Hall of Fame
John Franklin Fry was born on August 18, 1934 in Oakland, CA, into a family that had been in the golf business in Everett, WA since 1910. The family relocated in the 1920s to Northern California. His father, Dick Fry, and his four uncles were all golf professionals. Dick was the Head Golf Pro at Oakland's Lake Chabot Golf Course, which opened in 1923. John grew up on the Chabot golf course, learning from his father and caddying there. He played high school golf at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, CA, graduating in 1952. Fry had success as a golf amateur, winning the Oakland City Championship in 1953, and the Hayward City Championship in 1954. He shot a course record 11-under-par 61 in the early 1950s as a student at USF. He played four years for the Dons, and practiced and played at Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, CA. He turned professional in 1957, after graduating from USF in 1956.Â
He served in the United States Army at Fort Lewis, WA from 1957 to 1959, before returning to the Bay Area. He joined the PGA in 1962, and was inducted into the Northern California PGA Hall of Fame in 2022. He calls golf "the great common denominator" (Napa Valley Register). He took over as the Head Golf Professional at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in 1967, until 1978. He played in the Lucky International Tournament twice. He served on the NCPGA Board of Directors and was the Section President in 1974. Â
After leaving Harding, he opened Fry's Warehouse Golf and Tennis in South San Francisco which he owned and ran until his retirement in 2005, after which he relocated to Napa, CA. His two children are still working in the business. He was inducted into the USF Hall of Fame in 1987.
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