2006 Four-Ball Championship

Hanzel, Royak Win Georgia Four-Ball Championship in Nine-Hole Playoff

SAVANNAH, Ga. - With a three-foot birdie putt on the ninth playoff hole, second-round leaders Doug Hanzel of Savannah and Bob Royak of Alpharetta captured their first Georgia Four-Ball Championship over four-time champions Carter Mize and Wright Waddell of Columbus. The two teams were knotted at 16-under 197 through 54 holes at Wilmington Island Club, then played an additional eight holes at even par before Hanzel ended the standoff with an approach shot to three feet on No. 18, the ninth playoff hole.

Jeff Belk and Erik Martin of Alpharetta finished one stroke back in third. The duo of Wendell Akins Jr. of Statesboro and Henry Thompson of Metter were fourth at 200. Both Belk/Martin and Akins/Thompson carded 65, the low score of the day.

Two teams tied for fifth as Adam Thomas of Baxley and Eric Blaylock of Rome matched Peter Brennan of Rincon and Mark Love of St. Simons Island at 201. Another three teams finished tied for seventh at 203, including defending champions Jack Hall and Danny Nelson of Savannah, Ralph Ireland III and Jefferson Murray of Augusta and Michael Standard and Dave Womack of McDonough. Four teams rounded out the top 10, all tied for 10th at 204.

The playoff, which is believed to be the longest ever in a GSGA statewide championship, began on 18 and rotated between holes 17 and 18. Over the first eight playoff holes, there were several opportunities for birdie putts of 8-10 feet or longer, but no one could seem to hit it any closer for a higher-percentage putt.  Hanzel's 20-foot putt on the fourth hole (17) just lipped around and was the closest anyone came to ending the playoff during the first eight holes. On the ninth, Hanzel, playing from the right side of the fairway, stuck his approach to within three feet left of the hole. After Mize/Waddell carded par, he then sank the putt for the win.

 

Hanzel and Royak were teaming up in a four-ball competition for the first time. For Hanzel, it is his second victory in a GSGA event, as he also won the 2004 Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship.

Hanzel and Royak began the day with a two-stroke lead over their playing partners Mize and Waddell and got off to a strong start as Royak birdied three of the first four holes. They soon ran into trouble, however, turning even with bogeys on holes 5, 7 and 9. Mize and Waddell weren't able to make up any ground, though, as they also turned even.

Both groups birdied the 12th to move to 15 and 13-under, respectively. However, the team of Belk/Martin, five strokes back of the leaders entering the round, was two groups ahead and making a charge. With a Martin eagle on the 545-yard 14th, they moved to 6-under for the day and tied the leaders at 15-under for the tournament.

The tie was short-lived however, as Royak sunk an 18-footer on 13 to move to 16-under. But they then faced another charge, this time from Mize/Waddell. The duo, which has won four previous Four-Ball titles (1991, '95, '03 and '04) scrapped for birdies on 14, 15 and 17 to knot the score going into 18. Belk/Martin, meanwhile ended their round at 15-under 198.

On the 54th hole, none of the four players found the green, but Waddell and Mize were in better shape. Waddell's ball came to rest on a sprinkler head just on the fringe, while Mize's ball stopped at the edge of a greenside bunker. Hanzel, meanwhile, was off to the right-hand side under a tree, while Royak, whose tee shot was right of the fairway, tried to go over a set of trees and found the water in front of the green.

Hanzel chipped his third shot about 18 feet past the hole. After getting relief from the sprinkler head, Waddell was in the fringe, about 40 feet away. His well-placed chip, which would have clinched the championship, stopped just short of the hole. After Waddell's par, Hanzel then connected on his par putt to force the playoff.

The Four-Ball Championship was open to two-man teams of male amateur golfers who are members of a GSGA member club and residents of Georgia who have a maximum handicap differential of no more than six strokes. A total of 70 teams competed over 36 holes; the field was then cut to the low 40 and ties. The cut line fell at 1-over 143 and 47 teams advanced to the final round.

GSGA conducts 18 statewide competitions for men and women of all age groups, three interstate matches and 17 USGA qualifying events each year. Other services include computerized handicapping, course rating and measuring, a summer-long junior sectional competitions program, Golf Georgia magazine and two college scholarship programs.

