Tony Lema Tournament: The Place to Be on Marco

The Tony Lema Memorial Tournament was unquestionably the biggest event on Marco Island every year from 1967 to 1980 - a star-studded 14-year run. Frank Mackle, Jr., president of Deltona Corporation, the developers of modern Marco Island, made sure that no expense was spared in bringing the biggest celebrities in the sports and entertainment worlds to the island every year to live it up on his tab. It was the Roarin' 70s on Marco Island.

The tournament was started to honor the legacy of Champagne Tony Lema, the charismatic golfer who died tragically in a plane crash on July 24, 1966, following the PGA Tournament at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Lema was the Marco Island Country Club’s touring golf pro for exactly one year after being hired July 24, 1965. Lema played in the inaugural round of golf at the Marco Island Country Club in 1966.

The Tony Lema boasted a guest list with lasting name recognition: Mickey Mantle, Perry Como, Jackie Gleason, Glen Campbell, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris, Lee Trevino, Johnny Unitas, Dick Butkus, Bob Griese, the Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins, Johnny Bench, Stan Musial, Peter Falk, Evel Knievel, Don Shula, Paul Bear Bryant, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Garagiola, James Garner, and many more. 

Eleanor Creighton worked with Deltona in a number of capacities over her Deltona career, starting at the Country Club in 1972. Her office was largely responsible for making the Tony Lema happen each year.

“That was a never ending job,” Creighton said of the Tony Lema. She said they worked nine months out of the year on the tournament, handling all of the details of the tournament.

Marco celebrities, legendary World Golf Hall of Famers Gene Sarazen and Ken Venturi, played in the Tony Lema tournament. Famous Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian, a longtime Marco Islander, was a Tony Lema Tournament player. 

Creighton said Parseghian was as competitive on the golf course as he was on the football field. 

"I used to play golf with him,” Creighton said. "But he'd use gamesmanship on me, you see. I'd go out after work and play golf. That's how I met a lot of those people, from just playing golf. And he'd say, ‘Watch your ball, Ellie. See that water over there?' He and his wife Katie were good people. He wasn't a mixer. Usually if you saw him not playing golf, he was with his wife. Ara and his family were here all the time. Just Marco Islanders. Just fit in like everybody else.”

The legendary Sam Snead shot a 68 to win Tony Lema Four in 1970, along with Larry Ziegler and Ron Funseth, who finished in a three-way tie. 

One of the favorite celebrities at a Tony Lema tournament was Evel Knievel. It appears Evel liked Marco Island, too. The Marco Islander Summer 1976 edition said, "Evel Knievel told Jim Stackpoole he had such a good time he wanted to “come back next year and bring my yacht.” Stackpoole was the manager at the Country Club and eight other Deltona-owned country clubs statewide.

Creighton said Knievel, the iconic motorcycle stuntman, was likable, as were most of the celebrities associated with the tournament. Creighton’s mother stayed with the family during the week of the tournament. It came in handy in 1976 when her youngest son, Eric, was hospitalized.

"My mother always came down and watched the kids during Lema because I was never home,” Creighton said. "Eric ended up that morning at the hospital having his appendix out. And all he wanted was an autograph of Evel Knievel, which I got for him.”

An article in the Summer/Fall edition of The Marco Islander spoke of Knievel’s relationship with the kids, several of whom were wearing custom “Evel’s Caddy” t-shirts.

“The motorcycle daredevil had a flock of young autograph fans following him,” the article reads, "including one young voice heard to ask his mother, ‘Is Evel really going to jump over the sixteenth hole?’ After hitting a poor tee shot, a young fan yelled to Knievel to smile. He replied to the youth: 'What do you mean, smile? I’m Evel, you know.'"

“He was just nice,” Creighton said of Knievel,  “a regular guy. And I would say the majority of them were, but not all of them."

A tournament guest who stands out as possibly the worst behaved was famed comedian and actor Jackie Gleason, according to Creighton.

"Jackie Gleason was a drunk,” Creighton said, "and if you want to know the truth, he was not nice with women. And he was told never to come back. That was not the image that the Mackles would ever put up with. I think he was only here one time. He was off the list."

Creighton said everyone loved the tournament. All the celebrities who played in the tournament came through Creighton's office after arriving on Marco Island. 

“It really was a fun time,” Creighton said. "And everybody was there on a freebie. Everything was free. They literally lived at the country club. They were all taken care of first class. I know they never spent a nickel. I mean they came in, they played golf, they were entertained, they ate, they had rooms at the Marco Beach Hotel. They were thoroughly pampered.

Of course, you’re always going to have your favorite guests. Peter Falk, who was wildly popular for his TV character, Lt. Columbo, was described as "very nice and quiet" as a Tony Lema participant.

"One that stood out was Glen Campbell,” Creighton said, "because he came with his cowboy boots with the spikes on them.”

The Tony Lema Memorial Tournament was intrinsically linked with Deltona Corporation, whose fortunes were flagging since being denied permits to continue their fill and dredge development of the island. Deltona aggressively began selling their assets, including the Marco Beach Hotel and many of their vacant beachfront lots. Accordingly, after 14 years, the Tony Lema Memorial Tournament met its demise.

"Deltona had changed a lot after the 1970s,” Creighton said. “They sold the hotel. Everything was pretty much built or being built. It wasn't the same.”

And the Mackle Brothers themselves were not seen as often on the island. Frank Mackle, Jr., who had been a constant on the island, was spending more time in Deltona’s corporate offices in Coral Gables.

“You didn't see the Mackles as much,” Creighton said.

 Creighton said she never saw Frank Mackle, Jr. get angry, even as things were going south for the company.

“He could be firm,” Creighton said, “I never saw him seem mad. I knew he was the boss. He was a real straight shooter. He was just a good old boy.”

Creighton was flown to Deltona meetings in Coral Gables during Deltona’s flagging years.

"I went to meetings in Miami,” Creighton said, "I mean, it was just friendly and easy there. It was a nice office in Coral Gables. But the company was really changing at that time.”

Creighton continued on with Deltona as the manager of The Surf Club - Deltona’s foray into the time sharing industry - on Marco Beach in 1983.

"I stayed at the Surf Club for two or three years,” Creighton said, "and then went to Marco Island Country Club as their first manager when it went private to the members. "Deltona wanted me to move to Miami,” Creighton said, "but I wasn’t a city girl."

Today, Tony Lema - and the tournament that memorialized him - have been all but forgotten. Lema’s bust, once proudly displayed at the first hole at the Country Club, where it was dedicated in 1967, now rests on the counter of the men’s locker room. But from 1967-1980, the Tony Lema Tournament was the place to be.