Golfweek Senior Nat'l Championship: Doug Hanzel rallies to title

January 18, 2017 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Doug Hanzel <br>(Golfweek Photo)

Doug Hanzel picked up his first win of the season after shooting the round of the week at El Campeon Golf Course at Mission Inn Resort & Club

HOWEY IN THE HILLS, FL (January 18, 2017) -- It didn't take Doug Hanzel long to find his winning touch in 2017. Playing in his first AmateurGolf.com Ranking event of the season Hanzel fired the round of the tournament, a 3-under 69, on the final day of the Golfweek Senior National Championship to come from behind and win his first event of the year. Hanzel was tied for the first round lead at El Campeon Golf Course at Mission Inn Resort & Club but following a disappointing second round he found himself 6-over and four off the pace set by Scott Smith. For much of the first half of the final day both players held there place in the standings and as the two made the turn Smith was 1-over for the round and at 3-over overall still leading Hanzel by three-strokes. However, on No. 10 with the two playing together things began to change and change quickly. As the backside started Hanzel started to heat up and he rolled in birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 to in a blink move to 4-over. While Hanzel was catching fire, Smith was cooling off and he bogeyed 10-12 in succession and before you knew it he was 6-over and trailing Hanzel by two-strokes. Once in the lead Hanzel didn't let up rolling in another birdie on the par-5 14th as he put together a flawless back nine 3-under 34 and he finished the week 3-over. While Hanzel was surging Smith was never able to regain his touch from the first 45 holes and he struggled to the finish with a 17th hole bogey and a disheartening closing hole double-bogey. Smith ended up 7-over for the day and in second place six-strokes behind Hanzel at 9-over. Dave Maddox (+12) was third, Chris Hall (+13) finished fourth and Jim Lehman (+14) completed the top-5. In the Super Senior Division Robert Hess used back-to-back 1-over 73's to overtake 36-hole leader Don Russell for the title. After beginning Wednesday's final round on the 10th hole, Hess carded birdies on Nos. 11, 13, 3 and 6 as he finished 8-over. Don Marsh was two behind in second place and Russell was a couple of strokes further back in third place. The only leaderboard name that didn't change throughout the week belonged to Jim Pfrogner as he went wire-to-wire and won the Legends Division. Edward Craig ended up four-strokes back in second place and George Washburn III was third.

Results: Golfweek Senior POY Classic

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Doug Hanzel	Savannah, GA	700	73-77-69=219
2	Scott Smith	Houston, TX	400	74-72-79=225
3	David Maddox	McDonough, GA	300	76-75-77=228
4	Chris Hall	Marietta, GA	300	76-73-80=229
5	Jim Lehman	Minneapolis, MN	300	78-77-75=230

View full results for Golfweek Senior POY Classic

About the Golfweek Senior POY Classic

Golfweek Senior Nat'l Championship: Doug Hanzel rallies to title

Premier tournament featuring the world’s elite senior amateurs age 55 and up, in three separate divisions: Senior (age 55-64), Super Senior (age 65-69), Legends (age 70-74) and Super Legends (age 75+). Max handicap 8.0. The tournament honors Golfweek...