Australia’s leading Vocational PGA Professionals will take to the challenging Hamilton Island Golf Course for the 2015 PGA Professionals Championship this week in their quest for a national title.

The 50 PGA Professionals who have qualified will be vying for a share of $50,000 in prize money and a chance to compete in the 2015 Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort in December.

The two leading male Professionals will qualify to tee it up alongside the likes of Brandt Snedeker, Robert Allenby and Peter Senior with the opportunity to play for the $1.75M prize purse.

Matt Docking from Cowra Golf Club and winner of the 2014 PGA Professionals Championship is excited about returning to defend his title together with the opportunity to once again win his way through to the Australian PGA Championship.

"The experience of playing at Royal Pines last year was unbelievable. Although I didn’t play as well as I would have liked, it has added to the motivation of getting back there again this year."

Docking’s final round of 6-under 65 in last year’s PGA Professionals Championship was a new course record and he continues to talk about ‘that’ round.

"It is, and may forever remain, the best round of golf I have ever played. Considering how tough the golf course is and under the pressure of trying to win a tournament, to go bogey free is something no doubt I will remember for the rest of my life."

"The golf course at Hamilton Island is one of the best I have ever played, both for it’s amazing views and its overall design. If it isn’t on every golfer’s bucket list, it certainly should be."

In addition to also playing for the main prize purse, the female Professionals at the PGA Professionals Championship will be vying for a position in the 2016 Victorian Women’s Open and one of the country’s richest ALPG tournaments.    

In a new initiative for 2015, the leading six Professionals at the PGA Professionals Championship will also be invited to join Team Australia who will play in an International Teams Challenge later this year. This new event will be formally announced this evening. 

Alongside the 50 PGA Professionals, 52 amateurs will compete for the Hamilton Island Amateur Golf Championship, vying for more than $5,000 in prizes including two nights at Qualia, a world class luxury resort in the Whitsundays.

Qualifiers for the PGA Professionals Championship are: