Not many coaches can say they’ve been as successful on the coaching level as James Hobbs.
Since taking over the head coaching duties at Jacksonville State in 1983, Hobbs has built the Gamecock golf programs--along with the men’s basketball program in Division II--into successful ones. For his career accolades, Hobbs was inducted into the JSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.
The JSU golf program has made 15 NCAA Regional Appearances on the Division I level since 2002.The JSU men’s team has made seven NCAA Regional Appearances, making the field in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019, while the women advanced in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2021.
On the men’s side, the Gamecocks have claimed nine Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championships and Hobbs has been named OVC Coach of the Year four times on the men’s side since joining the league in the 2003-04 season.
He has had three OVC Golfers of the Year in Nick Mackay and Matias Anselmo, who shared the honor in 2004, and 2015 OVC Player of the Year Tomasz Anderson.
Since the start of the award in 2005, the OVC's Male Freshman of the Year has gone to a Gamecock golfer five times, starting with Danny Willett in 2006. Hunter Hawkins (2009), Matthew Wallace (2011), Tomasz Anderson (2012) and Jesus Montenegro (2018) have also won the honor.
Hobbs has also seen his golfers succeed beyond JSU, with Willett and Wallace evolving into two of the world's top golfers. Willett won his first European Tour Event in 2012 at the BMW International Open and became the first player to play collegiately at an Alabama university to win the Masters in 2016. Wallace (fourth) and Willett (ninth) both placed in the Top 10 of the 2019 Race to Dubai Standings on the European Tour.
On the women’s side, Jax State has dominated the Ohio Valley Conference, winning the OVC Championship in 2005, 2006 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2021 and making six total appearances in the NCAA Golf Regionals.
Hobbs was named OVC Women’s Golf Coach of the Year in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2021, while the Gamecocks had the OVC Women’s Golfer of the Year four-straight years with Shanelle Howell (2006), Manuela Tarazona (2007), Mercedes Huarte (2008) and Portia Abbott (2009) claiming the honor. In 2016, Melania Bajo Geijo became the fifth Gamecock to earn OVC Women's Golfer of the Year and then Valentina Giraldo earned the honor in 2018 and Berta Sanchez in 2021.
He has also seen his freshmen succeed on the women's side, claiming OVC Female Freshman of the Year honors six times with Huarte (2005), Manuela Tarazona (2007), Laura Cutler (2008), Lucia Fernandez Valdes (2009), Anne Albrecht (2014), Claire Vermette (2019) and Berta Sanchez (2021).
A string of outstanding seasons in golf culminated in the two Atlantic Sun Conference Championships and Hobbs receiving the A-Sun’s “Coach of the Year” honors in 1997 and in 2002.
Prior to moving the Division I in 1995, Hobbs led his teams to six appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament including five from 1989-1993.
Hobbs also led the Gamecocks to back-to-back Gulf South Conference titles in 1991 and 1992 in the school’s final years in the conference, then earned a NCAA berth in 1993 as an independent before moving to the Division I level and the Atlantic Sun. Prior to that, Jax State had finished in second place in the GSC five times, third place twice and fifth place once.
Individually, Hobbs has coached seven different players who have earned All-American honors, including Jeff Jordan in 1993. Jordan went on to become the only Division II player selected to compete for the USA Golf Team that played against the Japanese National Team in Japan that season. Hobbs has also coached five different All-American Scholar players.
Hobbs joined the Gamecock coaching staff following stints at Erwin High School in Birmingham, Northeast Junior College in Rainsville and Gadsden State Community College.
Prior to taking over the golf programs at Jacksonville State, Hobbs served as an assistant basketball coach under Bill Jones for 16 years. During that time, the Gamecocks made eight appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, including a national championship in 1985, two Final Four appearances and three Elite Eight appearances.
From 1993-95, Hobbs served as JSU’s first full-time compliance officer before being promoted to assistant athletic director of operations.
Born on June 13, 1949, Hobbs is married to the former Sandra Melton and has two sons, Zach and Hunter. He is a 1971 graduate of Montevallo with a BS in Education. He also received his Master’s Degree in Education from Montevallo in 1972.
