KAREN Leonard has virtually spent her entire working life in the golf industry, including 20 years in management.
She is currently the general manager at Yeppoon Golf Club in Central Queensland, but cut her teeth at Rockhampton Golf Club where she worked for 30 years – 19 of those as the boss.
“I finished up at Rocky Golf Club on the 1st of November last year and started here (Yeppoon Golf Club) the very next day – Melbourne Cup day,” she told Inside Golf. “It was the first Melbourne Cup day I had to work in a very long time.
“I started working part-time in the office at Rocky Golf Club in 1992. At that time we had F&B contractors and in 1996 we took over the running of that side of the business and I commenced function work including wedding celebrations.”
Born and raised in Rockhampton, the beef capital of Australia, Leonard decided it was time for a “sea change” and is now making the 40-minute trip northwest to the coastal town of Yeppoon.
“I was looking for a new challenge when the job came up at Yeppoon Golf Club and I thought it seemed like the ideal time to make a change,” she revealed.
Speaking of challenges, Leonard said her first task at Yeppoon was to get to know the members.
“Because I had 19 years at Rocky Golf Club I knew all the members,” she said.
“At Rocky, if I had a list of 220 players I would know 210 players’ names. But I’m getting better at knowing the Yeppoon members.
“When I first arrived here, the members were very welcoming. It is a great club and it has a really positive feel about it. We have 450 members, including 92 ladies.”
Since arriving at the club Leonard has initiated ladies lunches on Tuesdays and has overseen the completion of the new irrigation system and changes to six holes.
“The new irrigation system has done wonders,” Leonard said. “The golf course is in great condition and Trevor Tougher is a brilliant superintendent.”
One of Leonard’s goals is to grow the membership (men, women and juniors). She is also keen for the club to host more functions – weddings and parties.
“One of the big things we want to do here at Yeppoon is to grow the junior membership and so we have started junior clinics,” Leonard said.
“Big on the wish list for the future would be to air-condition the clubhouse and put in a new bar.”
Leonard runs a tight ship with just five grounds staff, two full-time and five part-time staff members in the clubhouse.
She describes her management style as inclusive.
“I am a team player,” she said. “I may be the boss but we all work together. I like to help where I can and I don’t mind getting behind the bar and pouring beers. I enjoy being hands-on.
“I love the social aspect of the club and I do enjoy chatting to the members. I have an open door policy so if anyone has a problem they can come to me and hopefully I can sort it out.”
Leonard said she learnt a valuable lesson from Ray Fenlon, who ran the Cambridge Hotel in Rocky many years ago.
“He told me to treat everyone equally,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who they are or where they are from – treat everyone with the same amount of respect. Smile and be as nice as you can to everybody.
“That’s easy at Yeppoon Golf Club because the members are so friendly and the camaraderie is fantastic.
“A lot of the members live around the course and come to the club to socialise.
“For example, on a Friday afternoon and a Sunday afternoon there would be 50-plus people sitting out the back having a drink, chatting and listening to music. Yeppoon Golf Club has such a good feel about it.”
Leonard has taken more of an interest in learning to play golf – something she didn’t do during her time at Rockhampton Golf Club.
“I have had lessons from Terry Bulger and Greg Allen so I may become a golfer yet,” she laughed.
“I have more time on my hands now. At Rocky I was working 50 hours a week and now it’s a 38-hour week.”
The club does not have a PGA professional on staff so the pro shop, adjacent to Leonard’s office, is run by F&B supervisor/golf operations Alicia Perkins.
“Alicia looks after sales and the ordering of stock,” Leonard said.
Away from the rigors of work Leonard enjoys walking on the beach and swimming.”
Yeppoon golf course: At 5731m for men and 5166m for women, the 18-hole course is not overly long, but it is relatively tight. It’s contained within an area less than 40 hectares with out-of-bounds threatening on eight holes. Water potentially comes into play on five holes.
The course is home to mobs of grey kangaroos and a myriad of native fauna and flora that benefit from the entire property being classified as Land for Wildlife under Greening Australia’s national environmental initiative.
Chief writer David Newbery has been living, breathing and writing and editing golf for more than 30 years. His extensive knowledge of the game comes from covering golf around the world. Hired by Inside Golf in 2009, David previously worked as the editor of The Golfer for 25 years and before that worked for numerous daily newspapers in Australia and overseas. The Brisbane-based journalist describes his golf game as “a work in progress”, but has had the privilege of playing golf with some of the game’s best players including nine-time major winner Gary Player. David enjoys travelling, reading, music, photography and spending time with family and friends – on and off the golf course. 
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