’ team. Fisher admits he has yet to take on his sister.
“I’m hearing she’s pretty good,” he said. “One time she came up to me after nine holes and said, ‘I made three birdies.’ I was like, ‘Oh my god, I haven’t made three birdies in three weeks.’ I really have to start playing with her.”
In November, Fisher will be back in the pool with his swim team. He has already been named a captain.
“He doesn’t train year round any more, so we just work on core strength and speed work in the pool,” Emig said. “When he comes back in November, he’s a little bit behind some of the guys, but by the end of the season, he’s catching up to them.
“We look forward to having him back this year. He’s going to be a big part of the team as senior. We need him to be as fast as he’s been in the past.”
Fisher, according to both his coaches, adds a special element to the team.
“He’s a fun kid,” Emig said. “He’s got a great personality and a great sense of humor, but he’s also respectful.
“If he starts goofing off, there’s a line he knows not to cross, which is pretty cool for a kid to know that line. He’s a fun kid to coach. He’s a good listener, and he puts a lot of effort into the sports he does.”
Playing golf at the Division One level is on the horizon for Fisher, who says he is leaving “all the windows open.”
“I will be sad to see him go,” Harmon said. “He gets along with all his teammates. He’s a very, very good kid.
“From what I see, it looks like he’s very well respected by his peers on other teams, and they all talk and have fun. They enjoy the moment that they’re in, and I think that’s important with Tom.”
Fisher is one of those rare and special athletes who’s done it all and enjoyed every minute of it.
