Boynton Beach, Florida

That's because the second and third place finishers, Steve Earsley of Hobe Sound and Mike Rice of Houston, also closed with 73s on the North course.

Woulfe, 56, the second and third round leader on rounds of 70-68-71, finished at 282. Earsley, 58, scored 285 and Rice, 66, totaled 286.

"I really played better today than I did earlier in the week," Woulfe said. "I just didn't make many putts. I had it inside 10 feet on each of the first five holes and didn't make one of them. Then I made a 30 footer on the sixth hole."

Woulfe hit out of bounds at the par-5 11th hole and fall into a tie with Earsley, a playing partner who had turned in 33 on birdies at the second, sixth and seventh holes. Then Earsley bogied the 12th, 13th and 15th holes; Woulfe birdied the 16th and bogied the 17th, and Earsley bogied the 18th.

"My putter escaped me on the back nine," Earsley said.

Rice lost his chance when he hit out of bounds right at the 18th enroute to a closing triple bogey.

Woulfe called it his biggest victory in senior golf, "considering the quality and depth of the field. It's a great group of fellows who are fun to play with and it's always good to win." In 72 holes, Woulfe made three eagles, 12 birdies, eight bogies and two double bogies.

Heretofore, Woulfe's most noteable victory was the 1993 Dixie Amateur at Bonaventure in Fort Lauderdale at the age of 43 when he beat Tiger Woods in the semifinals. Woulfe has also won six four-ball titles in the past 10 years, including the Ed Tutwiler Four-Ball with Chuck Hart in May at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, S.C., his first of two consecutive Society of Seniors victories.

The Society is an organization of senior amateur golfers 55 years and older with handicaps of three or less. The Society plays four tournaments each year, climaxed this season by the Ralph Bogart Winter Invitational Dec. 12-14 at TwinEagles in Naples.

Society of Seniors Dale Morey Championship Quail Ridge CC, Boynton Beach, Fla. North course, 6,633 yards, par 72

Rick Woulfe, Fort Lauderdale, 70-68-71-73-282 Steve Earsley, Hobe Sound, 76-69-67-73-285 Mike Rice, Houston, Texas, 73-73-67-73-286 Bob Fouke, Broken Arrow, Okla., 78-72-67-70-287 Mike Bell, Indianapolis, Ind., 71-72-73-71-287 Bill Leonard, Kenesaw, Ga., 72-67-71-77-287 Don Marsh, Alpharetta, Ga., 67-75-71-75-288 Jay Blumenfeld, Parsippany, N.J., 73-72-73-71-289 Pat Vincelli, Rosemount, Minn., 69-76-72-74-291 Wally Adams, Vidalia, Ga., 75-71-69-76-291 Alan Foster, Manlius, N.Y., 73-70-75-74-292 Walt Martin, Oakton, Va., 73-71-73-75-292 Tom Elfers, Loveland, Ohio, 75-75-74-70-294 Lloyd Hughes, Dallas, Texas, 79-69-74-72-294 Tim Miller, Kokomo, Ind., 75-72-70-77-294 Richard McArdle, Palm Coast, 73-71-72-78-294 James Snow, Dayton, Ohio, 76-72-77-70-295 Jerry Greenbaum, Atlanta, Ga., 76-70-73-77-296 Stephen Rose, New York, N.Y., 73-77-76-71-297 Robert Kulp, Winston-Salem, N.C., 74-77-73-73-297 J.M. Jones III, Houston, Texas, 73-77-72-75-297 Jerry Hudgins, Indianapolis, Ind., 75-73-74-75-297 Rick Bauch, Naples, 75-73-74-75-297 Lenny Loyd, Port St. Lucie, 74-74-73-76-297 David Brookreson, Huntington Valley, Pa., 76-71-72-78-297