Marcus Fraser Interview
Excited to bring you our first ever Golf athlete on the show today as we speak with Australian Rio Olympian Marcus Fraser about his Olympic experiences and amazing career! We learn just what it is like for Marcus to be living so many people’s dream when it comes to being a professional golfer, and the journey from playing in rural Victoria right through to joining the European Pro Tour in 2002. We also learn just what it was like to be selected to represent Australia at the Olympics and the real reason why he took the opportunity. Added to this we find out just how he feels being compared to Usain Bolt and why being a golfer has made him into a bit of a perfectionist gardener. It’s a chat that you won’t want to miss, so get to listening to ensure you don’t!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast, coming to you today for another interview episode. So excited to always bring you these interviews. They're always good, they're always great, and I'm super pumped and excited to bring you today's interview. Our first ever taste of golf. That is right, we have an Olympic golfer on the show, Marcus Fraser, represented Australia back in 2016 at the Rio Olympics and was so close to a medal, so close, a tie for fifth. Led for the first two rounds, was in the bronze medal position in the final round, and so very nearly scored Australia's first ever golfing medal. And this is a fascinating chat with Marcus, learning a lot about his days growing up, playing golf in rural Victoria, how that led him to joining the pro circuit in Europe, what it actually takes to become a pro golfer, a dream of many people listening to this show, I no doubt imagine. And then just the experience of becoming an Olympian, a thing that he probably never realised he would ever be able to do, given that golf, for the most part of his career, was never an Olympic sport, and the opportunity presented itself, and he took it with both hands. So a great chat here with Marcus. You're gonna hear it right now. Here is our chat with Olympic golfer, Marcus Fraser.
MARCUS FRASER: See you next time.
BEN WATERWORTH: So excited for our next guest here on Off The Podium. He is a professional golfer who has been pro for nearly 20 years touring the world, doing what so many people out there would love to do as a living, and also an Olympian competed in 2016 at the Rio Olympics when golf made its return to the Olympics after more than 100 years. And I'm very excited to learn a lot more about that experience, his entire career. As we get our first taste of golf on Off The Podium today, it's a pleasure to welcome Marcus Fraser to the show. Marcus, first of all, welcome to Off The Podium. It's a pleasure to chat with you today.
MARCUS FRASER: It's a bit of fun, so looking forward to it.
BEN WATERWORTH: It really is kind of one of those things that I'm sure a lot of our listeners are going, wow, Marcus lives the dream. He gets to play golf for a living and kind of tour the world and do all that, everything that people kind of just take for granted sometimes on a Saturday morning. How often do you get people just saying that to you? Like, you're living my dream. How do I become you? I want to be a pro golfer and tour the world hitting balls for a living.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, it's fairly common. Yeah, I mean, I spend a lot of time down at my home club down here at Peninsula Kingswood now. Yeah, we've got nearly 2,000 members here. So there's a lot of the time people, you know, remind me. But yeah, I know myself how fortunate I've been to be able to go and play the game I love and do it for a living. So it's, you know, travel the world doing it. It's, you know, I would never change a thing for anything. It's, yeah, I realise how lucky I've been to be able to do it for such a long time. I'm, you know, obviously I finished up pre-COVID, and obviously no one has travelled for a long time, but, you know, I've stopped travelling and playing these days, but, you know, I was very fortunate to spend a lot of time in Europe and do exactly that, play the game I loved.
BEN WATERWORTH: What age do you discover this love for golf? Was it sort of something that came about very early and sort of how did you discover golf?
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I think for me, I'll get two brothers, younger brother and older brother. Older brother's a professional golfer as well. We grew up in Corroay country, New South Wales, on a little hobby farm, and we used to hit balls out in the paddock. You know, all of a sudden, that turned into hitting balls around the house. That was the front nine, and then we'd turn around and come back the other way, and that was the back nine. And, you know, we'd just hit towards a tomato steak in the middle of the paddock. And once we, you know, dad saw that we were all pretty keen on it, he joined us up down at the local golf club, and mum and dad still live back in Coro. So it quickly turned into pretty much spending as much time as we could down at the golf club. And then, yeah, I mean, once, you know, once all of us kind of found golf, it was all the other sports. My younger brother played a lot of hockey and represented Victoria in state hockey, but yeah, I think once Adam, my older brother and myself found golf, it was, we weren't really interested in much else. It was just golf, golf, golf.
BEN WATERWORTH: Had Corowa ever produced professional golfers before, or were you and your brother the first?
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I think my brother was, I think, I think the first and then James McLean, who played on the PGA Tour. He was from a little town across the other side of the Murray River, Jason Wallace as well. Obviously a lot of trainees came through the shop there and had a go, but Shannon Wallace, who still caddies to this day on the PGA Tour, has caddyed for a lot of top players over there, including Brant Snedeker and Nathan Green and Matt Jones. So from this little country town, we've always probably been known as producing AFL footballers, but we've produced our fair share of golfers as well. And even Olympic gold medallist Steve Mullen for the hockey team is the goalkeeper for Australia. I can't remember exactly which Olympics, but...
BEN WATERWORTH: In Athens, yeah.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, so for a little country town of five and a half, six thousand people, we've definitely known well, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: I was going to say, birthplace federation and the birthplace of all these athletes. What's in the water there in Coral? I think more people need to go drink it.
MARCUS FRASER: Oh, yeah, it's a great part of the world. Three and a half hours from Melbourne, it's just that perfect. We sort of go up a lot of pre-Curval when we're not in lockdowns, we go up as often as we can. Leave on a Friday afternoon and get up and spend the whole weekend with mum and dad. And yeah, great place to, yeah. I mean, I wouldn't have wanted to grow up anywhere else, that's for sure. And obviously, when we go back now, my wife and we went to school together back there. And our kids love going back and spending time there. So it's pretty, pretty unique, unique part of the world, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: You mentioned AFL just quickly. I always like to get this for the, you know, I'm mainly obviously an Australian guest here who know what AFL is. I saw on your Instagram, you'd posted a picture of you at the Anzac Day game. Am I'm assuming you're either a Bombers or a Magpies man? Or was it just a case of soaking up the atmosphere on that day and you go for someone? I'm just going to say better than those two teams.
