Stephen Hubner began his career as an assistant professional at Eastwood Golf Club, near Glasgow. Working under the guidance of respected pro Ian Darroch, Hubner completed his PGA training while gaining essential experience in coaching, club repairs and the business of golf.
In 2006, Hubner made the decision to relocate to Dubai. Although he did not have a job lined up, he quickly secured a role in custom fitting at Pro Sports, enabling him to build professional relationships within both Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.
His talent for coaching soon earned him a role at Dubai Creek. Over time, he served in various leadership positions, eventually becoming Club Manager at Jumeirah Golf Estates followed by Emirates Golf Club in late 2024.
“There's a huge amount of change planned at Emirates Golf Club,” said Hubner. “We're always trying to really move things forward and enhance what we do, particularly the member and colleague experience.”
Stephen’s five key tips for a successful career abroad
1. Be Honest About Living Abroad
Over the years, I've seen people come and go. First of all, you would need to ask yourself the question: Am I the type of person that wants to live away from home? Maybe you're the type of person who is very close to your friends or to your mum or my dad, or perhaps you're an only child, and would feel guilty if you left your parents. You need to really be honest with yourself and think, am I going to be happy living away from home? If the answer is yes, then take the time to look at possible locations.
2. Do Your Research
It's a big move to make, I would advise people to do their research and understand the possible places they're going to go. Understand what the situation is when it comes to renting a house, for example.
When my wife and I moved to Dubai in 2006 we saved up what we felt was a lot of money then. That was maybe £5,000 between us to move to Dubai, and we assumed at that point that we could pay our rent monthly. But Dubai was going through a big property boom at that time, and most rents were getting paid annually. My rent was going to be that time, for the type of house we wanted to live in, around £15,000 to £17,000 for the year.
So do make sure you've got a bit of a nest egg to go out there, so that you're not under too much pressure.
3. Hard work pays off
I definitely worked very, very hard. There's no question about that. Long hours, very few days off, all that kind of stuff, but it didn't really feel like work, because I've always loved my job. When I was working at Dubai Creek, driving up that driveway, it was just sensational. I was just blown away to even be there.
If I go back to the start, I got offered the custom fitting role which provided only a modest salary. I took the job to get my foot in the door at Dubai Creek and Emirates Golf Club. I knew I would get to spend time with the pros and the director of golf and was confident I would get on with them and that a teaching position would become available quickly. I had a good coaching background having learned a lot from Iain Darroch, so as soon as a position became available, I got it and improved quickly.
“My education side of things through The PGA was amazing… that's what provided me with the opportunity to get a job in Dubai in the first place”
4. Prioritise Short-Term Goals
I've always been a little bit wary of having too much focus on long-term goals. Perhaps you miss the moment a little bit, and maybe you miss that sparkling thing out the corner of your eye. I feel that focusing too much on long-term gaols sometimes takes away your agility and openness to going in different directions. I'm more of an advocate of really nailing short-term goals with the long-term in mind.
5. Seize Opportunities When They Come Your Way
I wouldn't say I was advance engineering, but when a couple of early opportunities came up, I pounced on them.
