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The Royal Golf Club (RGC) has teed off its 2018 plans by announcing that newly-professional golfer Sam Hobday will be the new Club Ambassador, starting off by representing the club in Egypt on the Mediterranean Tour from January 30 to February 1 at the Allegria Classic.
Hobday has been a member of the Royal Golf Club (RGC) since its opening and, as reported in GolfWeekly, returned to Bahrain after attending university in the US where he completed a four-year degree whilst playing golf at collegiate level.
Hobday recently won the Club Championship in 2017 and decided that was the ideal time to turn professional, just in time for the King Hamad Trophy hosted in November, after battling it out on the Mena Tour for the past 12 months.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to representing the RGC this year as they have always given me tremendous support. It will be my first full season as a professional and hopefully I can make it a successful one, both on the Mediterranean and MENA Tours. I would also like to thank my sponsors Banz Group and Big Texas BBQ and Waffle House for their continued support.”
The 23 year-old attended King College in Bristol, Tennessee after being scouted by the college coach through a UK-based company that helps secure places in US colleges for bright, promising young sportsmen and women.
His family, originally from Derbyshire in the UK, moved to the kingdom from Singapore in 1997, at which point Sam joined the Riffa Golf Club and ignited his passion. His teacher dad, Barry, is a keen golfer and went on to become captain of the RGC.
In recent months, former St Christopher’s school pupil Hobday has been under the watchful eye of teaching professional Marc Arnold since October. Arnold hails from Lancashire, England, and brings a wealth of experience after working with some of the best golf coaches in the UK, some of whom have brought professional golfers through on the European Tour such as Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Baldwin.
Arnold explained: “I’ve been delighted with the progress Hobday has made over the off-season since his professional debut at the King Hamad Trophy in November. We are looking forward to helping Sam achieve his goals this year and we are confident he can make an impact on the Mena Tour in the forthcoming season.”
Hobday replaces Daniel Owen in the role, who has relocated to Europe to play full-time on the Euro Pro Tour after five years as ambassador.