MARCUS FRASER: No, definitely necessary and fan. There's no love-hate relationship with Collingwood. It's just a hate relationship. I'm sure they feel exactly the same about us, but that's one of those rivals that we've always, it's like any footy or any code of footy. We, you know, that's our number one rival. And I'm mad AFL fan and mad Bombers fan. So that keeps me, I wouldn't say sane or maybe insane most weekends with footy, but yeah, definitely love it and through that, been lucky enough to meet a couple of AFL footballers and that sort of stuff, their love of golf and my love of footy, it's been pretty cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: I don't know if you can see my shoulder there. I'm sort of one of your other rivals, fans there, Carlton. So I share that hatred of Collingwood at the same time, but I think you and I aren't meant to like it. We've had a lot of Essendon supporters on the show recently actually. Maybe it's an Olympic thing that so many Olympians go for the Bombers. Maybe we need to kind of get to the bottom of why so many Olympians go for Essendon.
MARCUS FRASER: They probably just recognise a great team. I think that's all. I think we do 16 premierships along with you guys. I think we're right.
BEN WATERWORTH: We've won more Grand Finals though, Marcus. I'm not playing that card again, but I'm just saying.
MARCUS FRASER: No, we'll move on from that.
BEN WATERWORTH: We'll move on from that. Do you at a certain point then sort of getting that passion for golf and kind of moving forward there, was that then always a desire to turn pro? And I guess for those who maybe aren't overly familiar with how it works in golf and turning pro, what is that process? How do you actually go from playing as a kid and sort of working out the ranks and to be officially declared a pro when it comes to golf?
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, for me, when I was a kid, I was never really on the radar. I definitely watched British Open and the Masters and all those things on TV. And I think as I just gradually improved, I was kind of in town, just working in town. I left school, just working in town, not really heading anywhere, I suppose. And then I kind of just fell in love with the game more and more. My best mate, Jason Wallace, he started coming down to Melbourne to play pennant golf. So that was kind of a pretty big deal in those days. And so I came down and watched him and kind of couldn't believe how big a deal pennant actually was. So I started practising a bit harder and then started travelling down with him and managed to get in the minor pennant team or the junior team at Kingswood Golf Club. That kind of led to getting in the senior team. And then we were in division one, the best division. And then all of a sudden I won the Victorian amateur kind of out of nowhere, I'd suppose. And then made my way into the Victorian state team. That kind of led to getting in the Victorian Institute of Sport on a scholarship which then led to getting in the Australian team. And all of a sudden I didn't really see anything else. All I wanted to do was become a professional golfer. So it was kind of that pathway that just kept opening up for me. And there was obviously a lot of hard work that went into getting, I was kind of just living and breathing golf nonstop. Nothing was getting in the way of that. And all of a sudden I was over at European Tour School in the 2002. So it's basically a six day tournament where you're just out there playing to try and finish in the top 30 to make your way onto a tour. I got onto the secondary tour, lucky enough to win three times in the first year, which elevated me straight onto the European Tour, the main tour, which is the second biggest tour in the world. And then lucky enough to spend nearly 17 years over in Europe playing. So it happened pretty quick. Well, what felt like happened pretty quickly, I just kept progressing and moving up each little step of the ladder really. And all of a sudden, 43 now and not playing it. All those memories are pretty cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: So when you get accepted on to the tour then, that basically signifies you can change your profession to professional golfer essential as soon as you are on that tour.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, the other way is to go through and do a traineeship and work in a golf shop for three to four years. And I think that's the great thing about golf is that you can either play, you can coach, you can go into different operations, management positions. There's quite a diverse range of different areas that we can go into. And then, and also we're very lucky to be able to keep playing, you know, in AFL career, you're finishing, you've got a great career, you're finishing in your mid to early thirties. You know, we can keep playing and then opens up to a seniors tour after that. So we're very fortunate in this game. And, you know, I think it's one of the most amazing games in the world.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is there much of a choice factor or kind of what are the choice factors behind, say, choosing the European tour over the PGA tour? Is it sort of just, it comes down to a location thing? Are there more benefits of going one over the other? I mean, kind of how does that work choosing between the two tours?
MARCUS FRASER: I think early days, you're just trying to get somewhere to play. I was lucky enough to go to be in the position to go straight over to European Cure School. You know, the VIS at that stage helped us out getting over there. I had a lot of members at Kingsville Golf Club that helped me get started in being in the position to turn pro and go over and play. So, you know, without that, I probably wouldn't have been in this position. So it's, but yeah, it's just one of those things that it's probably a personal preference, I think, where you feel your game is suited, whether it be in Japan, whether it be in Europe, in America, in Asia somewhere. So it's, you know, all back home in Australia. So we're lucky enough to have our own tour in Australia. So it's, you know, it probably comes down to a personal preference of where you would like to play. But then the really hard thing, the hardest thing in golf is getting onto a tour, finding somewhere to play. Once you've got a card, you know, you're out there, you're playing week in, week out, but you know, trying to get access or get exemptions into those tournaments and having the ability to go and play week in, week out as is what every golfer craves to be able to play three or four weeks in a row overseas is an ideal situation for us.
BEN WATERWORTH: And I can imagine it's also a sport too, where, you know, given the different hemispheres when it comes to the seasons, I mean, you can obviously play for six months in the Northern Hemisphere and then come back to Australia and play them. I mean, you can basically be playing golf 12 months of the year if you kind of really want to, I can imagine.
