by James Zug
In mid-December, the Racquet & Tennis Club hosted the twentieth-first annual United States Court Tennis Association dinner and auction during the traditional Whitney Cup weekend. More than two hundred and twenty people came to the celebration.
The dinner, originally conceived in 1998 and chaired for many years by Charlie Johnstone and then Brian Owens, was chaired most ably by Ted Goneos. A new twist was that every guest received a heavy 1.75” commemorative flip coin, with the old USCTA logo on one side and the new one on the other.
A splendid cocktail hour in the main lounge of the club’s second floor started the evening. There was a distinctly literary flavor. Sarah Jacobs, the assistant librarian at the club, displayed a dozen of the club’s finest and rarest books about tennis. Many of the silent auction items were books signed by the authors who were in attendance at the dinner, including Dacre Stoker and his new novel Dracul; Cees de Bondt and his history of tennis in Italy; and David Best and his four history books on tennis. In addition, Adam Inselbuch donated a number of special tennis books, including first editions hard cover copies of Pierre’s Book (1971), edited by George Plimpton and The Racquet Game by Allison Danzig (1930). Peter di Bonaventura also brought numerous photographs and trophies from Greentree, which dotted the room.
Elizabeth Higgins-Beard, the executive director of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award USA, was in attendance, and one exceptional silent auction lot was a custom, limited edition Grays racquet in the colors of HRH The Prince Edward’s tennis livery. The racquet, signed by HRH, was used by him during his play at the club last September while on his Award tour.
Besides the usual offerings of lessons with some of the world’s leading professionals, some other interesting items were a racquet press made by Play Rackets; a haircut with Alan Tosler; a gift voucher to SPIN New York, the city’s leading ping-pong club; cufflinks and jewelry by Dana Betts; racing at Lime Rock Park; Black Dirt Bourbon; photographs by Philip Howard and Freddy Adam; an oil painting of Seacourt by Judith Jarvis; and four nights at a cottage in Maine.
Peter Pell, the Whitney Cup tournament chair, welcomed everyone to New York for the eighty-fifth Payne Whitney Memorial Intercity Tennis Doubles Cup. As is tradition, he read out the names of the first-time Whitney Cup players: John Beam, George Handy, Jr. and George Handy, III, Henry Smith, Phil Stockton. The dinner, including a grilled filet mignon with cabernet sauce, julienned mixed vegetables and limoncello & grappa for dessert, then began.
James Zug, the president of the USCTA, asked for a moment of silence in honor of those members of our community who had passed away since the last annual dinner: Sarah Anapol, Cothran Campbell, George Connell, Philip de Lobkowicz, Peter Gray, Gregory Harvey, Andy Kinzler, Charles Maxwell, Fred Prince, Bill Sykes and Roger Tuckerman.
He welcomed many of the honored guests at the dinner, including all the professionals in the room. The group included two Hall of Famers—Tommy Greevy and Jimmy Burke—as well as world doubles champion Camden Riviere. He noted the former USCTA presidents in the room: Charlie Johnstone, Bill McLaughlin, Greg Van Schaack and Jeremy Wintersteen. He also displayed two extraordinary relics: a gorgeous silver trophy from a tournament at Greentree in 1916 and a framed racquet from the 1910 Coup de Paris. Both were owned by Charles Sands, a former national champion. With the help of Haven Pell, they were donated to the USCTA and the U.S. Court Tennis Preservation Foundation by Jimmy Weekes, whose stepmother’s father was Sands.
Dacre Stoker celebrated the 2018 USCTA survey by raffling off a USCTA Gold Leaf racquet to a lucky person who filled out the survey. It was Claire Voegele from South Carolina.
During dinner Zug announced the winners of the Association’s annual awards. He gave the 2017 Edward J. Hughes & John E. Slater Award, the highest annual award of the Association, to Lex Miron. A leading player from New York, Miron served on the board of the Association for more than a decade, was secretary for five years and the chair of the nominating committee for four years.
Tim Chisholm was the winner of the Professional of the Year Award. Chisholm, the head pro at Tuxedo, has directed a week-long summer camp for juniors and a weekend for women, mentored numerous players and in the summer of 2018 led a very successful twelve-person tour of England. Chisholm, absent due to a family wedding in Iowa, received the award in 2000 and 2003. Josh Dodgson, the assistant pro at Tuxedo, accepted the award on Chisholm’s behalf.
The 2018 winner of the George Plimpton Prize for artistic excellence was David Best. One of the great historians of our game, Best is based in England. He is the author of The Royal Tennis Court: A History of Tennis at Hampton Court Palace (Ronaldson Publications, 2002); The Official Story of the Tennis & Rackets Association (2007); Disturb’d With Chaces: Tennis Courts, Celebrities and Scandals of Yesteryear (with Brian Rich; Ronaldson Publications, 2009); and Tennis at Whitehall: Two Hundred and Sixty Glorious Years (Royal Melbourne Tennis Club, 2017).
