After more than a decade in the restaurant business, Leon Trenerry has realised his dream of becoming a PGA professional
Growing up in South Africa playing amateur tournaments against the likes of Rory Sabbatini, Tim Clark and Darren Fichardt will show you – clearly – whether you’ve got what it takes to make it in professional golf.
Leon Trenerry was good. Good enough to turn professional and spend six years playing on the Sunshine Tour in his homeland after quitting his job with a telecommunications company. But, deep down, he knew he wasn’t good enough to make a career purely out of playing golf.
“Eventually you’ve got to buy bread and milk,” he explains matter-of-factly.
In March, three months shy of his 49th birthday, Trenerry graduated from the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program, opening the door to the career in golf he never thought possible.
Trenerry’s journey is unlike many who seek to become a PGA professional, yet is proof that it is never too late to pursue your passion. After more than 10 years in the restaurant business in South Africa, Trenerry followed his sister and parents and migrated to Australia in December 2020.
Seeking an entry point into the golf industry in Australia, he enrolled in the PGA Institute’s Diploma of Golf Management while working at Brookwater Golf & Country Club, west of Brisbane. During his studies he was encouraged to apply for the Membership Pathway Program, a program he was able to complete in two years rather than the standard three due to his prior education with the PGA. Not only did that put a golf club back in his hands – Trenerry won the Queensland Associates Order of Merit in 2022 – but has now given him the scope to plot a career path intertwined with golf.
Currently the assistant professional at Oxley Golf Club in Brisbane, Trenerry hopes that his experience in and out of golf will make him a desirable candidate for management positions in future.
“I always thought maybe I’d be able to get into management or part ownership of a golf course in the future, where I can be the jack of all trades with my food and beverage background,” Trenerry said. “I’ve managed quite substantial amounts of staff in the restaurant businesses I was involved in and obviously with having the qualification through the PGA, that may be able to open up a pathway into management.”
Being an accredited PGA professional will also provide Trenerry the opportunity to scratch the itch of playing tournament golf again. He understands that occasionally competing against active tour professionals on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series is unlikely to yield many victories. But he is savouring the idea of being able to enjoy the best of both worlds in what he describes as his “second chance”.
“When I gave up playing full-time golf as a 28, 29-year-old, I never thought I’d put the scorecard in the back of my pocket again, per se,” Trenerry said. “Making a cut or top 30 among these youngsters would be a great result for me but the program has given me the opportunity to be able to go do that and have a stronger financial backing than travelling around trying to make money just to get to the next tournament.
“The next step for me would be an operations manager role and then maybe in three or four years from now I’ll be looking for a general manager role somewhere. Given the amount of people I’ve worked through my life in the restaurant business and so forth, that would be a good fit and a nice challenge for me.”
If you would like to forge a career in the golf industry through the PGA Institute or the Membership Pathway Program, visit pga.org.au/education/
