"GOLF LESSONS WITH CRAIG HOCKNULL ARE AMAZING!" - Said over 1000 satisfied students.
I get straight to the root of the problem and I don't waste time. I believe that I will diagnose your issues more accurately than any other instructor. Why? Because I've done it thousands of times! NO FLUFF, NO BS, JUST RESULTS!! If you know me you will know that I am humble so please don't confuse my confidence with arrogance. I am straight to the point. You will learn more from me in a shorter period of time than you ever have and together we will resolve your issues faster than ever before. It's just the way it is. You don't pay me for my time, just so you can hang out with me and hear stories, you pay me for my knowledge. I have spent approximately $400,000 on my education so that you don't have to. That's the definition of paying for good advice. It's my goal do do the following.
- Listen to your story.
- Understand who you are as a golfer.
- Get inside your head.
- Understand how your body works.
- Assess your equipment.
- Diagnose your issues with absolute certainty.
- Prescribe an efficient solution.
- Make sure your not overdoing it and going the right direction.
- Provide you with support on your journey.
For some, this is actually just a one time lesson because we fix the problem that they have immediately. For others, this is a few lessons over a few weeks. Everyone is different but the reason why I don't do packages is you could be fixed in one lesson. If we are doing more than 3 lessons it's because one part of your game is fixed and we are moving on to the next part. Solving for correct is the only logical way to learn how to play your best for the rest of your golf life. The reason why the exact same thing can't work for every golfer is that everyone is different. That's the secret to my success as a coach. I identify the unique solutions for you quickly and then the solutions are worked on in the most efficient and effective process to achieve our desired results.
I offer face to face advice and online advice on all golf subjects including:
- Full Swing
- Putting
- Short Game
- Club Fitting
- Mental Game Consulting
- Tournament Preparation
- Tour Player Consultation
We offer private individual coaching and private small group classes that are easily scheduled through our online reservation system, or by emailing
Students are given expert coaching in all areas of the game by PGA Coach Craig Hocknull, whom utilizes slow motion video, training aids, and launch monitor technologies to help with communication and skill development.
Our climate controlled indoor / outdoor training facility allows students to practice and train regardless of weather conditions. Having the ability to train during winter months and receive consistent coaching is the difference maker in golf game improvement.
You don't know what you don't know and if you are interested in improving your golf game we are here to help you.
Here is more information about Craig and his coaching philosophy!
"GOLF LESSONS WITH CRAIG HOCKNULL ARE AMAZING!"
"I get straight to the root of the problem and I don't waste time. I will diagnose your issues correctly and quickly. It is my accuracy of diagnosis and bio mechanically sound treatment that brings about fast and forever results.
How is this possible?
Because I've done it thousands of times! NO FLUFF, NO BS, JUST RESULTS!!
If you know me, you know that I am humble so please don't confuse my confidence with arrogance. I just get straight to the point. You will learn more from me in a short period of time than you ever have and together through proven techniques we will resolve your issues faster than ever before.
It's just the way it is.
You don't pay me for my time, so you can listen to my stories, you pay me for my knowledge so you can see results. I have spent approximately $400,000 on my education so that you don't have to. That's the definition of paying for good advice. It's my goal do do the following." - Craig
- Listen to your story.
- Understand who you are as a golfer.
- Get inside your head.
- Understand how your body works.
- Assess your equipment.
- Diagnose your issues with absolute certainty.
- Prescribe an efficient solution.
- Make sure you're going the right direction.
- Provide you with support on your journey.
For some this is a one time lesson. For some this is a several lessons. Everyone is different but the reason why I don't do packages is you could be fixed in one lesson. If we do more than 5 lessons its because one part of your game is fixed and we are moving on to the next part.
I offer face to face and online advice on all golf subjects including:
- Full Swing
- Putting
- Short Game
- Club Fitting
- Mental Game Consulting
- Tournament Preparation
- Tour Player Consultation
"Please read a great article below that was written about me and circulated worldwide when I played in the PGA Championship at Bellerive in 2018. Also below you will find some fun videos. Cheers!" - Craig
CRAIG HOCKNULL MIGHT BE THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE 2019 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
Craig Hocknull said that he never considered making PGA of America history by his journey through golf and life, but he has.