MARCUS FRASER: And I was playing full time, I was playing probably 30 weeks a year. So I'd start off in the Middle East at the start of the year, we'd go up there for three or four weeks. You'd play in Asia on the way back home. You'd play some events in Australia, then you'd go back up to Asia. Once it started warming up in Europe, we'd probably spend five months over in Europe playing. The back end of the year, we'd stop in Asia and the Middle East again, back home to Australia for our pinnacle events, the Australian Open, the Australian Masters, the Australian PGA, all these events that we're craving to play. We're pretty fatigued and tired by the end of the year after all that golf and travel, but everything revolves around getting home to play in those big events, and they're the ones that mean the most to us. But even when you're home, you're thinking about your next trip, so you're trying to have a break but your mind's still in, trying to switch off from the previous trip, but then almost engaged in the next trip. So you never really turn off from it, but it's pretty full on.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is it similar to tennis in a way as well, that you can be selective about the tournaments for say the ranking points, maybe sometimes for the money, and obviously kind of leading up then to kind of keep those ranking points, everything. So when it comes to the majors, is that I'm assuming you need to have a certain amount of qualification points to automatically be in the field for a major. I mean, does it work similar to how tennis does in that aspect?
MARCUS FRASER: Yes, it's kind of like a performance based contract, really. The better you perform, the more opportunities open up. I was really lucky enough to play in, I think 13 majors in my career, and I think 10 or 11 WGC. So they're the events that you want to play in. You want to play in the biggest events possible. I never got to play in the Maskers, but playing in British Opens and USPGA's, US Opens and WGC's in America and up in Asia, those big events is, but it just came from the better you play and the smaller events. Like I spoke about earlier about progressing through amateur ranks in the professional golf, you just need to keep improving. That's the only way we're able to get into those big events. And then if you're able to make your way into the top 50 in the world, then you do get a ticket into an automatic ticket into those major championships and the world events. And all of a sudden your schedule changes so much, you're dropping the smaller events out the back end so that you can play in those bigger and better events.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is there like an obsession over your ranking? Like, are you kind of always looking at where am I? Where am I? How do I need to get there? Like, I believe your highest ranking was 51. So, I mean, do you kind of look at that and go, okay, like, I only need this to get into that top 50 you're talking about, or is it something kind of more on the back of your mind that you're not really focused on where you are ranked in the world at that point?
MARCUS FRASER: When you're playing well, you're looking at your ranking, but when you're not playing well, you got to tell everyone, oh, I wouldn't have a clue where I am. But I mean, it's a big way of measuring what we do. And I'm doing a little bit of coaching these days. And I've really found that we need to be able to measure how we're tracking. If we can't do that, we're living a little bit of a false one. So I think I was always someone who watched leaderboards. I watched my ranking, whether it be on the money list, the Order America, the world rankings, wherever it was, whatever tour I was playing on, I was always pretty conscious of what was actually happening. So, yeah, I think when you're not playing well, you're trying to stay oblivious to it and only watch it when you're on an upwards follow-up.
BEN WATERWORTH: I want to talk obviously more about your Olympic experience in just a moment, but one thing I'd love to learn a little bit more, and particularly our listeners probably as well, the training aspect of golf, because it's all well and good for us to sort of sit back and go, OK, well, there's not much training involved. You walk around and you hit a ball. But I mean, famously, someone like Tiger Woods, when he would at his peak, he'd get a back injury, he'd be out for a while, you'd hear about these kind of things. And it's sort of a sport where often, you kind of got to take a step back to really think of how these injuries can affect you as athletes. So I guess, long-winded point to get to a question, what are sort of the key, I guess, training aspects that you are doing besides just constantly hitting balls and working on your, you know, your putting and your driving technique?
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I think you're trying just to cover every single area as you possibly can. You know, when I was playing, I mean, I've never been the fittest person walking around, and definitely not now, that's for sure, but, you know, I think you're just trying to stay on top of every aspect of your game, whether it be a technique issue, whether it be a strategy issue, whether it be something in your body, you're trying to manage injuries. You've got, you know, I was really fortunate, an amazing team of people that were helping me, and that was through the Victorian Institute of Sport days, Tina Mayo, my osteo for over 20 years, knew my body a lot better than what I knew it. I would see her twice a week when I came home, you know, an hour, an hour and a half, twice a week. Dennis McDade, my coach, I was spending two or three days with him per week when I was home, you know, and trying to address every single component of your game, your body, your mind. The brain's so important in this, not only in golf, but in all aspects of life, but it kind of, you're just trying to make sure that every little piece of your game is improving, whether it be 1% a year, whatever it might be, because the guy that's behind you on the order of merit is working just as hard, if not harder. So he's wanting to take your spot. I'm wanting to take the guy's spot that's in front of me. And you're just on a path that you, as I said earlier, you just don't see anything else. You're just on that trajectory that you're trying to just continually improve and just find little things that are gonna help you perform better.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which it's also, I always love talking about the mental aspect with our athletes on the show. And I mean, golf is one of these ones where I can imagine that is so important because when it comes down to it, you're having four rounds and kind of, you get on a roll, you're in great. But then I guess those mental aspects of if you're starting to have a bad day, it's kind of overcoming that. So I mean, sort of what kind of things can you work on on a mental aspect to really, I guess, get that brain in focus when you are on a tournament?
MARCUS FRASER: Oh, absolutely, it's huge. And as you go on and you get older, you really start to work out, there's a lot of, I suppose demons are creeping over time and the more time you spend on a golf course. But I think this, again, it's not just one component. I think there's, the way we approach the game, there's goal setting, there's pre-shot routines, there's post-shot routines that you need to be on top of. Because if I'm, when I was, I put my hand up and I was probably one of the worst after I hit a shot, I'd let it play on my mind for too long. And I wasn't ready to hit the next shot or, you know, having all these strategies in place, you know, it's, you can see it nowadays that, and when Tiger kind of set the precedence for, for mind coaches and that all around the world, once, you know, fitness was obviously the top of his tree, but there's no one ever has ever been any, or mentally stronger than what Tiger has been and is. You know, he's, you know, he kind of, every golfer out there is kind of striving to, to have that mindset that Tiger has had and does have. You know, I think the way he came back and won the Masters a few years ago, or a couple of years ago, is one of the great sporting achievements in the world. That's something I think is just what he's been through on and off the golf course, to be able to come back and do what he did. And you know, there's, it's only maritime before he comes back from the accident that he had at the start of the year.
