Women's Golf Celebration: An Interview with Courtney Campbell-Leveck
This interview feature is part of the PGA of BC's Women's Golf Celebration presented by adidas Golf Canada. Running the first two weeks of June, the Women’s Golf Celebration serves to highlight the incredible women in the Association and to promote the visibility and empowerment of women and girls in golf. To learn more about the Women's Golf Celebration, please click here.
June 4, 2025
Richmond, BC (PGA of BC) -
A driving voice for women’s sports, Courtney Campbell-Leveck is Head Professional at Gleneagles Golf Course and founder of Birdies Babes Golf, a social golf club uniting women golfers in the Lower Mainland. Campbell-Leveck’s innovative approach has fostered an empowering and vibrant community.
Graham Abraham: Could you tell me about your background in golf, with a focus on how you got into the game?
Courtney Campbell-Leveck: I was big into athletics, so I participated in all the sports as a young girl. Golf came a little later through my grandfather. He’s a Scotsman and we owned a huge property in Ontario. He was chipping out in the backyard and I thought, "What’s he doing?" I was fascinated by sports, so he said “Why don't you give it a go?” He set me up properly to hit a shot, and I hit it pretty well.
At the time, the boys in the neighborhood were also golfing, and I was always playing road hockey and everything. I went out to our local golf club, Pine Crest, and signed up for some lessons. My mom went to school with the professional, Mark Crampton, and he saw right away that I was pretty gifted at hitting the ball. He said, "I’ll teach her if she can help out with the junior program." I was a junior at this time, probably 11 or 12 years old. On the weekends, I would help him with the juniors and help pick up balls and get everybody ready, and then I would get a lesson afterwards. He worked on my game with me, and I think him, my grandfather and my parents saw some potential. I really enjoyed playing and seeing myself excel in the sport.
GA: And what motivated or inspired you to pursue a career in the PGA of Canada?
CCL: This is a bit wild, but I went through college to become a Correctional Worker. I came out of that program thinking, "I don't think I want to be in corrections or a police officer at this stage. I'm going to go work at a golf course.” I went up to Muskoka and I found myself as a golf clerk at Grandview Golf Club. I was with this awesome crew and they were all professionals. One day, Brent Laing [professional curling star and PGA of Canada professional 2006-07] was like, "Why don't you turn pro? You could be a professional and you could teach, and it would be awesome to have a woman professional here on staff." I thought, "This would be exciting and give me the opportunity at a year-round career. I love golf, so why not?"
GA: Who was the most impactful mentor early in your career?
CCL: During my career, Simon Bevan, who was my first Head Professional, was probably my biggest mentor. He showed me so many opportunities in the role of a golf professional, from organizing tournaments to running the women’s and junior programs. I was able to experience so much in my first years as a professional under his leadership.
After a couple seasons in Ontario, as well as a winter at The Reserve Club in Indian Wells, California, Campbell-Leveck decided to move to BC in pursuit of better weather and a year-round position. She found herself at Capilano Golf & Country Club as an Associate Professional for nine years. In 2018, Campbell-Leveck joined Squamish Valley Golf Club as Head Professional. Then, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, she took the role as Head Professional at Gleneagles Golf Club where she remains today.
In 2019, Campbell-Leveck founded Birdie Babes Beats, now Birdies Babes Golf. Starting out as a small group of her friends, the community now hosts bustling Social Nights, organizes The Flock League for weekly games, and helps grow the game among junior girls through programs like Birdies Cares.
GA: Can you tell me how the idea for Birdies Babes Golf came to be?
CCL: Coming hot off the tails of a private club and all my friends and family knowing that I'm a golf professional, I was unable to teach my friends and family who had an exciting interest in golf. I had no means of going out to teach them, because they're not a member of the club. I could have made connections to a driving range, but you don't always want to walk in other people's business. So, I approached Jay, the owner of One Under. I said, "Would you mind if I bring groups of women to your facility and teach them for like an hour and a half? We'll do food and beverage, I just want to create a fun atmosphere so I can have my friends try golf, because I don't know where else to teach them." And he said, "Yeah, for sure, let's have a go at it."
I started bringing two or three friends and they really enjoyed themselves: "I want to go back and what if I brought women that work with me? Would you be able to do something like that?" This was in that interim mode between Squamish and Gleneagles, where I was just trying to find myself again and figure out where I was in the golf industry. It kind of caught on and then suddenly, I was teaching 16 of my friends and their friends at a golf simulator, and they’re having the best time!
