Hanzel wins fifth Florida Azalea Senior title

After going winless in 2020, Doug Hanzel (Savannah, Ga) is back in a big way in 2021. Two weeks ago, the 64-year-old Hanzel won his fourth Jones Cup Senior title at Sea Island, and he continued his roll on Sunday. Related: Hanzel back in form, wins fourth Jones Cup Senior The four-time AmateurGolf.com Senior Player-of-the-Year won his fifth Florida Azalea Senior title at Palatka (Fla.) Golf Club, closing with a 3-under 67 for a 7-under 203 total, three shots clear of runner-up Jack Hall. Hanzel shot an even-par 70 in the first round to sit four shots behind the defending champion Randy Haag (Orinda, Calif.). But rounds of 66-67 -- each the low score of the day -- propelled Hanzel to victory. Hall, also from Savannah, shot 70-68 to sit two shots behind Hanzel going into the final round, and closed with another 68 to finish solo second at 4 under. No one else in the field finished under par. Tom Lape (Atlanta, Ga.) has rounds of 71-70-70 to finish third at 1 over, while Matthew Avril (Vero Beach, Fla.) and Marcus Beck (Tallahassee, Fla.) rounded out the top five. Haag cooled off after his opening 66 and had to settle for sixth place, tied with Ken Moody (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.). In the Super Senior division, Randy Elliott (Winter Park, Fla.) edged Marc Fried (Solon, Ohio) by a single shot with rounds of 69-72-70. Jack Kearney (Peachtree City, Ga.), who ran away with the Jones Cup Super Senior earlier this month, was third, two shots behind. Rob Hess (Castleberry, Fla.) won the Legends division by three shots over Fred Peel (Chipley, Fla.) and Don Kuehn (Kansas City, Mo.). Hess overcame a 75 with rounds of 67-66. Jim Carley (Ormond Beach, Fla.) shot 70-66-68 to win the Super Legends division by four shots over Brian Sachs (Newberry, Fla.).