Approach Shot: Fred Allen Meyer

LEXINGTON, Ky. – He is a former two-time individual KHSAA State Championship golfer, he was awarded the John Owens Kentucky Amateur of the Year and he registered a low scoring average of 68.6 – and that’s just his high school record.

Fred Allen Meyer is the golfer behind the prosperous record and before it’s questioned, he really does go by all three names. 

Meyer, a redshirt freshman majoring in business, appeared in the fall season opener his freshman year at Kentucky, but an injury to his back and hip kept him from playing the game for nearly a year and a half.  A long stretch of rehab and recovery has passed and Meyer is back and ready to make marks on his college record. Perhaps he has already started?

In Meyer’s last tournament, the Tiger Invitational, he carded an even-par, 72 in the final round. He also played well in the final round at the Puerto Rico Classic season opener, securing a low score of 69, marking the lowest score on the team for the day. 

But Meyer’s recent accomplishments don’t stop there, he recently locked in the SEC Freshman of the Week, and a well deserved title at that.

“He is a big time player,” said Coach Brian Craig. “If you look at his junior record he wasn’t just good, he was really, really good. The bigger the stage the better he played.”

One big stage Meyer has conquered is the Kiawah Island Ocean Course. Meyer said this was the toughest course he has ever played. The Kiawah Ocean Course was host to the 2007 Senior PGA Championship and the 2012 PGA Championship, and is the fourth course to have hosted each of the PGA of America’s major championships, according to the Kiawah Resort website.

From the windy Pete Dye track to the historical grounds of Augusta, Meyer aspires for an even bigger stage to play on. If he could play any course in the world, it would be Augusta National Golf Club, but not just by himself. Meyer would team up with Jason Dufner, Tom Watson and Ben Hogan to create a one-of-a-kind dream foursome.

It only makes sense that Hogan would be on Meyer’s dream team. Hogan tallied nine major championship wins, 64 PGA tour wins and is a world golf hall of famer. Hogan is Meyer’s favorite golfer and the Kentucky freshman often molds his own game around the distinguished legend.

With a golf game fashioned around the anchored Hogan, there is only one element standing in the way between Meyer and a solid round and that is his warm up routine. Meyer’s pre-tournament superstition is all about how he warms up before starting his round. In fact, many members of the UK Men’s Golf Team have their own pre-tournament habits or superstitions, according to Craig.

“They all do their stretching before hand, they will go to the locker room and get their bodies warmed up,” said Craig. “But I don’t have anyone on this team that has to blast over the speakers rap music to get fired up.”

It’s true, the golfers may not blast rap music over the speakers to get motivated for a tournament, but do headphones count? If you ask Meyer what is playing on his iPod right now, the answer would be hip-hop artist Drake.

Fortunately, Drake supports the sports programs at UK but that isn’t why Meyer chose to play golf here. Meyer has always dreamed of playing golf at UK and the best thing about it, according to Meyer, is being a part of the UK family.

Meyer didn’t travel far to attend school at UK. His hometown is Nicholasville, Ky., where he attended West Jessamine High School. He is the son of Russell and Alison Meyer and the brother to Edie Meyer.

When Meyer isn’t playing golf he enjoys fishing and watching SpongeBob SquarePants. If Meyer had any talent in the world he wishes he could play guitar. But for now, Meyer is making his name on the course.