I am almost out of IRF820's

It's not on the datasheet. So you better not bet on it.
"Gate-source voltage VGS ±20V"

"+20V G-S" is meaningless if they put a 1V diode on the gate.
I was thinking zener. But that is wrong also, seem to recall now, the tab is insulated. But I guess I wrote my post wrong. I was not asking about the 830 or 820, know I can still get them. Just wondering what people use now.
 
The passive GS one is irrelevant here, since it will always be reverse biased , plus no inductive switching, all loads are resistive.

A reverse biased GS Zener is fine, we work in the positive quadrant here and chopping negative voltages to -0.7V or -20V is the same, MosFet is turned OFF with negative voltages, nothing useful there.

If deemed important, series back to back 20V Zeners work fine and are symmetrical by definition.