BEN WATERWORTH: He's still young, isn't he? Isn't he only, like, how old?
MARCUS FRASER: He's 46, 47, maybe.
BEN WATERWORTH: So young.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, he's still got, you know, I mean, I've been lucky enough to play with Tiger, and it, that's one of the things that career highlights, I suppose, having that to be able to, at the end of my career, knowing that I played with the best player of all time, was something that's pretty cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do you have any go-to techniques for yourself, Marcus, when it comes to kind of helping you with the mental? Like, do you have, you know, I guess a technique that you do, or kind of an activity that kind of helps you with the mind work?
MARCUS FRASER: Not really, yeah. I think, I mean, I was always really big on my pre-shot routine. If I had that under control and had a lot of clarity to that, what I was trying to achieve in my shot, that was the thing that really stood out. I think I would, you know, and Dennis McDade, my coach, was really strong on practising your routine, as much as you practise your golf swing or your putting stroke, whatever it was. You know, we were really big on making sure that routine, because you want that to be able to stand up on Sunday afternoon with nine holes, six holes, three holes to go. That last part, you know, you want to know that that just becomes instinctive and part of your DNA. It's something that you need to own yourself. So for me, it wasn't really any techniques, so to speak. It was more just, I would practise that routine when I was on the putting room or on the range, imagining I was out on the golf course, so I would stand up when I got out on the golf course.
BEN WATERWORTH: Golf gets included on the Olympic program once again in 2016, first time in 112 years that had been included. So obviously when you're playing golf, turn pro, all that sort of stuff, something is probably as far away from the mental aspect you could ever think that you could potentially go to an Olympics. But before we kind of get to what brought you to competing in Rio, was there any ever desire or kind of passion for an Olympics at one point, like throughout any other sports that you played maybe? Was it something that you would followed or was it kind of something so far away from what you were doing that you could never imagine that you would become an Olympian?
MARCUS FRASER: For me as a kid growing up, it was all about watching the Masters or the British Open, all these amazing tournaments. Never did I even think that golf would be in the Olympics. And all of a sudden, the conversation started and then it was like, oh, that's cool. It's something a bit different. And then all of a sudden I started to, I was playing really well at that stage in my career. And I think some guys pulled out of the team and all of a sudden, the mind starts to think, okay, I'm a chance to make this team. And I think Mark Leishman gave me a call and he said, he said, I've just had to withdraw. There was some family issues there that he wasn't able to go. So it kind of then I was, it became quite real. And he gave me a call and said, you're next in line of withdrawal. So all of a sudden I was on that Olympic team. And I wanted to do it for my kids more than anything. It was more about from where I'd grown up in a little country town to all of a sudden representing Australia in a two man team over at the Olympics on and as big as golf is around the world now. I think having that on my, I suppose, golf resume to be an Olympian representing Australia, that's what, once you get over there, you just work out pretty quickly that you're part of an amazing bigger team than what we're used to in golf. We're quite selfish, I suppose, or we don't get to be part of the team very often. And something that I'll never, ever forget. It's something I'm so glad I did and very fortunate to be in that position. And I just wanted to do it for my kids to show them, don't ever, if you've got a dream or you want to achieve something, if you work your butt off, you can go on, you can go on chase it and go and do it. It was more about them, giving them something for them in later in their lives, to, you know, the old man can go and do it. There's no reason why you guys can't.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because it was such an interesting lead up. I remember sort of in Rio and they were sort of talking about who our representative would be and sort of everyone was pulling out. I mean, that was sort of the Zika virus. Remember that virus before the current one we've got right now and everything along those lines. And it sort of seemed to be an unfair, I thought to yourself and a lot of the other competitors that people were almost talking down the golf competition because so many of these players had pulled out, yet that takes away from the fact that, as you were saying, you get to represent Australia, you get to go there. I mean, what was kind of like the feeling like sort of out there with the people that were there and kind of the media just seemed to want to be so negative about the golf tournament, whereas, you know, it was obviously a great opportunity for you and everyone else who was competing there.
MARCUS FRASER: Well, I think that's just the media full stop, isn't it? They need to try and make a story out of it. They clearly didn't have, you know, the first time around, they didn't have the feel that they wanted to have. You know, I got on the team because some other guys had family situations where they didn't want to go. And Zeca, they're looking at having Jason Day, Adam Scott, Mark Leishman, they're all, you know, young families and their families were extending. So something like Zeca was going to, it was definitely a thing that could get in the way of them extending their family. So it's, I completely understand, but I already had, we'd already had two kids and yeah, it's, you know, as soon as my opportunity came, I was to throw my hand up for it. But, you know, I think it's probably just the media making a story out of it. I think it was, you know, the result that when Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson was like going to have to play with him the last day, that, you know, those two going at it for a gold medal was pretty good TV. I think everyone will agree. And coming down to the last hole, that, you know, I was lucky enough to have front row seats to it or something, that, you know, playing with Tiger and then playing with those two going head to head for a gold and silver medal is something I'll never ever forget.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of the format, the Olympic format, so stroke play, how does that generally differ to what you are, I'd say, on the European Tour? Because I know a lot of golfers, I think, have not liked the format at the Olympics. I mean, is that something that's generally not popular to have a stroke play format? I mean, kind of how does that differ?
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, and I've been pretty strong on that as well. I think we play four round tournaments all year long and our whole careers have been four round tournaments. Very rarely do we get to play on a team. I think the Olympics is the perfect opportunity to have two guys, two girls from the same country on one team. The two or three best scores each day count. Four gold medals are handed out at the end of the week. The guys and the girls, that whole equality now, having the guys and the girls together playing on one team is an opportunity that they've got to take. Hopefully, they've given it a go a couple of times now, just singles event, but we do that week in, week out. I think it's just the perfect opportunity to have the guys and the girls out there on the course as part of the team, part of a broader team, in their countries, competing for gold medals for those, for their countries and for themselves.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of the whole experience, we always love to hear from the athletes about just outside of the competing sort of everything else. So you talk about kind of never imagining that you go to Olympics. I mean, what was it like when you got to Rio? I mean, did you get to do things like the opening ceremony and then kind of when you got to the athletes village, you know, was it just a case of, it was really starting to hit you, you know, you're bumping into Michael Phelps, the same bolt, things like that. And all of a sudden you're like, crap, I'm an Olympian, this is hitting me right now.