The 44-year-old Hocknull, who will compete in this week’s 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Golf Course, Long Island, New York continues to add to a multi-faceted professional career that mimics an Indiana Jones film – only with a golf theme.
Hocknull is the PGA Owner and Director of Instruction of Saber Golf in Arizona, during winter, and spends his summer in Rye, NY.
By advancing through the Southwest PGA Section Championship, Hocknull went on to earn his second major championship berth at Bethpage Black Course on Long Island, NY.
“I felt like I should have earned a trip to the PGA Championship years ago and to now have done it two years in a row is awesome,” said Hocknull
He is the first PGA Club Professional in a PGA Championship who is a tri-national association member – the PGA of Canada, the PGA of Australia and the PGA of America. This week, he will be granted his request to have the Australian flag by his name in the Championship.
“The goal wasn’t to necessarily be unique,” said Hocknull. “The goal was to give myself the best résumé for career advancement and give myself opportunities in three different countries, if needed.”
The Canadian connection has worked well for Hocknull in meeting new students and members in Arizona; the Australian PGA membership enables Hocknull to play in various Australasian and European Tour events; and as he said, “keep up on the educational advancements of the PGA of America.”
“They are all three different and all invaluable,” said Hocknull, who has been a member of each association for more than a decade. In fact in 2016 Craig won the prestigious Head Professional National Championship which was contested at the beautiful Port Royal Golf Club on the Island of Bermuda.
He also is a trick shot artist who has performed in six countries, and an inventor whose latest creation – the Saber Cat putter and Saber Hawk Putter – was given USGA approval in 2018. Hocknull will have the club in his bag this week at Bethpage, having passed his personal “feel” test when he won the 2018 Southwest PGA Match Play Championship.
Hocknull is an Australian citizen, a resident alien carrying a Green Card since 2003. He was born in Mendi, in the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea to Scottish parents who had emigrated there a few years before his birth. At the time, New Guinea was a territory of Australia. The island achieved independence in 1975.
While a prep in Queensland, Australia, Hocknull attended The Kooralbyn International School (TKIS). He is its first graduate to go to America and play professional golf. Among TKIS alumni are Cathy Freeman, a 2000 Olympic 400-meter track gold medalist; and 2015 PGA Champion Jason Day and 2013 Masters Champion Adam Scott. Craig's brother Scott Hocknull a Kooralbyn Alumni is also a past Young Australian of the Year Award recipient for his work in Paleontology.
Hocknull spent some time in his youth in the Australian Outback living among the Aboriginals and learning how to live off the land from Galarrwuy Yunupingu's family.
“I’m an Outback kind of guy, and spent time in Darwin, the Northern Territory,” said Hocknull. “I had multi-cultural upbringing, and hopefully, it has helped in my golf to not to get too high or too low.”
Perhaps that experience among the Aboriginals – indigenous Australians who have dealt with their own measure of discrimination over the centuries – toughened Hocknull. He accepted a golf scholarship from Jackson State University in Mississippi, and from 1993-97, was a white person competing at a Historically Black College and University.
Things went well in the classroom, as Hocknull sped to a 4.0 grade point average his freshman year. He also carried the best stroke average among Division I schools. Ultimately, his collegiate career would include being a member of three Jackson State teams that won the PGA Works Championship (Formerly the National Minority Collegiate Championship). His junior year, Jackson State landed its first NCAA Regional berth changing history as the first team from a HSBCU to have ever competed in the NCAA Division 1 Regional Championship.
Jackson State University was then coached by Eddie Payton—Walter’s brother— and had fought for Division I respect. Hocknull described their rugged season schedule, winning Southwest Athletic Conference titles, and yet the Tigers didn’t get enough votes by the Golf Coaches Association for an NCAA Regional trip three of his four years at the school.
