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SUPER Sam Hobday has bid farewell to amateur status on a high by being crowned Best Gross and Club Champion after last weekend’s Club Championship Tournament at the Royal Golf Club.
The 22-year-old former St Christopher’s School pupil powered ahead of teacher Ronan Armstrong who took the runners-up spot.
Hobday was tied after day one with talented Bahraini junior Nooh Esbai on Gross 76 and on day two seasoned Rob Lane drew level after six holes but fell away whilst Armstrong came to the fore and the pair were tied for the title with just three holes to go.
Hobday parred on holes16 and 17 on the challenging Colin Montgomerie-designed course whilst Armstrong, a Year 3 Junior School teacher who never actually got the chance to teach Hobday during his time at St Chris, bogeyed both.
Determined Armstrong fought back and a neat par on the last meant that Hobday had two putts for the title.
However, thinking that he had to hole his first putt to win, he rushed the shot past the hole by two feet but stayed cool under pressure to win his last tournament as an amateur before turning professional this week just in time for the coming weekend’s King Hamad Trophy.
Delighted Hobday said: “It’s always nice to win some silverware, especially the Club Championship as it is the pinnacle of the Royal Golf Club amateur season. I’m looking forward to turning pro and competing next week.”
The King Hamad Trophy staged at the RGC, starting tomorrow and running to Saturday, is a major tournament featuring the leading amateurs and professionals in the region and beyond.
Several European Tour players such as Andrew Marshall and Jamie Elson will be playing again this year.
As reported in GolfWeekly, Hobday returned this year from a four-year college experience in America with the determined intention of teeing off his professional career within 12 months.
He attended King College in Tennessee, after being scouted by the college coach through a UK-based company that sends promising young golfers to the US to play college golf.
Hobday believes having a base in Bahrain has proved extremely useful for his career. His family, originally from the English county of Derbyshire, moved to the kingdom from Singapore in 1997, at which point Sam joined the former Riffa Golf Club and ignited a passion to play the game.
He explained: “Living in Bahrain has given me the perfect opportunity to continue my golfing career. It’s a very good base to use to travel to events played around the MENA region, as well as potential upcoming events in South Africa and South East Asia.
“The weather also plays a huge factor as I can practice and play pretty much all year round, and have a distinct advantage over those working on their games in the winter in both the UK and the US.”
The club’s 2017 Ladies Captain Stacey Thomas took the Best Lady Gross title and a RGC spokesman said: “The King and Queen of Club Champs were crowned after brilliant performances. Sam signed off his amateur career with this Championship win, while Stacey proudly defended her 2016 title. Congratulations to them both.”
Results:
Best Gross & Club Champion - Sam Hobday
Runner-Up - Ronan Armstrong
Best Nett (under 14 handicap) - Sebastian Woodrow
Runner Up - Ronan Smith
Best Nett (over 14 handicap) - Ashley Price
Runner Up - Kian Higgins
Best Lady Gross- Stacey Thomas
Best Lady Nett - Jeong Hae Kwak
