52 | JULY 27 • 2023
quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN
GARY KLINGER
Rain was predicted for the day of
the 32nd annual Hank Greenberg
Memorial Golf, Tennis and Pickleball
Invitational. It didn’t happen.
What did happen was 126 golfers,
and 16 tennis and pickleball players
competed June 12 at Franklin Hills
Country Club in Farmington Hills. They
were joined by 70 additional people
for dinner and the always popular
sports panel, moderated once again
by radio and television personality
Mike Stone.
Seven-time Cy Young Award winner
Roger Clemens, ESPN senior NFL
insider Adam Schefter and ESPN’s
Jeremy Schaap, an 11-time Emmy
Awards winner, made up the sports
panel.
Clemens was presented the
Hank Greenberg Memorial Lifetime
Achievement Award by Steve
Greenberg, Hank Greenberg’s son,
and Schefter was the recipient of
the Dick Schaap Memorial Award
for Media Excellence, presented by
Jeremy Schapp, Dick Schaap’s son.
The late 44th District Court Judge
Jamie Wittenberg was the recipient of
the Barry Bremen Memorial Inspiration
Award. Wittenberg died Nov. 20,
2022, at age 48 at his Berkley home
after a three-year battle with gioblas-
toma, an aggressive form of brain
cancer.
Wittenberg’s family attended the
invitational. His award was accepted
by his wife Staci.
The invitational is a fundraiser for
the Lawrence & Idell Weisberg Cancer
Treatment Center at the Karmanos
Cancer Institute.
Stuart Raider, president of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation, visits with sports panelists
Roger Clemens, Adam Schefter and Jeremy Schaap.
MASSERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
This is the 11th season for the weekly
B’nai B’rith golf league.
It’s the first season that the team
championship will be decided in a
showdown match between the win-
ners of the first and second halves, a
new setup.
If one of the league’s 12 two-man
teams (one team has a three-man
rotation) wins both halves, that team
will be the league champion. It will
play a match Aug. 10, but it won’t be
for the championship.
All the Aug. 10 matches will be
determined by the standings of the
two halves, similar to a position night
in a bowling league. Matches Aug. 17,
the final day of the 17-week season
that began April 20, will be for fun.
“We’re trying something new this
season, changing things up,” said
league organizer Gary Klinger.
The first half of the league season
was won by the brother combina-
tion of Adam and Ryan Vieder. They
scored 100 points in the league’s
point system, which is based on holes
and matches won and tied.
Mitch Lefton and Stu Zorn were
second with 93 points, followed by
David Swimmer and Jody Mendelson
with 88 points, Jeff Novick and Marc
Rustin with 83 points, Steve Kay
and Bert Green with 80 points, and
Larry Shapiro/Bob Shapiro/Chuck
Houmaian with 79 points.
The league’s individual champion
will continue to be determined by
season-long performance.
Ryan Vieder was in front in the indi-
vidual standings at the end of the first
half with 49 points. Zorn was second
with 47 1/2 points, Ruskin was third
with 44 1/2 points, Novick was fourth
with 44 points, and Swimmer and Kay
each had 43 points and tied for fifth
place.
This is the 10th season that the
Thursday league has played its
matches at the Links of Novi.
Oh, Brother! Sibling Team Wins First-Half Title in B’nai B’rith Golf League
There’s No Raining on the
Greenberg Invitational
Parade
Adam and Ryan Vieder.