“We felt like we deserved the votes,” says Hocknull. “We were left out my senior year, and my teammate, Tim O’Neal, got an invitation to go as an individual representative. Tim turned that down because he felt the entire team should have been invited.” At the time champions of the South Western Athletic Conference (SWAC) were the only conference champions left out of the NCAA Tournament.
Hocknull’s time on campus at Jackson State, where he lived in a duplex with other members of the golf team – was what he described as like “living in a bubble.”
“Here I was, white and naïve and had to learn about why people treated people like they did,” says Hocknull. “I got threats and I had people coming up to me saying things that I didn’t understand. Most of the time I got a pass, because they found out I was from Australia. If they had known how Australians had treated black Australians, they would have been twice as mad.
“I remember one guy came up to me and said, ‘You owe me 40 acres and a mule.’ I had to go research that to find it related to slavery and what the price of freedom meant.”
They don’t pass out medals for enduring a life-threatening series of incidents in college, and Hocknull lived through his share, including an attempted armed break-in to start his freshman Christmas break.
Hocknull managed to slam the door back on two intruders, including one with a silver revolver. Yet the gunman managed to get off two rounds point blank, with one bullet zipped over Hocknull’s shoulder.
Hocknull called his parents, who demanded that he leave school immediately. He resisted, considering that the plane tickets were too expensive, and that he had excellent grades and a solid position on the team. “It was very scary staying there for that winter break all by myself as my teammates went home,” recalled Hocknull.
“That was the neighborhood where we lived. There were other times where shots were fired near our apartment and one bullet came through the roof and ended up on the living room floor.”
As Hocknull moved on his golf career, he earned PGA Membership in 2001. He gained Nationwide Tour status in 2011 and had to withdraw from the 2012 PGA Professional Championship because he had played in to many tour events that year. His attempt to become a tour professional didn’t work out like he hoped due to him fracturing his Hook-of-Hamate bone in his left hand three times, resulting in surgery and a drawn out recovery. So he devoted his time to developing his niche as a PGA Professional who excelled in teaching and playing the game.
That niche has worked well, with Hocknull being named the 2020 Utah PGA Teacher of the Year, 2014 Southwest PGA Teacher of the Year; the 2014 Section Player Development Professional of the Year; and was the 2013 Section Junior Player Development Professional of the Year and 2013 Section Player of the Year.
In 2017, Hocknull’s Saber Golf Trainer was picked the “Best New Product” at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.
The next test for Hocknull is competing in his first major championship the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive in St. Louis, MO. He said that he has a taste of competing in front of large crowds. “I played in the 2017 Waste Management Open in Phoenix, where they have had more than 200,000 spectators on a Saturday,” he said.
Hocknull isn’t alone is his special journey in golf and life. During his college career, he met his future wife, Laura, who worked in Jackson, Mississippi. They have three sons: J.C., Hugh and Gregor.
“I’m excited to test my skills at that level again,” said Hocknull. “I’m excited to get to do it at my second major at Bethpage, NY in the 101st PGA Championship, his third PGA Tour event.”
Updated info:
Craig has continued a five year run of PGA Tour events to include the 2020 Shriners for Children's Hospitals Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, NV and the 2022 WM Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, AZ.
2023 will bring about the PGA Professional Championship at Twin Warriors on the Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico where Craig is hoping to secure a top 20 finish and earn a start in his third major championship to be played at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester New York. New York not only awaits Craig for his playing prowess but also for his teaching talents as he begins a new adventure as a member of the PGA Professional Team at GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, NY.
Craig Hocknull - PGA Journeys Video (Mentor) from PGA of America on Vimeo.
Craig Hocknull Tip Thursday TNT Coveragefrom PGA of America on Vimeo.
GOLF TRICK GUY CRIAG HOCKNULL from Chris 'Big Show' Peterson on Vimeo.
Craig Hocknull Interview - LIVE from PGA Championship (5-14-19) from PGA of America on Vimeo.
Craig Hocknull Interview with Scott Walker at the 2018 PGA Professional Championshipfrom PGA of America on Vimeo.
