Doug Hanzel leads the Super Senior Division following third round
Saugeen Shores, Ont. – Stephen Jensen took a four-shot lead into the final round of the 2024 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship, presented by BDO at Saugeen Golf Club in Saugeen Shores, Ont. He shot a 7-under 65 on Saturday following a strong second round.
Jensen from Milton Keynes, England carded five birdies on the front nine and an eagle on no. 13 in a bogey-free round Saturday. The Englishman is four shots ahead of Miles McConnell who is alone in second at 4-under for the championship.
Jensen started with a reasonable range session this morning before a less-than-ideal start on the first tee, “my opening tee shot fell off the tee twice which really unsettled me. I managed to nudge it about 150 yards down the fairway, hit a 7-iron to about 30 feet and holed it so that was a nerve settler and then I went on a nice run,” said Jensen.
Following his opening birdie, Jensen added another on the second hole, he then birdied holes four, five and eight for an opening 31 on the scorecard.
“Once I got on a roll, I wouldn’t say protect it but don’t do anything stupid and so I played pretty solidly all the way around, thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Jensen who also added that if you can put the ball in the right place off the tee, scoring is possible due to the perfect greens at Saugeen Golf Club.
Jensen opened with a 3-over 75 on Thursday but fired a 4-under 68 on Friday to pull within two shots of the lead. It has been quite the eventful week for Jensen, having played at the European Senior Men’s Team Championship last week at the BlackSeaRama Golf Resort and Villas in Bulgaria, where England won the team event.
“On Sunday, I got back at 4:30 in the morning and I had to leave early morning Monday to fly to Canada so maybe some fatigue, not quite at the races the first day but once I settled down and got going, but listen, long way to go, another 18 holes,” added Jensen.
Heading into the final round, Jensen will draw on his past experiences to help him through the day as he plays his own game “I’ve done it before in tournaments where you have a reasonable lead with one other person, then it’s match play against that guy and that’s how I get through the day.
“If there are three or four of you in contention you have to play your own ball and then with four or five holes to go if you got to do something special and put your foot on the accelerator then do so and if you got to back off a bit and just be careful and hit four irons rather than drivers then do so. It’s just basically using common sense but at the same time, try and relax, try and enjoy it.”
Jensen added since the players competing at Saugeen Shores don’t do this for a living, everyone is going to feel tense on Sunday, “I know I’ll be very nervous but just go out there and try and embrace it and have a bit of fun and see where it takes me. If I win, I’ll be thrilled and if I don’t, I’ve had three great rounds and a great time over here.”
Defending champion, Doug Hanzel of Savannah, Ga. is alone in third following a second consecutive day under par, with a 2-under 70 to now sit at 3-under for the tournament. Jack Hall of Savannah, Ga. is fourth at 2-under with Dave Bunker of Ridgeway, Ont. and Steve Wheeler of Whistler, B.C. the top Canadians at 1-under in a four-way tie for fifth.
In the Super Senior Division, Hanzel leads by one over Hall. Luc Guilbault of Drummondville, Que. is third at 3-over and is six shots back of Hanzel.
The lead group of Jensen, McConnell and Hanzel will tee off at 10:00 a.m. ET for Sunday’s final round. For all final round tee times, please click here.
The Canadian Men’s Senior Championship features golfers aged 55-and-over and includes a Super Senior division for golfers 65-and-over. The national championship consists of 72 holes of stroke-play with a cut after 36 holes. The Super Senior Championship is contested concurrently over the four rounds of the championship.
In addition to the national championship, the winner will receive an exemption into the 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at Biltmore Forst Country Club in Asheville, N.C., August 23-28.
For the leaderboard following the third round of the 2024 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship, presented by BDO, please click here.
