by Charlie Johnstone
The 2015 Bostwick Cup was always going to be a struggle for the USA team. Captain Charles Johnstone welcomed his team to Newmarket, England on May 10th with a spirited practice and team dinner. The 2015 team consisted of Johnstone, Jamie Whitall and Bob Hay, New York, Ed Hughes, Lakewood, Doug Shear, Newport, Al Gordon, Chicago and Haven Pell and Vern Cassin, Washington. Missing were senior team veterans Greg Van Schaack, Peter Clement and Peter Vogt.
The team’s first match was on May 13 against Australia. The USA lost a tight 3-2 match. Bob Hay/Charles Johnstone at 1st doubles won 6-5 6-3 and Vern Cassin/Al Gordon won at 2nd Doubles 6-5 6-3. The 3rd doubles team of Haven Pell/Ed Hughes, yes you are reading that correctly, put up a spirited fight but went down 6-0 6-2. The singles matches were always going to be a struggle as Jamie Whitall and Doug Shear were each 20 handicap points worse than their opponents. Both Jamie and Doug fought to the end but Australia won both and closed out a 3-2 victory.
The less said about the May 14 match against Great Britain the better as the USA went down 5-0. Captain Johnstone went with the same lineup but the Great Britain team performed better in each match. Even so there was great improvement shown by all our players, as several of the matches were close. Great Britain went on to defeat Australia the next day 3-2 to win the Cup.
Considering all the obstacles that had to be overcome this team represented the USA to the best of their abilities. I was proud to be their captain and look forward to 2017 when the competition is held in Melbourne, Australia. A special thank you must go out to the Newmarket Club, which did a beautiful job hosting the event. A huge shout out to Sam Shepard who ran the event.