 

Final Results

T1 Doug Hanzel, Savannah 63 65 69 197 *
Bob Royak, Alpharetta
T1 Wright Waddell, Columbus 62 68 67 197
Carter Mize, Columbus 3
Jeff Belk, Marietta 67 66 65 198
Erik Martin, Alpharetta
4 Wendell Akins, Jr, Statesboro 68 67 65 200
Henry Thompson, Metter
T5 Adam Thomas, Baxley 67 66 68 201
Eric Blaylock, Rome
T5 Peter Brennan, Rincon 64 67 70 201
Mark Love, St Simons
T7 Danny Nelson, Savannah 66 68 69 203
Jack Hall, Jr., Savannah
T7 Ralph Ireland, III, Augusta 67 69 67 203
Jefferson Murray, Augusta
T7 Michael Standard, McDonough 68 66 69 203
Dave Womack, McDonough
T10 Greg Kennedy, Cumming 68 67 69 204
Kyle Harper, Hartwell
T10 Chris Hall, Marietta 67 69 68 204
Donny Phillips, Duluth T10
John Southerland, Savannah 66 68 70 204
Tim Mahoney, Savannah
T10 Bobby Thomas, Columbus 67 68 69 204
Cason Hammock, Columbus
T14 Brad Jones, Augusta 67 70 68 205
Joe Jackson, Waynesboro
T14 Robert Andrews, Woodstock 68 69 68 205
Alex Jones, Woodstock
T16 Jayce Stepp, Cartersville 71 67 68 206
Scott Davenport, Roswell
T16 Michael Crews, Atlanta 68 71 67 206
Ted Haley, Atlanta
T16 Rick Stevens, Suwanee 69 68 69 206
Tom Parker, Suwanee
T16 Chad McDowell, Louisville 66 71 69 206
Cleve Lamb, Louisville
T16 Toby Browne, Savannah 66 70 70 206
Kevin Halligan, Savannah
T21 Jay Cason, Brunswick 67 68 72 207
Ben Bennett, Blackshear
T21 Steven Meyer, McDonough 69 71 67 207
Walt Lee, McDonough
23 Travis Moore, Atlanta 68 69 71 208
Robert Williams, Athens
T24 Randy Donahoo, Woodstock 67 68 74 209
Robert A Sheats, Atlanta
T24 Len Poppell, Savannah 66 70 73 209
Greg England, Savannah
T26 Maury Alpert, Savannah 69 71 70 210
Danie Campher, Savannah
T26 William Mitchell, Roswell 67 73 70 210
Jonathan Finck, Commerce
T26 Phil Hardin, Macon 69 71 70 210
Hal Johnson, Macon
T26 Bob Young, Dunwoody 69 67 74 210
John Fulkerson, Atlanta
T26 Doug Stiles, Athens 70 70 70 210
Garrick Stiles, Watkinsville
T26 Matt Oxford, Rocky Face 68 73 69 210
Pete Webster, Ringgold
T32 Pete Abernathy, Atlanta 69 70 72 211
Michael Morrison, Atlanta
T32 Scott Weeks, Savannah 70 70 71 211
Mark Coffey, Savannah
T34 Lee Dennis, Hartwell 69 72 71 212
Victor Jarvis, Savannah
T34 Dalton Melnyk, St. Simons Island 68 71 73 212
Butler Melnyk, St. Simons Island
T36 John Belicka, Atlanta 69 72 72 213
Nick Brown, Savannah
T36 Mark Fitch, Marietta 69 74 70 213
Ken Andrews, Woodstock
38 Paul Kocsis, Fayettville 70 70 74 214
Jody Travis, Sharpsburg
T39 David Maddox, McDonough 68 75 72 215
Dale Wheeler, Riverdale
T39 Michael Funk, Statesboro 67 69 79 215
Steve Collins, Claxton
T41 John Martina, Alpharetta 72 71 73 216
Brandon Nelson, Roswell
T41 Frank Perry, Fayetteville 71 72 73 216
John Miles, Jr., LaGrange
T41 Kevin Cartmill, Lawrenceville 68 75 73 216
Frank Gasaway, McDonough
T41 Jeremy H Garrett, Canton 71 72 73 216
Dow Smith, Woodstock
T45 Paul Schwartz, Alpharetta 69 74 74 217
Rob Northcutt, Atlanta
T45 Holt Redding, Zebulon 72 68 77 217
Walter McAbee, Zebulon
47 Hector Cora, Atlanta 71 72 WD
Jorge Cora, Atlanta

* - won in playoff (9 holes)