MARCUS FRASER: And we stayed out near the golf course in a house, just with traffic and all that sort of stuff. Logistics was a bit of a nightmare, but we actually got to the village a couple of nights and went and had dinner in the village there. So it was pretty cool to go and, you know, experience the team aspect of everything. Scotty Hand and myself were on men's team, but we got to experience that broader Australian Olympic team. So that's something that was pretty cool. We didn't get to do opening or closing ceremonies, but going to the village and experiencing that was pretty cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of the tournament itself, you come out firing, shoot a 63 Olympic record until, I believe, the final round of Tokyo just gone. So you kind of had that. I mean, do you go into the tournament with aspirations for a medal? I mean, kind of were you hoping that was achievable? And after sort of the first day when you're shooting a 63, you're thinking, well, shit, this is actually a possibility right now.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I think going there, you're just trying to exactly that. You're trying to win a medal for your country. And then, yeah, that would have been amazing in itself. But I think any time we go on to the golf course, you know, I know 99.9% of golfers go out there, and they want to do as well as they can until that last part is knocked in. So, yeah, unfortunately, I didn't get to, you know, there's a few shots away from getting even a bronze medal, but it, yeah, I think my overall performance, I was, you know, I think especially shooting that 63 in the first round, again, on that stage was pretty big. I thought it's probably one of the best rounds I've ever played as far as scoring wise, but I didn't actually feel like I played that well. It was just one of those days where everything kind of went right for me, but I was struggling with my game that week. But so to go and shoot 63 was pretty cool, the way I was actually playing. But yeah, I think, you know, when I wasn't, I'll be honest, I wasn't cheering for Rory Sabatini with a couple of holes to go in Tokyo. I thought, you know, I've been, a couple of mates have sort of been hanging me on a little bit. I sort of staring me up a little bit, your record's gone, but I had it for five years, had it for more than four years. So that's what I'm holding on to.
BEN WATERWORTH: You can literally list yourself amongst all the great Olympians out there. You know, that you were an Olympic, you were in the same bowl as the same person, you were Olympic record holders. I mean, come on.
MARCUS FRASER: I haven't been compared to Usain Bolt too often for my speed, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: You can take it now. You can take it. We mentioned sort of the media reaction. I remember sort of, particularly after that first round, kind of all of a sudden, everybody was taking, you know, notice of golf at the Olympics and was really getting behind it. But I believe in Coralware, like the whole town was stopping, I believe. There was green and gold balloons around everywhere. I think your dad was sort of really leading this charge. I mean, did you sort of get much feedback of what it was like back home, kind of people watching you at the Olympics?
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I think, yeah, I think I've said quite a few videos and photos down at the Coral Golf Club and the members and people in the town getting down there to watch it and whatnot. You know, I don't think mum and dad slept all week once we hit off. But yeah, that's the cool thing about, you know, being lucky enough to play this game for a long time. And it's, you know, being a part of, you know, two, now three amazing golf clubs, you know, Coral Golf Club, originally Kingswood Golf Club, which is now Peninsula Kingswood Golf Club. You know, a big part of it was when you come back home and interacting with the membership, you know, they're riding every single shot that you hit. You know, they've, and they are a huge, huge part of it. You know, it's a big part of why I did it for so long, because I had so much support from Coral and from Kingswood, now Peninsula Kingswood that, you know, that's the thing that kept pushing me. I wanted to do well for them, because you know that when you're away and on the other side of the world, that all these members have got you back, but you know that you've got that support there. So that's a big part of, you know, my entire career was for them for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: You ended up finishing in a tie for fifth, as you said, sort of a couple of shots back from the bronze medal. I mean, given that you're sort of in a medal position for the first three rounds and ultimately, I mean, do you walk away disappointed or can you reflect five years later now and go, okay, well, I'm a top five Olympic finisher. You're still the highest placed Australian male ever in a golf tournament at the Olympics. So I mean, kind of, do you look at it differently now than you did say on the final day when you did finish in fifth?
MARCUS FRASER: Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah, and I don't think anyone who doesn't would be probably lying maybe because, you know, that was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. And I was in a great position to maybe jag a medal. And, you know, watching the Olympics in Tokyo really brought back that to me. And, you know, not that I ever got upset about it or anything, but it was kind of that, you know, just, I suppose, a what if, you know, what if I did get a medal? You know, that's something that for my kids, that again, that's for them to have that medal in the next stages of their life when I'm gone. And, you know, to know that, you know, something as little as that, that they can hold on to knowing, you know, that they played a huge part in that as well. That's what I think would have been really cool. And that's my biggest, I suppose, regret or disappointment, I think. But at the end of the day, I still think that, you know, when I sit back here and now I'm coaching other players or members down here at Peninsula Kingswood, that, you know, for them, you know, I suppose me going off the Olympics and finishing fifth is still, I still believe it's quite amazing. From where I started off my golfing journey to getting to that point in my career is something I'll never, never forget.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which again, you know, forever, for the rest of your life, you are an Olympian that can never be taken away from you. And then again, top five at an Olympics, an Olympic record holder and that sort of stuff too. But as you said, you know, you did it for your kids and everything. I mean, what was their reaction? Kind of obviously they're a bit older now, maybe can sort of appreciate a little bit more. But I mean, is this something that sort of, they're very proud obviously of you for what you have achieved?
