Doug Hanzel (Society of Seniors Photo)
The World Golf Hall of Fame may have relocated, but top senior amateur players from the Society of Seniors still gathered at World Golf Village’s Slammer & Squire Course for the 17th Spring Classic.
On Thursday morning for the final round, players were happy to see clear skies after having to deal with foggy conditions during the first two days of competition. The weather for the week was ideal for Florida in February, with highs in the mid-70s to low 80s.
Senior Division
Staring at a six-shot deficit to begin the final round, Doug Hanzel of Savannah, Ga., overcame that and more as he fired the low round of the tournament with a bogey-free, 7-under 65.
Hanzel did serious damage on the par fives, making three birdies and an eagle in the final round on the three-shotters. In fact, he didn’t score above four on the day. Hanzel went out in 3-under 33 and stayed focused on his own game while keeping the pedal down in chase of overnight leader Steve Harwell of Mooresville, N.C.
Hanzel made four more birdies on the back side, including two clutch red numbers on 16 and 17 to grab the lead for the first time. He is currently ranked No. 3 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings.
Harwell hung tough all day until the very end and was 2-under for the round when an untimely double on No. 17 derailed his chances, and he would settle for third place at 6-under.
Todd Doss, of Mandeville, La., made a late run on the back nine as he made an eagle and four birdies against one bogey to close in 31 to shoot 5-under 67 on the day and finished runner-up at 7-under just one behind Hanzel. Doss birdied four in a row from holes No. 14 to 17 but couldn’t make one more on 18 to force a playoff.
“I finally made a couple of putts,” said Hanzel. “I try to just worry about my own game and not what others are doing that I can’t control. I hit it good all day and made a long one that dropped in for eagle on eight, and that really got some momentum going.”
Hanzel added, “It’s nice to be able to finish it off at a venue I have good memories of competing on, most notably with my son in a past Father-Son event here.”
Super Senior Division
James Pearson, of Charlotte, N.C., is still a force as he collected his fourth straight Society of Seniors Super Senior victory, this time in a playoff over Duff Wagner, of Greenville, SC. Pearson and Wagner each finished at 1-under for the event, and headed back out for a playoff.
On the first playoff hole (No. 14, par 4), both players striped their tee shots down the fairway and then found the green with good looks at birdie, with Wagner about eight feet and Pearson about five feet. Wagner missed, Pearson made, and the rest as they say, is history.
On what was working this week, Pearson mentioned, “My driver kept me in play all week, so that was big. The greens were tough to judge and read in spots, so a couple three-putts were going to happen during the week, but I made my share as well. Duff and I had a good battle today, so hats off to him as well.”
Richard Kerper, of Oldsmar, FL, closed with 1-under 71 to finish in third place at 4-over par.
Legend Division
In the Legend Division, Mark Weston, of Windermere, Fla., finally found the winners-circle in a Society of Seniors event after what he estimated was ‘about’ ten runner-up finishes over the years. Weston posted a three day total of 2-under 214 to finish four shots ahead of runner-up Marc Fried, of Solon, OH.
“I’m happy to finally get a win,” said Weston. “Yesterday I made a triple, then followed with four birdies in a row, so I guess that freed me up a bit and I tried to play that way the rest of the tournament. Today on No. 17, I made a costly double, and then holed out for eagle on No. 18 to get back on pace. I’ve had so many second places, its great to come out on top.”
In third place was Edward Turner, of Richardson, Tex., at 3-over total.
Super Legend DivisionSam Robinson, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., continued his winning ways in the Super Legend Division as he played steady golf all week on his way to an eight shot victory over Bill Engel, of St. Augustine. Robinson, who missed just one fairway during the entire event, cruised around in 1-under par 215 for the three day tournament.
“I really just kept it in play everyday,” said Robinson. “I was real consistent, I don’t think I missed but a couple greens, so I kept it relatively stress-free and didn’t make any mistakes on the greens.”
It was another Virginia Tech win, place, show, as John Osborne, of Charlottesville, Va., finished third to join his teammates on the podium.