The 88th Gus Heil Memorial Invitational has been a prominent event at Wildwood Golf and Country Club for nearly nine decades.
The invitational began in 1923 as an individual event and was called the Eastern States Inaugural Tournament, according to Fred Riedel, the pro at Wildwood.
In 1943, C.A. “Gus” Heil, who was a prominent figure in the area and a member at Wildwood, passed away and the tournament was renamed in his honor for the 1944 event, Ridel said. The format went from an individual play to two-man better-ball of partners in 1952.
“We send out over 300 invitations around mid-March each year and accept the first 128 teams that respond,” Riedel said. “Over the past several years we have sold out the field in less than a week.
Mike Tash and Bryan Marvin won the championship flight earlier this month. They were runners-up last year.
Tash, who also is a member at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield, was inducted into the South Jersey Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 2011.
“He has rolled 17 300 games in his bowling career and as a golfer has achieved six holes-in-one,” Riedel said. “Pretty amazing.”
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The Green Tree Golf Course women’s 18-hole league played a game last week called Tee to Green.
Explained member Charlotte Jensen: “This game is played by counting only the number of strokes you take until you reach the green. Total all 18 holes then subtract half your handicap to get your game store.”
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Oh, Carol? The Green Tree league has five members whose first name is Carol(e) and they all won last week either in flight low gross or low net or the game itself.
