St. Louis festival blends wiffle ball, golf and family fun

The 68th annual Hole-In-One Charity Festival turned St. Louis Catholic Church’s grounds at 203 S White Station Rd. in Memphis into a seven-night summer sports stop, with wiffle ball, carnival food and family activities filling the space around the golf competition. The week ran Sunday, June 21 through Saturday, June 27, and closed with the Million Dollar Shoot Out as the marquee finale.

At the center of the action was the Cardinal Cup, the week-long competition that sends the top 10 winners into a final-night chance at a $1 million prize. Selected nights also carried a separate payoff: a shot at $25,000 toward a vehicle purchase from City Auto. That mix of high stakes and low-barrier side attractions is part of why the festival feels less like a single contest and more like a full summer sports destination.

The golf challenge may draw the sharpest focus, but the wiffle-ball element is what helps widen the tent. Families come for the broader scene as much as the competition, and the church grounds become a place where children, parents and regular parish supporters can linger around the action without needing to tee it up themselves. That atmosphere has helped the festival grow into one of the parish’s most recognizable annual gatherings.

Brian Tisdale, president of the St. Louis Men’s Club, said the event is the group’s biggest fundraiser of the year and that the money goes toward St. Louis School and related activities. The parish and men’s club say the fundraiser also supports youth activities, especially sports, scouting and Youth Ministry, giving the festival a purpose that stretches far beyond the final putt or the million-dollar swing.

The tradition is built for repetition. The men’s club says the festival starts on Father’s Day every year and runs for seven nights, and it has used that rhythm to anchor a June calendar that now spans nearly seven decades. Over that run, the event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for St. Louis School and for children’s charities throughout Memphis, while drawing crowds that prior coverage pegged at well over 10,000 and possibly close to 15,000 in 2024.