Doug Hanzel (USGA photo)
SAVANNAH, Ga. (Oct. 29, 2018) –
Doug Hanzel won the SOS Championship in his own town Monday when he posted his third consecutive round under par at the Landings Club. Hanzel logged an 11-shot victory on the field.
Hanzel is a tough match in any event, but he played exceptionally good golf over a long weekend in Savannah. Hanzel, 61, logged 14 birdies for the week, and sprinkled in five bogeys and two doubles. Rounds of 71-70-70 on the par-72 Oak and Deer courses got him to 5 under for the tournament.
Hanzel has won just about everything there is to win in senior amateur golf. This is his second SOS Championship, having also won in 2013, and his first major tournament title since the Gasparilla Senior earlier in the year. He advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Amateur earlier this fall and was also third at the Florida Azalea Senior.
Ken Kinkopf of Dublin, Ohio tied for second with Rusty Strawn of McDonugh, Ga. Both were 6 over for the tournament.
A group of three players were tied for fourth behind that. Craig Scheibert, Duke Delcher and Stephen Maddalena were all 9 over.
Allan Small, another Savannah resident, won the Super Senior title with his even-par 216 total. He was one shot ahead of Mike McDonald.
Bob Coleman won the Legends title on the first hole of a playoff after finishing regulation tied with Tom Grady at 8-over 224.
ROUND TWO
It’s
Doug Hanzel’s hometown, and so far, the 61-year-old is playing like it. Hanzel opened up a six-shot lead after two rounds of the SOS Championship at the Landings Club. He is the only player under par.
Hanzel, the 2017 AmateurGolf.com Senior Player of the Year, has had rounds of 71-70 at the club’s Deer and Oak courses. On Sunday, he got off to a hot start with three birdies in his first nine. He turned at 3-under 33, then made a bogey on No. 10 but recovered with two birdies in the next three holes. A double bogey on No. 18 kept Hanzel from pulling away any further.
Hanzel last won this title in 2013. It has been his only title in the event.
Behind Hanzel, Rusty Strawn from McDonugh, Ga., had 3-over 75 on Sunday and is 3 over for the tournament. He is one ahead of Stephen Maddalena of Jackson, Miss. Maddalena shared the first-round lead with Hanzel but fell to 5-over 77 Sunday. He opened with a double bogey on the first hole, then had four bogeys on the back nine without any birdies to offset them.
In the Super Senior division, Allan Small maintained his first-round lead when he backed up an opening 70 with a second-round 74. He is two shots ahead of Mike McDonald in second.
Bob Coleman leads the Grand Master division at 4 over after rounds of 72-76.
ROUND ONE
Doug Hanzel and
Stephen Maddalena are tied for the lead after the first round of the Society of Seniors Championship. Both had an opening round of 1-under par at the Landings Club, but they got there in very different ways.
Maddalena, a Jackson, Miss., native who tied for second at this event last year, had 17 pars on Saturday and just one birdie. He was the picture of consistency as Hanzel, who won this title in 2013, threw in a little more excitement. Hanzel, a Savannah native threw out four birdies along with three bogeys. His back-nine 33 kept him on pace with Maddalena.
Hanzel has already won titles in 2018 at the Gasparilla Senior and the Golfweek Senior POY Classic. He was third at the Florida Azalea Senior and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Amateur.
Behind the top two players, three men are tied for third at even par. That group includes
Ronald LaVerdiere of Amhert, Mass.,
Matthew Avril of Vero Beach, Fla., and
Rusty Strawn of McDonugh, Ga.
Defending champion
Allen Barber is one of three players tied for seventh at 3 over.
Savannah native Allen Small leads
Paul Schlachter, a Bridgeville, Pa., resident by one in the super senior division. Small opened with 2-under 70 while Schlachter had 71.
In the grand master division, Bob Coleman and Jim Wetzel share the lead after rounds of even-par 72.
ABOUT THE
SOS Dale Morey
54 hole stroke play event that honors one of the
founders of the SOS, Dale Morey, who won more
than 250 events in a lifetime of golf. In 2021 the
tournament switched
to a single division. SOS annual meeting and
banquet is held with this tournament.
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