Chris Hall has now won the Georgia Senior twice
(GSGA Photo)
KENNESAW, GA (September 7, 2018) - With five holes remaining 2016 Georgia Senior Championship winner Chris Hall and three-time champion Doug Hanzel were tied at 1-over and set for a dual to the finish.
Hall began the final day at Pinetree Country Club ahead of Hanzel by two-strokes and led by as many as four at the turn but after a couple of bogeys from the leader and birdies from Hanzel everything was even.
Playing together the two started their round on the 10th and neither played overly well on the first nine. Hall did birdie the 11th and 16th holes only to suffer bogeys on three others to turn in 1-over 37. The struggles didn't get much better for Hall early on the second nine with two more bogeys happening on the 1st and 4th holes.
Hanzel, despite having a window of opportunity, didn't make his move until the latter portions of the round. The sixth-ranked senior in the AGC Rankings, Hanzel double-bogeyed the 11th and bogeyed twice more while just birdieing once to make the turn in 3-under 39 and at 3-over for the tournament he was four back of the 1-under Hall.
However, things began to turn on the back nine. As Hall was bogeying twice to fall to 1-over, Hanzel was busy birdieing the 2nd and 3rd holes to pull level with five holes remaining.
With the tournament now a sprint to the finish, both players birdied the short par-4 5th to get to even-par and remain tied with just four holes remaining.
For Hall the birdie on the 5th, his 14th hole of the day, seemed to spark a fire that wouldn't be doused until he reached the clubhouse. Now locked in, Hall birdied the next two holes to quickly restore the lead to a pair of strokes with two holes remaining.
Hanzel tried to make one last push with a birdie on the 9th, the 18th of the round for the group, but a par-par finish was enough for Hall to finish 2-under and secure his second tournament title.
Between the two they played the final five holes in 5-under with Hall birdieing three-times and Hanzel twice.
Hanzel, 1-under for the tournament, carded a 4-under 32 on the inward nine.
Wright Waddell, first round leader Alan Thielemann, Mark Nickerson and Rick Cloninger all shared third at 2-over. Defending champion Bob Royak was 3-over in a share of seventh.
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ABOUT THE Georgia Senior
Entries: Open to male amateur golfers age
55 or
older as of the first day of the
tournament.
Field: 144 players with the lowest USGA
Handicap
indexes
Format: 54 holes of stroke play; field cut
to the
low 70 and ties after 36 holes
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