MARCUS FRASER: 100%, yeah, even taking things like my blazer and that to school and taking bits and pieces of my uniform and all that sort of stuff. And, you know, other kids, I suppose coming up to them saying, dad did well at the Olympics and all that sort of stuff. That's all great, but it kind of, yeah, I think it just gives them, to me, it was just all about them having, for them to be able to chase their own dreams and goals later on in life. That was the big part of why I wanted to do it. And once I got on my journey of chasing golf, that's exactly what I did, and I ended up going to the Olympics. It's pretty cool. And that was just, they played a huge part in it. And it's something that I'm sure they'll never forget to.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of Tokyo, we obviously saw Cam and Mark compete. I mean, was there any other possibility for you to go to Tokyo? Or is that just based on the rankings and sort of at the end of the day, Golf Australia offers it to whoever's high in the rankings and then whoever accepts it? I mean, sort of, I guess, was Tokyo ever on the radar for you as a potential return to the Olympics?
MARCUS FRASER: No, not for me. I think I was already, I was a couple of years after I went, I wasn't playing well enough to, it's purely off rankings, the top two players. And then if someone declines, it goes down to the next person. I'm a hell of a long way down that list these days. So it's, yeah, it's not something that, I think potentially if we had free travel and there was no COVID, I probably would have gone to, just as a spectator, just to be part of that environment, I suppose, and watch it and support the guys. They're two pretty good mates of mine, came and leashed. So it would have been pretty cool to go on and cheer them on. And I want nothing more than an Australian golfer to get a medal at the Olympics. I can't wait for Paris to come around and give that support to not only all of them.
BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, you got fifth, Hannah got fourth. So I'm guessing we're gonna get a bronze in Paris, then it will be silver in LA and then gold in Brisbane. It's kind of a progression there that I think it's working out to gold in Brisbane.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I mean, it's something I'll be cheering as hard as I possibly can for other things. It'd be amazing for an Australian golfer to jag a medal. Imagine an Australian golfer getting an Olympic gold. I mean, that's just mind-blowing. So yeah, I think that's our objective, and I'll be doing everything I can to cheer for whoever it might be next time around.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, get to some fun questions to close this off, Marcus, and just sort of get an update on what you're up to now. But I've got to ask a question. Every Australian wants to know the answer to this. Does having a mullet help in golf? Is that why Cam's so good? Is it the mullet, basically, that helps him out there? And do you wish you had a mullet when you were playing golf?
MARCUS FRASER: If someone said to me that I could play as well as Cam plays, if I had to grow a mullet, I would grow a mullet, hands down, no problem whatsoever. I sent Cam a message saying, look, even that looks shit. If you play the way you play, I think everyone should be wearing mullets. He's an unbelievable golfer and a great player too. It is what it is, but that represents Australia, isn't it? And a mullet with the letters engraved in the side of your head, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's what Greg Norman needed when he had the yips all those times on the tour, right? If he had the mullet, he would have won all those bloody majors in the US, right? It's the hairstyle, Greg, come on.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, that's all about the mullet, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: All about the mullet. I just love how it's come back. It just came back out of nowhere. It's not like there was a gradual progression back to the mullet. It was like man bun boom mullet. It just happened.
MARCUS FRASER: I think it's days and numbers again. It looks like it's on a bit of a downward spiral. Assuming AFL footballers have got them now, so I think they're on to the next one.
BEN WATERWORTH: Add it with the tash and it's kind of like, what's going on there? It's a weird look. But yeah, before we get to the final questions, Marcus, sort of, I mean, what's your life right now? Kind of what is Marcus Fraser up to when it comes to not any golf, but outside of golf?
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I think it's now, again, I've never changed a thing. I'm lucky enough to have a long career playing wise. And now, you know, I'm only 43 still. So I'm actually doing some, I've taken a position down at Peninsula Kingswood. You know, it's been a big part of my life. Kingswood Golf Club and now Peninsula Kingswood. So I'm director of coaching down here now, Peninsula Kingswood. So we've got 2,000 members down here, a brand new facility, we've got an unbelievable membership base that are just pretty passionate about their golf. So helping to make this department of the golf club as best I possibly can. And that's really got my focus now, doing some coaching and passing on all the things that I learned over my career onto the members here and some outside clients as well. But it's something that's really lit a fire in me. I was kind of a little bit lost after I stopped playing. I'm not sure what I was going to do. I probably had a couple of years off where the garden was looking pretty good, and that's all I was really doing. So it's now on to something else. And yeah, this has really sparked something in me to, having this facility here and the members here has really got me pretty excited. So it's, yeah, once we get out of this lockdown and we're getting quite a bit of, I suppose, momentum in between these lockdowns and every time these lockdowns, it's kind of just kills our momentum. So we're looking forward to getting rid of all these, get everyone vaccinated and move on and open up this world again. And let's get back out on the golf course as often as we can.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I think you should get back on the golf course. I mean, 43, you're still young, Marcus. So you got 11 years to get back into the zone and qualify for Brisbane. You could be that first gold medallist for Australia at the Olympics.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I think having played for a long time, you understand what needs to go into playing at the highest level. And it takes a lot of effort, hard work, and also for your family to buy into what you're doing. And I couldn't, after stopping that for quite a while now, I couldn't possibly ask my family to buy back in just for me to chase my dream of that. I'll have my turn and my wife's got her own business now. The kids are enjoying having me around and part of their routine, because their routine's been pretty disruptive for a long time, me coming and going all the time. So it's now, it's a great time for me to move into this and into this role and something I'm loving.
BEN WATERWORTH: Are they golfers though? Like could we maybe see them in Brisbane?
MARCUS FRASER: Not as yet. Yeah, they're sort of, I'm trying to get them into it, but they just might take a little bit more time.
BEN WATERWORTH: The incentive, the incentive, home Olympics in 11 years time. Now we close off most of our interviews, Marcus, with a series of sort of fun, get to know you questions. These are based off a Team Canada questionnaire they used to do back before Rio and Pyeongchang, and it's simple questions, easy questions, and we won't ask you to do the drawings. I mean, if you really want homework, we can give it to you, but outside of that, you're not obligated to do it if you don't want to. But I'll start off with, and again, you can answer your own. You're allowed to do this. What is your favourite ever Olympic moment?
MARCUS FRASER: Oh, Cathy Freeman, for sure. Yeah, 100%.
BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely, it's a great answer. And yeah, it's sort of one of those ones. Every Australian can be like, where were you when you watched that? You know, the whole nation stopped. It's very, very true. If you could choose any Olympic host city, where would it be?
