Marco-Talk Blog

Tony Lema was the first golf professional for the Marco Island Country Club. As a golfer he won 12 PGA tour events and finished 2nd,by one stroke, behind Jack Nicklaus in the 1963 Masters. He died, along with his wife Betty, in a plane crash in 1966. Ironically, the plane crashed on the 7th hole of a golf course in Michigan.

In the early 1970's the Deltona Corporation held an annual memorial pro-am golf tournament in his honor at the Island Country Club.  The Tony Lema Memorial Tournament was attended by many sport and entertainment celebrities. Mickey Mantle, Johnny Unitas, Stan Musial, Don Shula, Bob Griese, Ralph Kiner, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Bear Bryant, George Blanda, Perry Como, Gene Sarazen, JC Snead, Lee Trevino, James Garner, and even Evel Knievel were on hand to play golf, socialize ,and sign autographs for residents.

Many of us Marco kids skipped school and added some real hall of fame names to our autograph collections. We were all saddend in the mid 1970s when the Deltona Corporation, due to mounting expenses, ended the tournament and our day of truancy.

Here I am, 5 years old, getting a pat on the head from Johnny Unitas.

Here is my brother Ken, with baseball Hall of Famer, Ralph Kiner.

Joe Dimaggio