Shelridge Invitational had a long run

Contributed Photo – The duo of Richard Otto and Richard Showalter, at left, won the inaugural Shelridge Invitational Tournament in 1968. At the right is the runner-up team of Robert Breitsman and Merle Forberg.

Though the Open Tournament has taken its place on the event calendar, the Invitational Tournament was a feature part of the Shelridge golf season for over 40 years.

The honor of winning the inaugural Invitational Tournament in 1968 went to the team of Richard Otto and Richard Showalter. Otto also earned medalist honors with rounds of 78 and 76 for a two day total of 154.

Second place honors went to the team of Merle Forberg and Robert Breitsman as the duo of Dick Wilkins and Dick Hiwiller finished third.

Wilkins and Hiwiller in fact took a two shot lead at the end of the first day after firing a 65.

However, Otto and Showalter came on strong on day two with a round of 62 to win the tourney.

Rounding out the top 10 place finishers were the teams of Duane Johnson-Erwin Horwitz, Stanley Barry-Robert Whipple, Robert Gelder-Terry Furness, Paul Parsons-Jack Williams, Gerald Houseman-Roger Wolcott, Francis Piedmont-Jerry Penny and Richard Siedlecki-Bruce Foley.

The only back-to-back champions was the team of Larry Decker and Jim DuRei who took top honors in both 1986 and 1987. They also claimed the tourney title in 1994.

The Shelridge Open made its debut in 2012 and was won by the team of Jeff Marasco and Jeff Pohllman.