The 2023 AGC Senior Player of the Year: Bob Royak

December 24, 2023 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Bob Royak (Jeff Haynes/USGA photo)

The former U.S. Senior Amateur champ won the points race for the first time, winning some of the biggest events in senior golf

After a year of consistent high finishes and big wins, Bob Royak of Alpharetta, Ga., is the 2023 AmateurGolf.com Senior Player of the Year.

The AmateurGolf.com Senior Player of the Year is awarded based on a point system earned through performance in major senior events throughout the course of the year. This year, the former U.S. Senior Amateur champion won the points race for the first time, and by a convincing margin.

The key to winning a points race is racking up consistently high finishes, and the 62-year-old Royak did just that. How good was his year? He played in ten national senior ranking events in 2023, and finished in the top 5 in all ten.

AmateurGolf.com
Players of the Year

2023	Bob Royak
2022	Rusty Strawn
2021	Gene Elliott
2020	Craig Hurlbert
2019	Doug Hanzel
2018	Gene Elliott
2017	Doug Hanzel
2016	Doug Hanzel
2015	Bob Kearney
2014	Brady Exber
2013	Doug Hanzel
2012	Chip Lutz
2011	Chip Lutz
2010	Chip Lutz
2009	Ted Smith
2008	Jerry Hudgins
2007	Paul Schlachter
2006	Michael Bell

He started his season at the Gasparilla Senior, finishing second by one shot, and followed it up with perhaps the highlight of his year at The Jones Cup Senior at Sea Island. There, he shot the lowest score in the final round to get into a playoff with Jeff Knox, and rolled in a curling putt to win the championship generally regarded as No. 2 in field strength behind the U.S. Senior. It was Royak's second Jones Cup Senior title.

It was the first of three major wins in 2023, all of which came at inspiring venues. After winning at Sea Island, Royak would win the Lupton Invitational in May by three shots at The Honors Course, and the North & South Senior in August by a shot over four players at Pinehurst.

In June, Royak finished as joint runner-up in the National Senior Hall of Fame tournament in High Point, N.C., and received the honor of being the Hall of Fame inductee for 2023.

It was one of four runner-up finishes for Royak, along with the Gasparilla, the Crump Cup Senior at Pine Valley, and the Huddleston Senior in Dallas. He had two other top-5s at the Chanticleer National Senior and the International Senior Invitational.

Royak's record in the U.S. Senior Amateur is right up there with anyone playing senior golf today. He won in 2019, has made match play every year he has been eligible, and this year at Martis Camp in California he ran his U.S. Senior match play record to 18-6, advancing to the semifinals for the second straight year.

The cherry on top of Royak's season was pairing up with longtime four-ball partner Doug Hanzel for their fifth consecutive Georgia Senior Four-Ball title, shooting 24 under for a 9-shot win.

Final Senior POY Points Standings, 2022

1	Bob Royak	Alpharetta, GA	6100
2	Jon Lindstrom	W. Des Moines, IA	4600
3	Doug Hanzel	Savannah, GA	4125
4	Jack Hall	Savannah, GA	4100
5	Mike Combs	Roswell, GA	3850
6	Kevin VandenBerg	Pulaski, NY	3800
7	Rusty Strawn	McDonough, GA	3400
8	Dennis Martin	Los Angeles, CA	3325
9	Randy Haag	Orinda, CA	3250
10	Mike Finster	St. Petersburg, FL	3050

In his first full year as a senior competitor, Jon Lindstrom (Broomfield, Colo.) finished as the runner-up in the points race, on the strength of winning the Trans-Mississippi Senior and the Heron Creek Senior. And for the third straight year, the 66-year-old Hanzel finished third, en route to repeating as the AmateurGolf.com Super Senior Player of the Year.

Also for the third straight year, five of the top ten points earners were from the state of Georgia. Hanzel's fellow super senior (and Savannahian) Jack Hall was fourth in the standings, while Mike Combs (Roswell, Ga.) rounded out the top five.

Last year's Player of the Year, Rusty Strawn, finished 7th in the standings.

Related: The 2022 AGC Senior Player of the Year: Rusty Strawn

Complete 2023 Points List (529 players) | AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings (two-year aggregate)

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