Championship Finalists / Click for full gallery / Photo by John WarlickHeld May 26-29 | Wilmington Country Club | Photo Gallery

By Ben Rothman

Another beautiful weekend in Wilmington, Delaware, greeted the twenty-four participants in this year's Delaware Invitational. Tom and Joan Hughes were kind enough to open up their home for the welcoming reception again this year and provide shelter from the heavy heat that weighed down the practice day. Barry Gibson, the tournament co-host, welcomed a few select players to compete at the DuPont Country Club to alleviate the double banking concerns of tournament Director, Ben Rothman. The heat held back during the actual competition but the players left it all on the court. Handicaps were lower than last year, players were better and there were several games that went to the peg compared to zero last year.

The field was split into three flights of singles and two flights of doubles with assigned partners. While Jim Hughes aimed to repeat his championship victory, he would have more than the usual Delaware players to contend with as former rookies-of-the-year Micah Beck and Justin Berbig made their Delaware debut in the Championship flight