By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Bill Hobbis, a member of the British Columbia Golf Hall of Fame and a life member of Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria, died July 15 after a lengthy illness. He was 80 years old.

Hobbis represented British Columbia on two Willingdon Cup teams and was part of B.C.’s national championship team in 1975. He also played one Willingdon Cup for Alberta in 1978 when he worked in that province. 

Hobbis won more than 60 invitational, open or amateur championships over his career. He won the Saskatchewan Amateur Championship in 1978 and the New Zealand Senior Championship in 1979. Hobbis collected many wins in northern B.C. while living in Prince George, including three Simon Fraser Opens.

Fellow B.C. Golf Hall of Fame member Doug Roxburgh remembers Hobbis for his quick wit and how much fun he was to be around. “With his short swing and homemade putter he was very under-rated as a golfer,” Roxburgh said. “He could play. Bill, Cec Ferguson, Muncie Booth and myself won the Willingdon Cup in New Brunswick in 1975.

“Bill flew us all up to Prince George in the fall for a promotion for their annual snow golf tournament. But we were really there to do some fishing and Bill surprised us with a float plane ride to a remote lake. Bill was a really fine person who gave countless hours to golf.”

In 2020, Hobbis became only the third person to be named a lifetime member of Royal Colwood. Hobbis was a two-time club champion at Royal Colwood and was a club champion 21 times at nine other courses. Although he excelled at golf, Hobbis was much more than a one-sport athlete. He played basketball for the University of Victoria and was a member of a number of Victoria-area championship softball teams.

n a 2020 interview, Hobbis told Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times-Colonist that he preferred team sports. He particularly loved his Willingdon Cup experiences. “They were such wonderful moments to play with teammates such as Doug Roxburgh,” Hobbis said in that interview.

Hobbis, who worked in the insurance business, was inducted into the B.C. Golf Hall of Fame in 2019. “I am humbled, to say the least, about the career accolades I have received from Royal Colwood and the B.C. Golf Hall of Fame,” Hobbis told the Times-Colonist.

Hobbis made significant contributions off the course to the game of golf. He served on the board of British Columbia Golf and was an associate governor and governor with Golf Canada. He sat on the board of six different golf clubs and was one of B.C.’s top rules officials. “Bill was a true gentleman, said Kris Jonasson, chief executive officer of British Columbia Golf.

“He broke the barrier between northern and southern B.C. and was the very first strong player to come from the north. After his playing career, Bill gave back as a volunteer and was one of B.C.’s best officials. Bill will be missed by all who knew him.” 

Hobbis is survived by his wife Elaine. A celebration of life will be held at a later date at Royal Colwood.

B.C. FOURSOME: Four British Columbians will be in the field for the 55th Pacific Coast Amateur, which goes July 19-22 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland. Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart, Nolan Thoroughgood of Victoria, Cooper Humphreys of Vernon and Jace Minni of Delta will compete in a field that has four of the top 30 players in the current World Golf Amateur Rankings. Next year’s Pacific Coast Amateur returns to Capilano Golf & Country Club in West Vancouver.

GOLFSTAT CHAMP: The aforementioned Ewart has become the second NCAA Division II player to win the Golfstat Cup, which is a competition across all levels of collegiate golf to determine the top statistical player in the United States. Ewart is coming off a fabulous junior season at Barry University in south Florida. Ewart, who recently received the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top Division II player, won the Golfstat Cup after leading Division II with a 69.48 scoring average. 

“It feels great to win this award,” Ewart said. “It’s nice to know that the year I had reflected well amongst all divisions of collegiate golf. It proves that no matter what level of college golf you compete at, good golf takes care of itself.” Some notable past winners of the Golfstat Cup include Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikowa and Rickie Fowler.

AMATEUR HOUR: B.C. Women’s Amateur Champion Leah John of Vancouver headlines a long list of British Columbia players competing at this week’s 108th Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at Westmount Golf & Country Club in Kitchener, Ont.

Other British Columbians scheduled to compete include: Angela Arora of Surrey; Bonnie Zhai of Surrey; Chelsea Truong of Victoria; Cindy-Cruise Koira of Victoria; Coco Pei of Surrey; Erin Lee of Langley; Euna Han of Burnaby; Ha Young Chan of Surrey; June Hsiao of Coquitlam; Kendra Jones-Munk of Vernon; Lauren Kim of Surrey; Katherine Hao of Burnaby; Luna Lu of Burnaby; Martina Yu of Coquitlam; Natalie Chu of Vancouver; Phoebe Yue of West Vancouver; Rebecca Kim of Victoria; Sandee Park of West Vancouver; Sonja Tang of Vancouver, Victoria Liu of Vancouver and Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam.

BACK TO BUSINESS: Surrey’s Adam Svensson and the Abbotsford duo of Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin all return to action on the PGA TOUR at this week’s 3M Open in Blaine, Minn. Svensson and Taylor both took last week off. Hadwin has not played since missing the cut at the John Deere Classic in early July. Merritt’s Roger Sloan, who missed the cut at last week’s Barracuda Championship in Truckee, Calif., is also playing at the 3M, where Cameron Champ is the defending champion.

FINAL RUN: Surrey’s Angela Arora had a nice run at the Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s Women’s Amateur Championship at Salishan Golf Links in Gleneden Beach, Ore. Arora, a member of Golf Canada’s national junior team, made it all the way to the 36-hole championship final before falling 7&6 to Lauryn Nguyen of Seattle.

JUNIOR MAJOR: The U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship goes this week at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky. Vancouver’s Michelle Liu and Vanessa Zhang are among 13 Canadians in the field. Liu played in last week’s North & South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C. The former B.C. Women’s Amateur champion advanced to match play after 36 holes of stroke play, but lost her first-round match.

CLOSE SECOND: B.C. Junior Girls champion Luna Lu of Burnaby finished second at the American Junior Golf Association’s K.J. Choi Foundation Junior Championship in Lacey, Wash. Lu completed the 54-hole event at three-under par, two shots behind winner Angela Zhang of Bellevue, Wash.

UBC WANTS YOU: The Thunderbird Golf Society has two events scheduled for early September at University Golf Club in Vancouver to raise funds for the UBC men’s and women’s golf programs. They go Wednesday, Sept. 7 and Thursday, Sept. 8. Entry is $325 per player and includes prizes, lunch, dinner, golf and a tax receipt. Individuals or teams of four can enter. Teams will have a choice of playing a scramble or best-ball format. For more information or to register contact rhhireland@gmail.com

TOP 20: Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald tied for 20th at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Memorial Health Championship in Springfield, Ill. Macdonald finished at 17-under par, nine shots behind winner Paul Haley II of Dallas. Macdonald moved up 15 spots to stand 108th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE: Jake Lane of Charlie Lake in northern B.C. won the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Meadow Gardens Open in Pitt Meadows with a 36-hole score of seven-under par. Lane beat Christof Appel of South Africa and Kevin Spooner of West Vancouver by one shot to claim the $5,000 first prize. Appel and Spooner each took home $2,600. The Vancouver Golf Tour remains in Pitt Meadows for this week’s Golden Ears Open, which goes July 23-25 at Pitt Meadows Golf Club.

BACK FROM BREAK: The PGA Tour Canada circuit returns this week from a three-week break with the Osprey Valley Open at TPC Toronto in Caledon, Ont. British Columbians in the field include James Allenby of Langley, Riley Wheeldon of Courtenay, Lawren Rowe of Squamish, Jared du Toit of Kimberley, Chris Crisologo of Richmond and Jeevan Sihota of Victoria.