MARCUS FRASER: Melbourne's the best city in the world. Australia's the best country in the world, so why not?
BEN WATERWORTH: Bring it back, right? Brisbane has its term. I mean, all the facilities, they talk about Brisbane having like 80% of everything ready to go. Melbourne's got 100% of everything ready to go. You don't need to build anything.
MARCUS FRASER: We can have it next two weeks, no problem.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Well, I remember sort of in the lead up to Rio when it was all like, oh, they're not going to go ahead. They're not ready. I think it was John Coates came out and was like, oh, well, Melbourne's ready to go. We can host them tomorrow. So there's always the backup city. In your spare time, what do you most like to do?
MARCUS FRASER: I'm a bit of a garden tragic, so spending time out in the garden, getting the kids out there, just getting that fresh air with the kids, just mucking around the home, bit of a homebody. So as much time at home as possible with the kids is my ideal though.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now is the gardening thing a golf quirk? Because obviously, golf courses are beautifully manicured. They're pristine. Is that kind of just your years of golfing? You have to have everything perfect so that translates into gardening.
MARCUS FRASER: I think having been able to walk on pretty much perfect grass for a long time, you kind of want that at home, and leash is the same. One of my best mates on tour, Wade Ormsby, we're always talking about different mowers and different things we can use to get lawns as good. We're always sending photos back and forth to each other of, you know, once spring hits, that, yeah, we've got some issues, that's for sure, but it's one of those things that we've been at. Yeah, we've been walking on grass for a long time, so we want good grass to walk on at home.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that's an excuse. I like it. What is the weirdest instruction a coach ever gave you?
MARCUS FRASER: I've been pretty lucky that Dennis Mcdowell has given me some pretty good instruction over the time, but yeah, I'm not too sure. I'm a bit lost with that one, sorry.
BEN WATERWORTH: It'll come to you at one point. What is your favourite workout?
MARCUS FRASER: No workout.
BEN WATERWORTH: No workout.
MARCUS FRASER: If there's anyone who knows me or has seen me, I've never been big on fitness, but I was probably stretching is my big thing. I've always enjoyed the stretching component, trying to make sure my body was aligned as well as it could be, even though the shape of it was never too good.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. If you could have lunch with any one person, who would it be?
MARCUS FRASER: I'm assuming sporting person or just any one person.
BEN WATERWORTH: Anyone, yeah.
MARCUS FRASER: I think just having a beer with my old man at the pub, having a chicken parm is probably the real one for me.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. Well, that might lead into the next question. Similar answer, potentially. Your favourite sandwich is, I mean, I'm thinking the chicken parm sandwich. They're always a good value.
MARCUS FRASER: No, chicken avocado and cheese is hard to beat. Stock standard. I get a lot of proof from my wife saying, is that all you ever eat?
BEN WATERWORTH: Nothing wrong with it if you like it, right? There's a reason why we have our favourite things. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
MARCUS FRASER: Oh, something to do with hitting the ball further. Yeah, something that would make the book, golf ball, go further, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, actually, I have to ask the cliche golfer question, which I'm sure you get all the time. Have you hit a hole in one?
MARCUS FRASER: Nine hole in ones.
BEN WATERWORTH: Nine hole in one, all right. I just won nine, wow.
MARCUS FRASER: Never won a thing, which is, yeah, it's one of the big regrets. Would have been nice to win a car or something, but no, my brother won a car up in Indonesia for a hole in one, but yeah, that's one he's got over me.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a professional golfer is the worst people to go to either a driving range or mini golf. Like, are you just get into that zone where you're too competitive and you can't hold back, or is it sort of a bit of a relaxation for you? You can have a bit of silly fun.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, absolutely. You can't go to a driving range with a pro golfer. They're trying to run the show. We're all self-obsessed and...
BEN WATERWORTH: Go to Top Golf and all of a sudden, you just get a little bit too competitive and fancy to put all the flashing lights on your screen.
MARCUS FRASER: Absolutely. No, don't go with a pro golfer, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: What is the best candy in the world?
MARCUS FRASER: Best candy? In Sweden, they have these little cars that I can't remember what they're called, but yeah, they're incredible. But I'll have to get some mates to bring me some back, once they're going back through there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Sounds good to me.
MARCUS FRASER: Or green, pink and white cars, I think they are there. Once too many, 20's not enough.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, always the way. You've already answered this one, I feel. Your favourite sports team as a kid was Essendon. Do you get any other teams that you sort of closely follow? Or is it Bombers or nothing?
MARCUS FRASER: It's Bombers the whole way. It's all or nothing, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: I will tell you, I was a Bomber supporter for about a half of football when I was six years old, when you guys won in 93. I turned to my dad and I'm like, dad, can I go for Essendon? And he basically said, you can go for them for the remainder of this game, but if you ever utter those words again, you will move out of home. So yeah, cult for life from that moment on.
MARCUS FRASER: That was pretty much the conversation I had with my dad when I was growing up. It was, I was like, I'm trying to find a footy team to follow, and he said, well, there's only one team to follow. So if you want to be fed, and you want to live under this roof, there's that to be followed.
BEN WATERWORTH: People think that's harsh, but I like it.
MARCUS FRASER: I still inflict that same on my kids. It's, yeah, enjoy sleeping on the grass outside. You don't want to follow.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yep, it's harsh, but fair. That's why you look at it. Now, I hope you answered, well, there's maybe two here that you can answer, but there's one way I hope you go, and I'll follow up with that if you don't. Your favourite sports movie is?
MARCUS FRASER: So I have no idea.
BEN WATERWORTH: I would think the stock standard golfing answers would either be Caddyshack or Happy Gilmore, but then I guess you'd probably get sick of the references for those movies all the time too.
MARCUS FRASER: It'd kink up or something like that maybe.
BEN WATERWORTH: How often do you get the Happy Gilmore sort of, people coming out there and doing the whole run up to the ball sort of style thing? Because I've been to driving ranges before, and it literally has a sign saying, no Happy Gilmore shots.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, I think late in the day in a corporate day or a charity event or a pro-am that once they've had a few beers, they come out, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Go for the Happy Gilmore. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Perfect answer.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, at Nowhere Better.
