Member Spotlight: Grant Fraser’s Legacy of Leadership in Golf Education Across Canada

Grant Fraser is a pioneer in golf management education. For over 30 years, the programs Fraser established have impacted a new generation of golf industry leaders in Ontario and across Canada.

In 1995, Fraser started the first Professional Golf Management (PGM) Program in Ontario at Humber College for the PGA of Canada. In 1998, Fraser received the College’s Innovator-of-the-Year award in recognition for what he created. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the program.

In 1999, Fraser recognized a need to expand the breadth of golf management education which included all facets of the business including hospitality, turf, sales, general management and administration, etc. With support from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, and ClubLink Corporation, Fraser launched the Golf Management Institute of Canada (GMIC), the first, and only, online golf management program in Canada. As well as offering its own online program in golf operations management, the GMIC, under Fraser’s direction, established numerous academic partnerships which included Georgian College, the University of Guelph, and Wilfrid Laurier University.

At the same time Fraser was developing the program for the GMIC, he also started the PGM program at Niagara College which welcomed its first cohort of students in 2000.

In 2004, both Fraser and the GMIC received the Canadian Award for Training Excellence from the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD). In 2024, the GMIC celebrated its 25th year anniversary.

Today, the GMIC’s program is offered in partnership with McMaster University’s Centre for Continuing Education and is the only online golf program in Canada delivered by a Canadian University. For his contribution to continuing education, Fraser was presented with McMaster University’s Appreciation and Exceptional Service award in 2018.

Beyond education, Fraser has shared his expertise internationally, including teaching in China and the U.S., and has made significant contributions to golf media as an award-winning writer and photographer for Flagstick Magazine, and panelist for top course rankings. A dedicated industry leader, he has served on the boards of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada, Canadian Junior Golf Association, and the Hamilton/Halton Junior Golf Tour, among others. He has also volunteered on numerous committees for Golf Canada, the PGA of Canada, and Golf Ontario.

Currently, Fraser is working with Golf Canada as the Manager, Home for Canadian Golf, where he is involved in the relocation of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and construction of Golf Canada’s new national headquarters at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley.

For his work as an educator and impact on the current generation of golf industry professionals, Fraser was named an Honorary Director of the PGA of Canada in 2019.

On May 7th. Fraser was inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame for his work in golf management education and being a builder of the game in Ontario and across Canada.

Over the last 30 years since Fraser introduced PGM programs in Ontario, hundreds of graduates, not only from Humber and Niagara College, have worked for ClubLink Corporation, something that Fraser is most proud of.

Fraser is also a proud ClubLink Member and can be found wandering the fairways at Glencairn, his home Club, where he has belonged for over 10 years.