Doug Hanzel adds another line to his unreal senior golf resume with Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior title

Doug Hanzel’s golf highlights could make up a thick novel, especially as he continues to rack up titles.

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)
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.

A pair of past U.S. Senior Amateur champions are set for a final-round showdown at Golfweek PNW Senior Amateur

One round remains at Wine Valley Golf Club.

One round remains at the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur and a pair of past U.S. Senior Amateur champions are right where you might expect them to be: at the top of the leaderboard. Doug Hanzel and Dave Ryan are likely to figure heavily into the final 18 holes at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington.

Hanzel leads the Senior division of the Golfweek PNW Amateur after taking full advantage of “moving day” with a 4-under 68. That left him at 5 under for the tournament, and two shots ahead of Ryan and Jon Valuck, who are tied for second. Hanzel had a clean card with four birdies and no bogeys while Ryan bogeyed. Nos. 3 and 6.

Valuck had the lead after the first round and for most of the day on Wednesday, especially after playing his first 11 holes in 3 under. But a bogey at the par-3 14th and a double bogey at the par-5 18th hurt, dropping him into the tie with Ryan.

Scores: Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur

Hanzel, of Savannah, Georgia, won his U.S. Senior Amateur title in 2013 but came close to winning another one in 2022 before falling to Rusty Strawn in the championship match. Ryan, of Taylorville, Illinois, prevailed in 2016 over Matthew Sughrue when the championship was played in nearby St. Louis.

Dave Ryan at the 2010 USGA Senior Amateur.

Interestingly, there’s another U.S. Senior Amateur contender in the field in Pat O’Donnell, who had the first-round lead in the Super Senior division but now trails leader Fran Matthias by a shot. O’Donnell, an Oregon native who was inducted in the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2022, backed up an opening 67 with a 75 on Wednesday to fall a shot behind Matthias, of Nampa, Idaho.

O’Donnell lost to Hanzel in the 2013 U.S. Amateur final.

Michael Jonson of Sammamish, Washington, grew his lead from one shot to nine shots in the Legends division. With rounds of 71-69, he is 4 under and leads Greg Tatham and Dan Parkinson, who are both at 5 over.

The Super Legends division lead belongs to Greg Mokler of Timnath, Colorado, who is 5 over after rounds of 75-74. Stephen Wilson of Solana Beach, California, is next at 14 over.

Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Championship headed to Wine Valley GC on the heels of PNGA Men’s Amateur

Days after the best college players clear out of Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington, the top seniors move in.

Days after the best college players clear out of Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Washington, the top seniors move in. Tyler Sweet, Director of Golf at Wine Valley, praises the golf course’s versatility, and that will be particularly apparent in the two-week stretch encompassing the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Men’s Amateur and the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur.

“It’s such a great layout,” Sweet said of the golf course. “You can do so many different things with it.”

Wine Valley, which opened in 2009, has twice before hosted the PNGA Amateur, a top-50 event in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (based on strength of field) that is filled with Division I college players. The course also frequently hosts U.S. Golf Association qualifiers and Washington state amateur and open championships.

On July 16-18, Wine Valley will host the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur for the third time. Players will compete across four divisions: Senior (age 55-64), Super Senior (Age 65-69), Legends (age 70-74) and Super Legends (age 75 and over).

Wine Valley is a Dan Hixson design nestled into the Blue Mountains in Central Washington. It is ranked No. 3 in the state of Washington on the Golfweek’s Best Public Courses list and also appears on the Golfweek’s Best Top 200 Modern Courses list.

Sweet goes back to the panoramic mountain views.

“They did not move much dirt to build this golf course,” he said. “You’ve got rolling hills through there, it used to be farm fields – whether it was hay fields or alfalfa fields. Just a rolling golf course. It’s just so natural that people just want to come play.”

Picturesque though it may be, Wine Valley has teeth, and players generally feel them around the greens. The course features exceptionally large greens – some as deep as 40 to 50 yards from front to back – which can mean a several club difference depending on hole location (of which there are many). Sweet calls the greenside bunkering rugged and natural and notes that “if you short-side yourself in a bunker, you’re really going to have to work to make par.”

A strong Senior division field includes Kevin VandenBerg of Syracuse, New York, who claimed last year’s Golfweek Senior Player of the Year honors. Jack Larkin, the No. 3-ranked senior in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is also in the field. So is Doug Hanzel, also among the top 10 seniors in the WAGR and winner of the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur.

The Senior division also includes Jim Pliska, owner of Wine Valley Golf Club. Pliska, who also owns Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, Oregon, has built his career in the golf business while also keeping his game sharp. Pliska played for the University of Oregon in the 1970s, and continues to compete in Oregon Golf Association events. He won the OGA Tournament of Champions in 1986,1988 and 2000.

Jim Starnes, the top-ranked player in Golfweek’s Super Senior Rankings, highlights the Super Senior field. Starnes, of Ft. Myers, Florida, won the Florida Azalea Senior earlier in the year and tied for second at the Golfweek Senior Amateur at Desert Willow in Palm Desert, California.

Golfweek top-25 player Dan Parkinson of Lehi, Utah, is among the Legends field.