Becoming a general manager was never the plan. Five years after her first shift in the Secret Harbour pro shop, she’s the GM who hosted the WA Open.
Sophie Edwards spent her very first day in the pro shop sending golfers off both nines with no idea about crossovers. Five years later, she’s the general manager who has hosted the WA Open and, in her own delightfully honest words, was pinching herself in the lead-up.
“I remember feeling so out of my own depth,” Edwards says of that first day at Secret Harbour Golf Links in 2019. “I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and messed up the whole field, sending people off both nines with no idea of crossovers. The one thing that stood out to me was how welcoming and comical our membership base was, it became very clear to me that learning all their nicknames was just as important as figuring out what a Stableford comp was.”
That’s the thing that got her hooked: the people. “I started out on a casual basis and fell in love with the community golf creates,” she says. “Internally, the members and public golfers have been so welcoming, while also working towards providing golfers with the experience they desire is rewarding and challenging. Externally, the golf industry has been the most supportive and encouraging industry I could imagine. I couldn’t see myself in any other industry now.”
So she said yes. To everything that came her way. Drinks cart, accounts, membership, even helping the greens staff with coring, quietly building the kind of knowledge that only comes from working every corner of a golf club.
“Throughout my journey in the business, every opportunity I was given I never said no,” Edwards says. “We run with a small team at Secrets, which gave me the opportunity to wear many hats in a day. Being able to learn every department gave me a unique approach to transitioning to GM with an operational understanding.”
It wasn’t a path Edwards ever expected to walk. “I never planned on becoming GM. If I told myself where I ended up five years ago, I would probably laugh,” she says. “As I grew and people trusted me more, I began to realise I was influential and important to the growth of the business, which ignited my passion.”
Edwards is careful to share the credit, especially with the people who taught her the game and the club itself. “My past GM Ben Sweeny created a four-year plan back in 2022 to develop my career to the point of being able to step into his shoes,” she says. “Our golf operations manager Nic Pull spent hours weekly growing my golf knowledge and tournament knowledge. And our superintendent Tom Tristram took the time to teach me course care and project planning. He was the one who taught me to create a solution to every problem and figure the rest out along the way.”
On working in a mostly male-dominated industry, Edwards speaks with a clear-eyed honesty and real hope.
“The golf industry is in a huge time of growth for women, and I have been incredibly lucky for the opportunities this has created. I am aware it wasn’t always like this and there will always be that old school mindset, however I will take this time of growth and run with it as far as it can take me.”
Earning her team’s trust, she says, came down to something refreshingly simple. “I think it was just showing up for the team consistently. I would never say I am the smartest person or most knowledgeable, but I’ll fix and solve what I can, even if it’s with zip ties.”
That consistency was tested on the biggest stage of her career yet, with Edwards stepping into the GM role just weeks before Secret Harbour hosted the WA Open in October.
“I am still pinching myself that I have this opportunity to host and learn from the best in the business,” she said ahead of the event. “The buzz this event has created within the team, our members and wider community is contagious. Working alongside GolfWA and the PGA to bring together the WA Open is a life-changing learning curve that I will bring to internal events and day-to-day operations.”
Edwards’ advice for the next woman weighing up a career in golf-club management is encouraging: “Deep dive into the industry as soon as possible. Being involved in the GMA, conferences and PD days not only grew my knowledge but solidified my place within the industry through the connections I made.”
Ask what surprises people most about the job and her answer says everything about who she is. “Being able to listen
is the most important skill,” she says. “I realised stepping into this role, nobody is expecting you to have the answers, but everybody wants to be heard.”