It took off right away. I thought, "I'm going to name it and I'm going to spin off this and create this little program. I'm going to name it Birdies, Babes and Beats." The beats were the music because I could barely even hear myself while I was teaching. I could just feel that the women were having a good time, and they were taking away at least two or three things from the lesson. It was special to me that I could finally get my friends and their friends out to enjoy golf in the way that I've always enjoyed it.
Birdies Babes Golf's growth was further assisted when Campbell-Leveck was hired at Gleneagles Golf Course. The community gained an outdoor facility where they could host larger events and a wider variety of programming. Spreading the word amongst the Gleneagles regulars, Birdies Babes Golf continued to pick up loyal and enthusiastic regulars.
GA: What do you think makes Birdies Babes Golf so special?
CCL: It’s about building community and connection among women through these shared experiences and finding a love for the game. Whether they’re joining their girlfriends or their partners, or they’re going out with their parents, I’m trying to connect with women at the grassroots level to come into golf without that intimidation factor.
GA: Do you have any plans or goals for Birdies Babes Golf in 2025?
CCL: My biggest event is coming up June 5, and the goal is to keep engaging them in different ways. This year, I’m having a panel of celebrity athletes on the first tee box to talk about their experiences as women in sport. My goal is always to see that the women are still excited and passionate about coming out. I would love one day for Birdies to branch out to other locations. It’s pretty incredible to see the impact of just connecting women from all sports that love golf. It would be nice to have something that I can take around and say "Hey, I can bring these events to you, and this will be engaging for your community or your corporate outing to get women out golfing."
Campbell-Leveck was elected to the PGA of BC’s Board of Directors in 2022. She serves as Co-Chair of the Association’s Education Committee, where she has been instrumental in landing a diverse lineup of speakers and topics for the Education Seminar and Education Series.
GA: Can you think of a time where your perspective as a woman in golf allowed you to solve a problem that your male colleagues couldn’t?
CCL: One instance, several years ago, our Education Seminar had 10 white men speaking all about golf. To me, I found a lot of my educational benefits to come from that Seminar. When you don’t see yourself in the lineup, it’s really hard to say, "I’m going to pay for this and try to relate." I really felt that there wasn’t a variety of diverse topics for everybody, from operations to marketing and merchandise. I wrote a letter in, and I think I had about 40 to 50 professionals back me up saying, "Let’s change this landscape." That’s the reason I became a Director; I wanted to see change happen. Now, we have an awesome committee, and I think we’ve done a good job in producing a really wicked lineup for the Seminar.
GA: How has your time on the Board impacted your professional career, and do you feel that you’ve achieved positive change during your tenure?
CCL: Having two women already on the Board [Past President Ashley Zibrik and Vice President-Finance Cindy Soukoroff] made it a little easier for me to come on. That’s something I’m working with the Directors now, to keep women on the Board. I think it always takes a couple women on the board to encourage a positive change in this direction.
My time on the Board has been super positive for me. The education piece was a big thing that I really wanted to tackle, and I feel really proud of having a part in the changes with so many others. I feel like I can speak out and say what I need or what I feel others need. I'm really excited for what the future of the PGA of BC holds, because there are some awesome minds in that room.
GA: Outside of golf, what are your main passions, interests and hobbies?
CCL: I have a massive love for hockey. If it wasn’t for golf, hockey wouldn’t be my number one sport. I love that the PWHL is coming to Vancouver, I’m very excited for that!
My children are my passion and my hobbies are often whatever they’re doing. I’m into Lego and Roblox. My biggest love is being a Mom to them. My one son, he’s autistic, so learning from him has been my biggest life lesson. He sees the world a little differently than others. He shows this kindness and understanding, a different understanding of the world than what we see, and it’s been really amazing to see life through his eyes.
GA: Thank you so much for chatting today. Do you have any final thoughts?
CCL: The growth of women’s golf is very much on the horizon. Canada just released some stats on women’s sports, and the growth is huge. If we’re paying attention and we have the right people in place, I think every facility can grow women’s golf in their own way and be successful while still maintaining men’s and junior golf. The next big thing I see coming is more co-ed, really focusing on families. How do we engage entire families together on the golf course? I think that would be a nice way to continue building growth and include more people.
To learn more about Birdies Babes Golf and to get involved today, please visit their website or check them out on social media.
