Away from packed rugby league stadiums and on much quieter public fairways, NRL superstar Latrell Mitchell is chasing golf’s most elusive prize: a scratch handicap.
Latrell Mitchell arrives apologising – not for a missed tackle or accidental expletive – but because he squeezed in “a quick 18” before our leisurely stroll around Beverley Park Golf Club in Sydney’s south. That, right there, tells you everything you need to know about one of the most popular rugby league players on the planet. Forget what you see and hear about “Trell”, the man is officially, hopelessly obsessed with golf.
Mitchell, 28, rocks up in a John Daly T-shirt – a nod to the big-hitting, ‘Wild Thing’ icon of the ’90s – which feels fitting. Like Daly in his prime, Mitchell is raw power wrapped in charisma, capable of jaw-dropping brilliance at any moment. Only today, instead of steamrolling defenders, he’s trying to outmuscle par 5s. And winning.
What began as the odd, casual hit with his NRL teammates a decade ago has morphed into a full-blown addiction over the past 12 months. Mitchell boasts an impressive 8-handicap, even more impressive when we learn he’s never had a lesson. For this South Sydney Rabbitoh, golf is “like a drug”, one that lasts for up to five hours and clears the mind.
As we found out during our long walk, NRL premierships still matter. But these days, so does chasing scratch.
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Australian Golf Digest: It’s pretty clear you know how to hit a golf ball. When did this all start?
Latrell Mitchell: It started pretty late. I was born and raised in Taree on the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales. For me, life growing up was just all about footy. I didn’t even know golf was a sport, to be honest, until I started playing NRL (rugby league) at about 18 years of age with the Sydney Roosters. All the older fellas at the club started playing golf – guys like Mitch Aubusson, Jake Friend and Boyd Cordner. Like a lot of clubs, we had golf days, so I got fitted and started having a hit in those golf days. I’ve had these clubs for a long time [laughs], and I guess I just stuck with it and kept hitting, hitting and hitting. As a young fellow, all I did was just lose dad’s balls down the local recreation ground – hit them in the bush, nothing more than that. For me, golf only became a genuine hobby as I got older and more social with the footy guys. You catch up with the boys on days off. Eventually, I found Beverley Park Golf Club here in Sydney – the greatest golf course of all [laughs].
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You’ve officially got the ‘bug’…
Yeah, it’s a bad bug. It’s like a drug, and it lasts for hours. You know what I mean? That’s how I look at it, but I’ve just developed this passion for it over the past 12 months. I jumped in a club competition, got my handicap. I’m off 8 currently but I’ve still never had a lesson. I’ve definitely found the love for it and Paul Davis, the pro here at Beverley Park, and his son, Oliver, are good mates of mine, and we bonded pretty quickly over golf.
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Golf has many benefits on the mind and body. What is it specifically that has you hooked?
Our game’s based on strength and power, right? The strength and power in golf is the mind, and that’s the funny thing about it. With me, I’m ADHD, so I’ve got to stay on track and have to be doing something, so golf is a great outlet for me. After I’ve finished footy, I’ll come down here to Beverley Park, chip and putt or go play a couple of holes. I guess it’s an escape away from a life that’s so full-on. I feel, when I get out here, it’s like a community here and everyone is polite, welcoming but gives me that space. They talk about golf, and the footy questions come here and there, but that’s OK. I think it was just all about getting out and about, and then I just fell in love with it.
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Do you reckon you’ll actually get a golf lesson at some point?
I want to, definitely. I hang out with young Oli and his dad has been really good with some advice. All the members freak out when he’s out there, because they reckon he only plays when I’m out there. But no, look, I’d love to tidy up the game, for sure.
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You’re getting really active on Instagram with your golf videos, including playing with your son, Latrell Jnr. Father-son bonding must be a big motivator for you to play this great game, right?