BEN WATERWORTH: I like it. This is an interesting one. We've had this one for the last few guests, and I like this because it's a deep question. When you were little, what was one thing that you always thought?
MARCUS FRASER: Oh, it is deep, isn't it? I think probably just coming back from the way we were brought up. The way dad, no one brought us up was just, if you do something, do it properly. So I think working hard, and if anytime we went and did something, it was like, do it as well as I possibly could.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good answer. I like it. Now, the final one, as a dad, I'm hoping that you've got some good dad jokes in your back pocket, Marcus, but what is your favourite joke to tell?
MARCUS FRASER: Oh, it probably comes from my son. What happens when Woolworths burns down? That's my son's, that's been hands on to me for a dad joke.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's good. I like it. Maybe they can use that in marketing somehow. I don't know if that would benefit Woolworths Moral Coles. Yeah, that's an interesting one. I love it. Great. Marcus, it's been a lot of fun chatting with you on the show today, mate. Before we let you go, anything you want to plug, social media, websites, anything out there that people can either follow you or anything that you're doing out there?
MARCUS FRASER: No, I think for me now, it's still about this new... I suppose the avenue that I've gone down now down at initially Kingsborough, we started the PK Academy. So it's PK Academy, underscore PKCGC on Instagram. So we're going to over time probably grow that. It's a members' academy here at the golf club that other people can come in through bookings and limited spots available for outside of the membership. So it's something that, as I said earlier, it's something that's lit a fire in me and really gained. Dennis McDade is going to join us down here at some point. So it's something pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to the next stage of my life down here.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, we're looking forward to it as well. We're looking forward to again the big return Brisbane 2032 or the kids. And Marcus, pleasure to chat with you, mate. And please use the line that you are the same as the same Bolt, an Olympic record holder. You can take that for life. Please use it.
MARCUS FRASER: Yeah, not too many similarities there. I think he, I'd hate to think I'd be, he'd probably lap me in a 100 metre sprint, that's for sure. I'd hate to think what would happen if I tried to run against him or got compared to him.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive, massive thanks to Marcus there. So much fun being able to learn about his time at the Olympics. And it's so unique, it's kind of one of these sports that so many athletes never imagined they could become Olympians, and then all of a sudden they get that opportunity. We saw a lot of that in Tokyo, when it came to the skateboarders, the surfers, the sports climbers, all those athletes that probably never imagined going to an Olympics, and here they had that opportunity. So for our break dancers listening, I'm sure that you have never thought you'd had that opportunity until another three years time when it comes to Paris. So yeah, go you, good thing. Thanks Marcus for his time. Next episode, we will have another interview for you. Now it's sort of weird that you're kind of listening to some of these sometimes, and we're saying, this is our next guest, and then we'll bring you a certain other interview. So kind of how we're working at the moment is we're banking a lot of interviews, of course, for you to enjoy in the lead up to Beijing, and we're enjoying bringing them to you. But we sort of also want to spread out the love a little bit and bring you interviews, and every now and then we'll bring you a general episode. So obviously we've recently had a look towards Beijing 2022. We'll have some more Olympic athletes in terms of winter athletes coming your way. But we've also got some other great projects that myself, Colin and Jarrod will be doing. We've long talked about doing a sports episode where we just talk about Olympic sports in general, what works, what doesn't work, what we'd like to see, what we wouldn't like to see anymore. So that's one that's coming up very, very soon. And I mentioned several weeks back, the idea about doing a ranking the Olympic medal designs. We talked a little bit back with Kerry Pothass, of course, about how I really enjoy the design of an Atlanta medal. And we're gonna do it. We're gonna do that very soon. We're going to rank the Olympic medals. We love ranking things on all our shows connected to Off The Podium. Of course, if you've ever listened to The Oz Network, Double Oz 7, these are things that we do quite a lot. We love ranking. So we're going to come together, we're gonna put together a list and rank the Olympic medals. Now, of course, there are a lot of Olympics, we realise that, but we are going to cap it from Lilahama onwards, sort of when Olympic medals, they started getting a little bit fancy. Goneward is kind of a general ribbon with a medal at the bottom. They started to add the Olympics on the ribbon. So it would say Lilahama 94, Atlanta 96, Nagano 98, Sydney 2000, like you would see kind of the Olympiad put on the ribbon. So that is something that we will be doing soon as well. And I'm very pumped for that one, because let's just say when it comes to the medals, there's actually a lot more talking points and particularly around the winter medals. The winter medals always seem to go a bit kooky, a bit quirky. I've been interesting when it comes to the design. So I'm looking at you, Torino and Sochi. So we will definitely be doing that episode, as well as so many athlete interviews. We have got some great ones coming your way. And also outside of Olympiad athletes, Olympiad interviews, see I can speak proper. We have got some sort of non Olympiad, but sort of work within the Olympics. So we're talking journalists, reporters, and people are involved behind the scenes of the Olympics. Sort of more of a, hey, what's going on? How do you achieve this? What do you do that? I'm working on Olympics in general. So we've got some great things coming your way, and we implore you to stay on board and stay tuned. And you can do that, of course, subscribe to the podcast, all the good podcast channels out there, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Amazon, iHeartRadio, we're on all of them. Search for Off The Podium, hit the subscribe button, leave us some feedback. We'd love to hear what you think of the show. And if you like my voice and other voices that involve Colin Jarrod, you can hear us on some other shows as well that are all connected to this sisterhood of shows, basically out there to keep you entertained. And social media, stay up to date with everything on there. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, follow us on all those. Send us a message, we'd like to hear what you think of the show. And as always, any guests you'd like us to track down, give us a message. We're always open to any guests on this show, connected to the Olympics, so we'd love to hear your ideas of who you would like to have on the show. Thanks again to Marcus for his time. Thanks again for you for listening. We will speak to you next time here on Off The Podium. Good night.
Comments