Dick Boenning, Jr. gave out the 2018 H. Dickson S. Boenning Award for sportsmanship to Melissa Grassi Purcell. A Philadelphian, Purcell is an avid player always noted for her courtesy, fair play and fellowship on and off the court.
The Grassi Family Junior of the Year Award was given to Freddie Bristowe. Playing in New York and at Wellington College in England, Bristowe proved last year that he is the best junior tennis player in the world. His handicap dropped from a twenty-seven to a twenty. He won the U18 British Junior Nationals and then the inaugural World Juniors. Bristowe sent a message from Wellington: “I’m very sorry I cannot be at the awards dinner tonight. Sadly school and the Atlantic Ocean get in the way. I am very honoured to be receiving this award. It was a very exciting year for me, but I have to admit both the British Open and the World Championship could so easily have gone Eric Barker’s way…so I feel very fortunate. I would like to thank all the Pros in NYC who were fantastic coaching me the week before as well as setting up some great matches.And then also a very special mention to Danny Jones and Adam Player who’s boundless enthusiasm and expert advice is the real reason I am getting this award. Finally a big thank you to Temple Grassi and Tim Chisholm for all the effort and dedication they put into junior tennis.” Morris Clothier, the president of the Racquet & Tennis Club, accepted the award on behalf of Bristowe.
The Most Improved Player Award went to Emile Toscano. Playing at Prince’s Court in Washington, Toscano went from a fifty-one to a thirty-six handicap in the past year. He played in tournaments in Philadelphia, Tuxedo and Lakewood and recorded more than sixty-five matches on RTO. Temple Grassi, the chairman of Prince’s Court, accepted the award on Toscano’s behalf.
The Most Improved Junior Player Award went to Henry Smith. Based in Philadelphia, Smith worked as an apprentice at the Racquet Club last year. From December 2017 to May 2018, Smith’s handicap dropped from a forty-one to a twenty-two.
The Robert M. Goodyear Award, given for exemplary hospitality, was awarded to Shannon Ellis and Geoff Ellis. Based in Aiken, they have been gracious hosts for all visitors, particularly at their historic Willcox, the hotel, restaurant and spa.
The final awards were induction into the International Court Tennis Hall of Fame. Jane Lippincott introduced Charlotte Cornwallis. Lippincott spoke humorously about first meeting Cornwallis as a nineteen year-old in 1991, when Cornwallis came to Newport to play (and win) the U.S. Ladies Open. Cornwallis was the first full-time female teaching pro in the game’s long history and the first woman to get her handicap into single digits. Cornwallis won the ladies world title four times in both singles and doubles and went unbeaten in the game between 2004 and 2009.
Cornwallis spoke movingly about her journey in tennis, which began at an eleven year-old in London and ended with her last world championship title in Newport in 2009. Since 2013 Cornwallis has been living in South Africa. “I’m immensely proud,” she said. “This is the greatest honor in my career, an unforgettable, insurmountable moment.”
George Bell then introduced Dev Hamlen. Bell told of Hamlen capturing forty club championships at the Tennis & Racquet Club from 1969 to 2002 and the process in which Hamlen saved the club from closure in the 1970s and continued to sustain the club ever since. In 2013 Hamlen put a permanent restrictive covenant on the tennis court, ensuring generations to come will be able to play tennis on Boylston Street.
Hamlen spoke powerfully about his journey in tennis—including leading Jimmy Bostwick in a match at the Gold Racquets at Tuxedo—and the ups and downs of owning the T&R. “I am humbled by this honor,” Hamlen said.
At the conclusion of the evening, Brook Hazelton served as auctioneer for the Association’s annual auction. Eleven lots were auctioned off, including golf at Newport, Tuxedo and Shinnecock, shooting at Mashomack, homes in London and Palm Beach, weekends in Prouts Neck and Northeast Harbor, Maine, tickets for the Beach Boys concert at Royal Albert Hall in London and a bespoke USCTA backgammon board. The final lot was a paddle raise to support U.S. professionals.
Because of Hazelton’s professional abilities and the exceptional quality of the lots, the auctions raised more than $56,000.
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Hughes Slater Award Winner - Lex Miron
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2018 Hall of Fame Inductee - Dev Hamlen - with Jim Zug and George Bell
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2018 Hall of Fame Inductee - Charlotte Cornwallis - with Jim Zug and Jane Lippincott
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David Best - George Plimpton Prize winner.
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Melissa Purcell - HDS Boenning Award for Sportsmanship - with Dickson Boenning and Jim Zug
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Josh Dodgson accepting Professional of theYear Award on behalf of Tim Chisholm
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Morris Clothier (C) accepting Grassi Family Junior of the Year Award on behalf of Freddie Bristowe and Temple Grassi accepting Most Improved Player Award for Emile Toscano
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Most Improved Junior - Henry Smith with Jim Zug
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Robert M. Goodyear Award - Geoff Ellis accepting on behalf of himself and his wife Shannon Ellis.
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Women Players Celebrating Charlotte Cornwallis' Induction
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USCTA Survey Winner of a Gold Leaf Racquet - Claire Voegele - with Dacre Stoker and Jim Zug
