SUMMIT TWP — Leagues are drawn to Hiland Golf Course — then they never leave.

Hiland has played host to five golf leagues — Worthington, Chicora Moose, Larry George Monroe, Randy & Bob's and Tuesday Morning Ladies — for 40 years or longer. A sixth league, Dew Drop, has been there 35 years.

Some of the leagues have changed names over the years, but the clientele remains the same.

"That longevity probably goes back to my father (Ralph Sr.)," Hiland vice-president Alan Zediker said. "He had a good rapport with people. He made them feel comfortable here."

Ralph Zediker Sr. died nine years. None of these leagues have forgotten him.

Mike Conrad, 79, has been playing in the Worthington League since 1956.

"Ralph knew everybody's name," Conrad said. "He was a really good person and this has always been a nice, well-kept golf course.

"We've had as many as 50 or 60 members in our league. There's always been people waiting to get in."

Clarence "Sonny" Schiebel turns 79 in October and has been playing in the Chicora Moose league since 1975.

"I love it. I play golf every morning," Schiebel said. "I'm up at 5:30 a.m. I've been playing golf for 60 years now."

His course of choice is Hiland — because of Ralph Zediker Sr.

"He was a big guy who was gentle as a lamb," Schiebel said. "He knew everybody's first name who ever walked out on that golf course.

"He'd always take time to talk to you. He made you feel a part of that place."

George "Spike" Meehan, , 65, was a member of the Larry George Monroe League when it first moved to Hiland in 1967. He remains a member of that league today.

"We were looking around for a course, Ralph said he had an opening on Thursday and took us in at the last minute," Meehan said. "We've never had any reason to leave.

"The Zedikers have kept everything consistent there. Charles Young has been the course superintendent forever ... Chuck knows that course better than his backyard. Actually, it is his backyard. He lives right behind one of the greens."

"Charlotte (Zediker, Ralph Sr.'s wife) still does the books there. All of the boys have worked there. It's a real family affair," Meehan added.

Rod Hesidence, 68, has been with Randy & Bob's league since 1971. He said that league is family-oriented like the golf course.

"I have two sons playing in it, a grandson playing in it. A lot of fathers and their children are in this league," Hesidence said.

Kathy Robinson is president of the Tuesday Morning Ladies League, a 50-golfer circuit with members ranging in age from 18 to 83.

"The Zediker family is very nice to work with and the course is enjoyable to play," she said. "Our league is not about business. We're about having fun."

Alan Zediker described Hiland's golf leagues as "our bread and butter."

The course has 13 leagues that play once a week.

"You can't count on people just turning out to play," he said. "The leagues are our constant. Our course is unique — the front nine is 100 years old — and our leagues are comfortable here.

"We appreciate them as much they appreciate us. This course has been in the Zediker family for 56 years. Those leagues are a part of our family, too."