Hanzel and Royak win fourth straight Georgia Senior Four-Ball title

November 11, 2022 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Doug Hanzel (L) and Bob Royak

Former U.S. Senior Amateur champions four-peat at Oak Mountain Golf Club

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.

About the Georgia Senior Four-Ball

Hanzel and Royak win fourth straight Georgia Senior Four-Ball title

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 in...

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