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.
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.
