HOBDAY, John Matheson OAMJohn Hobday, lawyer of Nhill, Victoria was educated at the Geelong College from 1955 to 1957 after attending Nhill State School.
He is the son of John Mercer Hobday and Adeline Nilla Hardy nee Matheson.
Adeline’s father, Alexander Dougald Matheson (1911-2002) attended Geelong College from 1911 to 1927, rowing in the 1st VIII in 1928 and 1929. John Hobday’s two brothers were also educated at the College. His father donated funds to the School to establish the
Hobday Prize.
John was interviewed for
Ad Astra in 2018:
'In the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 2018, John Matheson Hobday (OGC 1952) was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division for his service to golf. Born in Nhill in Western Victoria and a lawyer by profession, John devoted most 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 more than 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 10 years.
John is a Life Member of Golf Victoria, from which he retired as President in May 2016 after 23 years. He was involved with almost all aspects of the organisation. He was instrumental in the work undertaken to ensure gender equity across men's and women's amateur golf through the amalgamation of the VGA and Women's Golf Victoria to form Golf Victoria.
John's two brothers were also educated at the College, as were his three children, His father donated funds to the school to establish the Hobday Prize for Year 12 students who had shown outstanding overall service to the College community.'
In the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 2018, John Matheson Hobday was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division 'for service to golf' .
His services include:
Golf Victoria (formerly Victorian Golf Association (VGA) until 2010):
President, 2011-2016 and 2007-2010 (VGA).
Elected Chairman, Golf Victoria Board, 2010.
Board Member, VGA, 1994-2007.
Victorian Golf Foundation Trustee, since 2007.
Chairman, Planning and Development Committee, 1999-2006.
Member, Planning and Development Committee, 1994-2006.
Member, Victorian Open Committee, 1996-2006.
Victorian Country Team Manager, 1995-2006.
Life Member, VGA, 2010.
Nhill Golf Club:
Member, since 1966.
Elected Life Member, 1994.
Former Treasurer, President and Captain.
Wimmera District Golf Association:
Executive Member, since 2008.
Former Secretary and Treasurer.
Music Director and Composer, 'Don't Forget Your Toothbrush', Nine Network, 1995.
Olivia Newton-John Foundation:
Patron, current.
Musical Director, annual fundraising Gala, since 2012.
Co-Patron, Music Arrangers' Guild of Australia.
Australian Day Ambassador, since 2007.
Scholarship Sponsor, Australian Girls Choir, current.
Patron, Entertainment Assist, current.
Supporter, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
Golf Victoria in June 2018 reported his award.
'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 after a combined nine years as President.'
Sources: Golf Victoria June 2018; Ad Astra December 2018 p49.