Very few boxes remain uncovered on Doug Hanzel’s golf bingo card. While many players have a headline or two to their name – a USGA title here or a state amateur championship there – Hanzel’s highlights could make up a thick novel.
Especially as he continues to rack up titles.
On Thursday, the 67-year-old won the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior title at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington. Hanzel, of Savannah, Georgia, played up into the Senior division (for players aged 55-64) and eventually ran away with the title after three birdies in his final nine holes. He finished 8 under for 54 holes (with rounds of 71-68-69) and five shots ahead of Atlanta resident Jack Larkin, the fifth-ranked senior in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, and Jon Valuck of Scottsdale, Arizona.
Scores: Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Championship
Hanzel, who is ranked 12th among seniors in the WAGR, may be best known as the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur winner, but he also made another run at that title in 2022, finishing runner-up to Rusty Strawn, and won the Canadian Senior Amateur in 2023. Once you start listing the accolades, it’s tough to stop.
Hanzel, who made his living as a pulmonologist, seems ageless on the golf course, and he went a long way in showing that in 2012 when he made history by qualifying for match play in the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur as well as being the low amateur at the U.S. Senior Open.
“I’m 66 but still competitive in senior golf,” Hanzel was widely quoted as saying after his Canadian Senior Am win last fall. “I don’t feel like a super senior, I’m still hitting it far.”
Already in 2024, Hanzel finished third in the John T. Lupton Memorial and seventh in the George L. Coleman Invitation’s Senior division. He started the year third at the Golfweek Player of the Year Classic. Hanzel, who went into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 2019, told Golfweek he never tees it up without the expectation of winning – a competitive drive that stems from being the youngest of four brothers, all of whom were athletes – and that if he could win anything again, it would be the U.S. Senior Amateur.
At Wine Valley, Hanzel started the week with a bogey on the first hole but didn’t make another one for 41 holes. Even though it was his first time competing in the Pacific Northwest, his pursuers simply couldn’t make enough birdies to keep up in the final round, though Larkin made up significant ground with a birdie on No. 15 and an eagle on the par-5 closing hole.
Notably, a three-man tie for fourth at 2 under included 2016 U.S. Senior Amateur champion Dave Ryan.
Dave Ryan (left) and Doug Hanzel at Wine Valley Golf Club. (Golfweek photo)
In the Super Senior division, Fran Matthias won by a similarly large margin. Rounds of 70-71-74 left the Nampa, Idaho, resident at 1 under for the tournament and nine shots ahead of fellow Pacific Northwesterner Tom Lewis of Cle Elum, Washington. Matthias, who won the Idaho Super Senior Amateur title in 2022 and 2023, put together quite the colorful final-round scorecard. He started birdie-bogey, then logged a double-bogey, eagle and a bogey from Nos. 11-13.
The Legend Division title went to Michael Jonson of Sammamish, Washington, who went 6 under for the week with rounds of 71-69-70. Dan Parkinson of Lehi, Utah, was second at 5 over.
Greg Mokler of Timnath, Colorado, won the Super Legends title at 7 over.
