Bob Royak rolls to National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame title
Bob Royak’s season is off to a blazing start after the 59-year-old won the National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame championship on Friday at the High Point (N.C.) Country Club (Willow Creek Course).
Royak, who won the Georgia Mid-Amateur title in a playoff less than a month ago in his home state, used rounds of 68-70-71 to finish at 7-under 209 and five strokes clear of runner-up
Doug Hanzel, a two-time winner of the event who finished at 2-under 214 (68-74-72).
Royak opened the tournament with a stellar 68, which was matched by the excellent play of Hanzel. The Alpharetta, Ga. native opened a four-shot lead with a second round 70 while Hanzel stumbled to a 74, but his lead was cut in half after he opened the final round with back-to-back bogeys. Royak quickly righted the ship with birdies on holes three and four and played the last 14 holes coming home at 1-under par to lock up the title.
“My short game was solid all three days,” said Royak. “It’s easy to get on the wrong side of the hole at High Point and I managed to limit my bogeys to just four all week.
“I hit poor approach shots with a wedge on the first and a gap wedge on the second, which led to two bogeys," he continued. "The bounce back birdies made me feel better after a rocky start. It felt good to play bogey free golf the rest of the round. I made a conscious decision this week to be conservative with my lines and on my iron approaches. I didn’t shoot at every flag like usual.”
The win adds to Royak’s impressive resume, which includes victories at the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur and the 2020 Jones Cup Senior, along with the Georgia Mid-Am in May. He opened the season with a third place showing at the Timuquana Cup Senior Invitational in early May.
James Pearson won the Super Senior Division with a 2-under score of 214, seven strokes clear of
Randy Elliott, while
Don Marsh ran away with the Legends Division title with a seven-stroke win over
Ken Eichele.
ABOUT THE National Senior Hall of Fame
54 hole invitational started in honor of Dale
Morey
(a member at Willow Creek) typically draws one
of the strongest fields of the year. The tournament
organizers desire to create and maintain a true and
meaningful Hall of Fame that recognizes the best in
amateur golf of national and international acclaim.
Their list of previous inductees and champions attest
to our success in these efforts, most have won
either
the U.S. or the British Senior Amateur Championship
or innumerable other prestigious championships
such
as the U.S. Amateur.
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