Golf Victoria would like to extend its congratulations to John Hobday OAM for being awarded a well-deserved Order of Australia Medal over The Queen’s Birthday weekend for his service to the game.
John, one of only five living life members of Golf Victoria, retired as President in May 2016 after 23 years of dedicated service to the game in a variety of roles.
Born in Nhill in Western Victoria and as a lawyer by profession, John devoted the majority of his adult life to serving the game as a volunteer at club, district, state and national level.
A member of Nhill Golf Club for over 50 years, John served on the Club Committee for 21 years – including three years as Captain and five years as President.
John was made a life member of the club in 1994 and was significantly involved with transforming the course from sand greens to an 18-hole grass green course. He also served as an executive member of the Wimmera District Golf Association for ten years.
He joined the Victorian Golf Association (VGA) Council in 1993 and was involved with almost all aspects of the organisation. Whilst chairman of the VGA’s Planning and Development Committee, he oversaw several of the Association’s major projects including:
- • Introduction of VGA Website in 1999;
- • Development of the Club Management Guide to assist Victorian Golf Clubs with all aspects of governance;
- • Conduct of the VGA Centenary in 2002 at the Crown Palladium with over 1000 people attending the celebration of 100 years of Victorian golf;
- • Conduct of a number of golf specific research projects to identify major issues in the sport including the 2005 Ernst & Young-prepared study on Issues and Challenges for Golf Clubs in Victoria.
John was elected President of the VGA in 2007 before being instrumental in overseeing the amalgamation of the VGA and Women’s Golf Victoria (WGV) to Golf Victoria in 2010.
This process involved resolvingnumerous governance and structural issues to ensure gender equity and the establishment of an appropriate basis to administer men's and women's amateur golf into the future.
He was head of the united state body until 2016 before handing over the reins to current President Stephen Spargo AM after a combined nine years as President.
“Everyone at Golf Victoria is very pleased for John to receive such a special award and we’re thrilled to see him get the recognition he deserves,” says Golf Victoria CEO Simon Brookhouse.
“John has served the game at every level in his lifetime and golfers across Victoria are better for it.”