Every job in golf is a good job. But some gigs — like this course designer (below) — make us especially envious! To browse more Best Jobs in Golf, click each link here: USGA Museum Curator | TaylorMade content creator | Luxury helicopter pilot | Titleist club builder | Superintendent’s dog | Gold Putter Vault guardian | Social media content creator | St. Andrews Starter | Callaway equipment innovator | Course photographer | Pinehurst bartender
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Impostor syndrome is not a rare affliction. It can torment the most soaring talents. As one of a small handful of women in golf architecture, Christine Fraser has often wrestled with self-doubt, questioning her own place at the drafting table. But in clear-minded moments, she sees what’s plain to others: There’s no denying that she belongs.
The latest affirmation came this past summer, when Fraser, 35, signed on to renovate Toronto Hunt Club, an historic layout overlooking Lake Ontario, becoming the first woman ever to earn a lead design role on a course in Canada.
“There are some nerves that come with it and a big sense of responsibility,” she says. “But those feelings help motivate me, too.”
Fraser’s drive to make a life in design seems, in retrospect, almost pre-ordained. Raised in Ontario, she came to golf early, learning to play on a modest course that her grandparents built. A natural athlete — she also excelled at hockey — Fraser developed a sound swing. But to her, the game’s allure was less about shot-making than it was about the artistry of her surrounds.
“I was interested in the landscape, how water moved across it, the environmental aspect of growing grass on it,” Fraser says. “I was fascinated by how the course looked and evolved.”
In college, Fraser earned a partial golf scholarship to Stetson University, in Florida, where she competed on a traveling team that took her to top courses coast to coast. Their variety deepened her love for design. Now and then her coach would ask her when she might knuckle down and make a run at turning pro. That wasn’t in the plans. What followed was a master’s degree in landscape architecture, and a Stanley Thompson fellowship (named for Canada’s most storied architect) that funded a research trip to Scotland, where she made the acquaintance of the prominent British architect Martin Hawtree, for whom she wound up working for five years.
Even as she laid her hands on marquee courses ranging from Lahinch and Tralee to Royal Aberdeen, Fraser often was nagged by thoughts that she was trespassing in her own profession.
“To say that I’ve been unduly challenged because I was not allowed into the men’s clubhouse at Muirfield would be an exaggeration,” she says. “But I have often felt like I’ve had to work twice as hard to make sure that my input was valid.”
Impediments were often self-imposed. “But having reputable people who trusted me was pivotal,” Fraser says. “It gave me the confidence I needed to keep at it.”
