2023 Cherry Blossom

2023 Cherry Blossom
by Ryan Carey

The 2023 Cherry Blossom was held over Easter Weekend at our new home at Westwood Country Club.  We had a robust field of 27 teams for this year’s tournament.  The Westwood Country Club was founded in 1954, so having 54 players seemed like a fitting tribute to Westwood.

On opening night, April 6, it was announced that in honor of Ron Blomberg’s historical appearance as the first Designated Hitter in baseball on April 6th, 1973, a rule would be  implemented where a player could choose their partner as a “designated hitter” to return serve or serve one time during a match.  Like the DH in baseball, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not, but it was worth a shot!

The first year Michael Do and I took over running the Cherry Blossom we decided that the bells in the winning gallery weren’t enough and so we introduced a gong into the winning gallery.  People liked it so much that it became a permanent fixture on the court.  This year, I commissioned a new gong updated with the Westwood logo and presented it to the club at the Friday night cocktail party.  Noting that it was EASTer at WESTwood, we embraced this East-West crossover and celebrated with a performance by the Choy Wun Dance Troupe to welcome good fortune to the players and to our new home.  Later on that night, the cocktail match featured World Champion Camden Riviere taking on Home Champions Noah and John Motz.  Yes, you read that right, a two-on-one battle that had had the spectators ooo-ing and aww-ing by the incredible play on both sides.  Once play had concluded, we all retired to the mezzanine lounge for a nightcap and enjoyed the smooth sounds of saxophonist Geno Marriott.  The highlight being Geno accepting an encore special request from Rick and closed the night with a 10 minute version of Prince’s Purple Rain dedicated to our former home at Prince’s Court.

Just like the concurrent Masters tournament in Augusta, Saturday was “moving day” and saw many close matches as teams tried to secure their place in the Finals.  To celebrate it being Masters weekend and “moving” to our new home at Westwood (founded in ‘54), we created our own version of “Amen Corner”.  John and Kris Motz built a giant Plinko board in the corner of the lawn tennis court where you would putt a golf ball from the mezzanine level into a giant Plinko board and it would zig zag its way into one of the 54 hole slots below which would then give you a score.  Players were allowed three putts each and would subsequently get a total score.  High-EST and lo-WEST scores won a prize.  Vern Cassin had the high score and won a hickory shaft putter and James Greenley had the low round and won an autographed Lee Westwood Masters visor.  A big thank you to the Motzes for turning that questionable vision into reality.

April 8th also just so happened to be Dame Vivienne Westwood’s birthday!  In her honor, a second Westwood style Cherry Blossom t-shirt was given to the players along with faux punk/court tennis themed pins and a Prince’s Court temporary tattoo.  However, it wasn’t just Dame Vivienne’s birthday, it was also our own Kris Motz’s birthday and we had our friends at Mariachi Los Amigos swing by to serenade him with a mariachi Happy Birthday.  Last but not least, April 8th was also the day Clint EASTwood was sworn in as the Mayor of Carmel so not only did we have pasta for dinner as a nod to his “spaghetti” westerns, a Caricaturist on hand for a “quick draw”, but also an ice cream bar with a “Carmel” topping.

During dinner, I asked Haven Pell to share a few stories from his new book and most importantly tell the story of how the racquet weathervane at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI (also founded in 1954) came to be.  Keeping in line with our East-West theme, and with the help of some exquisite handiwork by Wayward Racquet Club, we announced that the winners’ trophies would be mini brass racquet weathervanes!

For the Finals on Easter Sunday, we introduced our traditional two-toned color “easter egg” balls into the mix.  Teams who did not make the Finals, were entered into a new tournament called the Pierre Cottontail, in tribute to Pierre Etchebaster who retired as World Champion in 1954.  Winners of the Pierre Cottontail received Prince’s Court logoed berets and all players received complementary Easter “Basquets”.  For good measure, there was an on-court Easter Egg Roll where players stood at 2 yards and tried to roll the ball closest to the trough without going into it.  The Racquet Club of Philadelphia’s Brittany Wakim had the magic touch and was the winner of the inaugural Egg Roll.  The International Tennis Hall of Fame categorizes Pierre Etchebaster as a “Master Player” and as it was Masters weekend, I felt it was only right to also include, as prizes, signed golf balls by current Master players Rob Fahey and Camden Riviere.

Congratulations to all of the winners.  A special thank you to our professionals Ivan Ronaldson and James Greenley for marking so many matches and marking at the highest standard.  Thank you to all of the players who participated and especially those who traveled from out-of-town, as it is your participation that makes this tournament special.  Thank you to Cecilia Forbes for her generous hospitality and to Lisa Cato for her tireless work on the trophies and prizes.  Thank you to all of the staff at Westwood Country Club for their help in making this tournament a success and allowing us to host this slightly unusual tournament.  Hopefully, we’ll be invited back to do it again next year and I hope you will be able to join us in 2024.