Hocknull wins 2011 SWSPGA Professional Championship

Brisbane, Queensland Australia-native Craig Hocknull won the 2011 Southwest Section PGA Professional Championship at Flagstaff Ranch Golf Club in Flagstaff, AZ, on September 21.

An accomplished trick shot artist, Hocknull, 36, birdied the first playoff hole, the par 5 18th, to edge Glen Griffith of Tucson Golf Schools and 36-hole leader Mike Russell of The Stone Canyon Club. The three men finished at 6-under par after 54 holes of stroke play competition.  Jon Stanley of the John Jacobs Golf School was fourth at 5-under, while Wes Weston of The Wynn Golf Club was fifth.

Hocknull bogeyed the 18th hole for a final round 68 to get into the playoff. “There was some weather. I hit a 7-iron from 213 yards with a strong tailwind,” he said. “It found the bunker.”

In the first playoff hole on the same hole, Hocknull, who lives in Gilbert, hit a 6-iron from a similar yardage. He chipped it to within 7 feet and made the putt. Russell and Griffith both made par.

A golf trick shot artist for the Outback Golf Show, Hocknull is a Class A PGA Professional in the U.S., Australia, and Canada. “I might be the only one in the world to have that status,” he said. “Since age six being a golf pro was always my dream. His parents are both Scottish.  He was born in Papau New Guinea.

While he admits that trick shot demonstrations have been paying his bills, Hocknull, who played golf for and graduated magna cum laude from Jackson State University in Mississippi, would prefer to earn a living competing on the golf course.