There’s no better feeling, honestly. I play golf with my old boy when I get back home in Taree. It’s a great course there. We play ambrose against the boys and the old coaches and stuff like that. So, we’ll go and play for beers and cash, have a bit of fun with it. I have a lot of great memories there with my old man now and we continue to keep playing when we get a chance. Now I’ve got a son, bro. It’s just changed fully. I’ve already got him a set of little sticks, cut down to size. And, yeah, he’s the man!
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He’s a little lefty too, I see.
Yeah. He wants to play right-handed, but I want him to be left. He’s going really well and loves hanging out with Dad on the course.
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We couldn’t help but notice your colourful array of floral hats you wear in your videos and even here today. You’re an apparel and equipment geek already, aren’t you?
[Laughs] I’ve tried several drivers and like looking at what’s coming out, but the boys at Ping have been really good to me and look after me. Paul Roser and the team here in Sydney have put their trust in me to be able to represent the brand, and I take that pretty personally. I love it – the floral hats, the clothes, the clubs… My game’s obviously evolved since I’ve been using Ping, so I’ve been really loving it. I’ve seen the new Ping driver coming out, so I’m excited to give it a try at some point. I’m just loving the whole concept of being a Ping ambassador.
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That bit is obvious. You see some ambassadors – whatever the sport or company – post or talk about their brand, almost with a sense of: they’re only doing it because they’re obliged to. You genuinely love playing golf and capturing content for your fans, right?
Absolutely – 100 percent, mate. Every chance I get, I’ll be out here playing golf. I’m pretty sure they’re getting sick of seeing me around here, but I just love it [laughs]. I’ve got a fond passion. I love my farm back home, I love my footy, I love my family, but also golf is just that extra string to the bow that I really enjoy.
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What is it about golf that makes the best athletes go to water under pressure? We can stick you guys in a stadium packed with 100,000 screaming fans and you’ll pull off the match-winning play, no problem. But put you on the first tee in a pro-am, with a smaller crowd watching, and you start wobbling at the knees?
[Laughs] I don’t know, bro. I do not know. Like I said, it’s that mental game. It’s less about the body, more about the mind. I remember my first comp round here at Beverley Park – I had a camera crew behind and I was about to tee off and I was sh–ting bricks [laughs]. I topped it, and it only just made it in front of the forward tees. Then, I topped it again and had a complete blowout. I guess handling pressure in golf, like most things, comes with practice. It comes with time, and then the more people that watch, I guess you sort of start to focus on concentrating a bit more, and I think that’s probably a key part of why I play it, because it does translate into my footy as well – not focusing on what’s going on in the stands when I’m kicking that goal or things like that.
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Have those experiences given you a new appreciation of just how good the best tour-pro golfers are?
Absolutely, they have. Especially with someone like Tiger Woods. He’s probably next-level when it comes to mental strength, especially with the rest of the stuff that comes with it, like the money and fame. You can only imagine his lifestyle, right? I definitely respect that.
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Are you a big golf watcher? Do you like following anyone in particular?
I’ve been watching a bit of Jason Day lately, and Elvis Smylie has been really, really good, too. I turn on the golf every now and then when it’s on.
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Not a bad decision Elvis made to join LIV Golf. One tournament in and he’d banked nearly $7 million, thanks for coming!
Thank you very much. He can buy his own golf course [laughs].
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I’m going to put you on the spot here: if you had an opportunity tomorrow to win another NRL premiership or play a round at Augusta National, which are you taking?
[Long pause] I’m going to go with the NRL premiership. I can always travel to Coffs Harbour to play the Aussie version of Augusta National (Bonville Golf Resort).
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What are some of your favourite courses you’ve played?
Bonville has to be one. I’ve played The Australian Golf Club, which is very hard. I think Bonville would be my favourite to date. It’s just cruisy and as if it’s carved out of a forest. They’ve really thought about it and put some care into it, and I just loved it. Brad, the GM up there, was very, very accommodating to me and my family. The best bit is it’s not too far from Taree, either. So a two-hour drive to go have a weekend away with the kids and family and play golf – what more do you want?
