Doug Hanzel (L) and Bob Royak
Of all the power-packed teams in the field at the Georgia Senior Four-Ball Championship, none has been more formidable than the tandem of
Doug Hanzel and
Bob Royak.
The duo claimed their fourth consecutive title on Friday at Oak Mountain Golf Club, posting a winning score of 18-under 198 to earn a two-shot victory over Wright Waddell and Carter Wise, which finished at 16-under 200.
Hanzel and Royak, both former U.S. Senior Amateur champions, carded rounds of 67-64-67 to fend off the hard-charging team of Waddell and Wise, who made a strong run with a closing round 64 only to come up two strokes short of a playoff.
The teams of Michael Standard/Dave Maddox (-13), Jeffrey Ward/Royce Jones (-12) and Tom Lape/Billy Mitchell (-10) rounded out the top-five, while the tandem of Rusty Strawn, the reigning U.S. and Canadian Senior Amateur champion, and his partner Allen Peake, finished sixth at 6-under par.
After an opening round 67 left them two shots behind Standard and Maddox, Hanzel and Royak made their move on Thursday by firing an 8-under 64 to open a four-stroke lead heading into Friday's final round.
The chances of the leaders coming back to the pack were slim, as the defenders polished off their fourth consecutive triumph with a 4-under 67.
Hanzel, 65, of Savannah, Ga., won the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur championship and fell to fellow Georgian Rusty Strawn in
this year's championship match at The Kittansett Club. Hanzel also was a semifinalist in 2012 and twice a quarterfinalist (2016, 2018).
Royak, 60, of Alpharetta, Ga., won the
2019 U.S. Senior Amateur by defeating Roger Newsom, 1 up, in the final at Old Chatham Golf Club, in Durham, N.C. He has competed in 21 USGA championships, including five U.S. Amateurs and three U.S. Senior Opens (2012, 2019, 2021, 2022).
The team of Jack Kearney and John Landis captured the Super Senior Division with an 11-under score of 202, which was good for a one-stroke win over Joey Kaney and John Foster at Sunset Hills Country Club.
View results for Georgia Senior Four-Ball
ABOUT THE Georgia Senior Four-Ball
Open to male amateur golfers; entrants must
be at
least 55 years old on or before the first day of
the
Championship; a maximum stroke differential
of six
strokes is allowed
between partners; if the differential is more
than six
strokes, the higher index will be adjusted down
to six
strokes.
Field:
96 teams - 48 teams based on low team index
comprise the Championship flight; remaining
Senior
Division teams drawn
by lottery (1 exempt spot held for each host
club; 4
exempt spots held for flight winners).
Format:
54 holes of flighted four-ball stroke play.
View Complete Tournament Information