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What’s the golf rivalry like within rugby league circles? There seem to be quite a few players, past and present, who are right into their golf?
We all catch up at certain golf charity days. I reckon there’s huge potential to create something where we’re all going one-on-one on the fairways. I don’t know whether it’s a live streaming of a tournament or it’s more of a traditional golf day made public. I know we’ve done a few in the past where you see a few of the boys rock up and have a crack. It’d be very interesting to see if we can get something off the ground in the NRL to see who the best golfer is. I reckon there would be a lot of interest in watching us [play against] each other in something else other than footy.
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Who are some of the better golfers? Who’d be the ones to beat in such a tournament?
That’s tough to pick. I don’t know, to be honest. I reckon I’d put the wind up a few fellas [laughs]. Young Isaiya Katoa from the Gold Coast Dolphins looks like he can swing it pretty well. Lindsay Smith from the Penrith Panthers can hit them. Who else? [Wests Tigers coach] Benji Marshall is really good. He’s almost off scratch now, I think.
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When you travel away to play footy, particularly State of Origin series and Australian Kangaroo tours, do you pack the clubs?
Oh yeah! Origin camps, for sure. We’ve been based in the Blue Mountains the past few years, so I’ve been playing up there at Leura Golf Club. They’ve been really good and sorted us out every day. Rain or shine, I was out there playing regardless of the wind and that, but the scenery was awesome, just being in the mountains. I really enjoyed that part of it. Even on Aussie camps, we play as much golf as we can, and quickly, when we have a particular time off on any given day. The local golf course is where we head to.
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For professional athletes like yourself, is the real allure of golf that never-ending chase for perfection?
I think it is, 100 percent, and the different stimulus to getting there. As an athlete, you know your craft in your chosen sport, and when you try to swing a golf club and think you’ll get it straight away because you’re strong or because you’ve got good hand-eye co-ordination, it ends up being the complete opposite. So, it’s all about that process of mastering your body, your swing, the correct motion and all that stuff that we tend not to do in rugby league, because we’re essentially just running straight and passing.
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In rugby league, you can go out and score a hat-trick of tries, not miss a tackle, guide your team over the line, and be rated 10 out of 10 for your performance. Do you think it’s possible to ever have a 10-out-of-10 performance on a golf course?
No, no, no. No way. The closest I’ve come is making an eagle on the last hole to win the day. I remember 41 points was leading in the clubhouse and I needed an eagle on the last to win. I drove the green and, sure enough, made the putt to win.
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That’s clutch!
I took it all out, man. That was my 10-out-of-10 performance anyway.
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What would you say is the strength of your game?
I’m a big hitter of the ball. It’s just whether it wants to stay straight or not [laughs]. The good thing about Beverley Park is you can land it on another fairway and recover well, so I think driving is probably my biggest strength, along with recovering from wayward drives [laughs].
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There’s a part of me that feels sorry for you for catching the bug. You’re in this for life now. You know that, right?
I feel sorry for the wife, not me.
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Do you think the young fella’s going to stick with golf?
Yeah, I’d rather he did, to be honest. One Latrell has played rugby league. I don’t need two playing. I think golf is where I want him to head, for sure. I can’t force him in anything, obviously, but I’d really love him to be into his golf. I’ll take him where he needs to go, for sure.
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I’ve enjoyed this walk, Trell. Are you normally a walker when it comes to golf?
I’ve been walking a lot, actually. The guys at Motocaddy have hooked me up with an electric buggy that I’ve been utilising a lot. It’s great to be able to top up on the kilometres in the legs outside footy. It’s also a good way to flush out the lactic acid after a big game. I’m telling you: golf has changed my life, especially being able to make memories with my kids. I’ve got two girls as well, so they have a crack and muck around. It’s awesome.
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Final one: what’s the ultimate performance goal for you on the fairways?
I definitely want to get down to a scratch handicap, for sure. I can do it. I know I can. The next five years or so I have left in footy is definitely a good chance to be able to keep knocking shots off and getting closer to that target.
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