by Jim Zug
In mid-December 2022, the Racquet & Tennis Club hosted the twenty-fifth annual United States Court Tennis Association dinner and auction during the traditional Whitney Cup weekend.
Two hundred and sixteen people came to the silver anniversary dinner. It was one of the largest crowds in USCTA history. The evening, ably chaired by Ted Goneos, was a spectacular black-tie affair. It began with a splendid cocktail hour in the main lounge of the club’s second floor. Especially because of the pandemic, it was a reunion of sorts, with old friends gathering from every club in the U.S. and a half dozen overseas.
As usual, there were a wonderful panoply of silent auction items: a number of rare books donated by Adam Inselbuch; three new books by and about longtime tennis players (Charles Johnstone’s Court 1520-2020; Haven Pell’s Around the World in Fifty Courts; and Brothers & Champions, a new book about Ralph and Sam Howe). The seventeen lots accrued a total of $5,000. In addition, the five online-only auction items received a total of nearly $4,000.
Dinner was in the south lounge, with overflow in the famous library. It featured smoked salmon, grilled veal chop with wild mushrooms and haricots verts and Black Forest cake for dessert. Peter Pell, the Whitney Cup tournament chair, welcomed everyone to New York for the eighty-eighth Payne Whitney Memorial Intercity Tennis Doubles Cup.
Mary Livingston, the president of the USCTA, emceed the evening. It was a special evening as it was her fortieth birthday and Dick Tanfield’s seventy-ninth. She asked for a moment of silence in honor of all of the members of the Association who had died since the last annual dinner: Pete Bostwick (New York), Jim Cathcart (Tuxedo), Henry Cato (Aiken), Jacques Faulise (Newport), Mike Gooding (Newport), Sam Howe (Philadelphia), Jim McDermott (New York), John McLean (New York), Henry Miller (Philadelphia), William Rand (New York), Henderson Supplee (Philadelphia) and Peter Van Nice (Chicago).
Livingston welcomed many of the honored guests at the dinner. She thanked the former USCTA presidents in the room—Charlie Johnstone, Bill McLaughlin, Greg Van Schaack, Jeremy Wintersteen and Jim Zug. She noted the large cohort of professionals in attendance: Tim Chisholm, Josh Dodgson, Tony Hollins, Adrian Kemp, John Lumley, Camden Riviere, Ivan Ronaldson, Matt Ronaldson, Leon Smart, Barney Tanfield, Steve Virgona and Robbie Whitehouse.
In particular, Livingston honored Camden Riviere with a special Wayward racquet. Riviere had an annus mirabilis in 2022. He he won both singles and doubles draws in the U.S., British and French Opens. He captured the U.S. Pro Singles for the twelfth straight time. In France in June, he retained the world doubles championships with partner Tim Chisholm, and in England in September he regained the world championship in singles, knocking off Rob Fahey in the three-day challenge.
During dinner, Livingston announced the winners of the Association’s annual awards. She gave the 2022 Edward J. Hughes & John E. Slater Award, the highest annual award of the Association, to Peter Vogt. A player and leader in Philadelphia, Vogt has served on the board of the Association for more than two decades; chaired the membership committee and served on the Association’s executive committee when he helped the USCTA cross the 1,000-member threshold; served as tennis chair at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, helping host numerous USCTA events including the U.S. Open; and has been a national champion in numerous doubles events dating back to 1976.
Mike Gooding was the winner of the 2022 Professional of the Year Award. Given out to a pro for outstanding, non-tournament accomplishments and service, the award was special this year as Gooding tragically died in September at the age of fifty-seven. Barney Tanfield, a longtime colleague of Gooding’s, accepted the award on behalf of Gooding’s widow and children. He spoke about Gooding’s colorful language and habits. “He was one of the greatest teachers of the game,” Tanfield said, “and his teachings will last forever.”
Livingston gave the 2022 H. Dickson S. Boenning Award for sportsmanship to George Bell. Based in Boston, Bell has been an avid player and supporter for forty years. He is noted for his courtesy, fair play and fellowship on and off the court.
The 2022 Grassi Family Junior of the Year Award was given to Freddie Bristowe. Managing to balance his undergraduate studies at Penn and tennis, Bristowe has reduced his handicap from a 10 to a 4. He won the Silver Racquet again and he captured the Below Zero, topping both Josh Dodgson and Tony Hollins in three-set matches. At the Bathurst Cup in England, he played #1 for the U.S.
Livingston gave the Robert M. Goodyear Award to Guy Devereux. A generous host, Devereux has welcomed players to Tuxedo, New York and Philadelphia, supporting dozens of tournaments over the decades.
The 2022 Most Improved Player Award went to John Pak. Playing at the Racquet Club of Chicago, Pak first started the game in March. He recorded dozens of matches in the next ten months, with his handicap plummeting from a 59 to a 32.
For the first time, the 2022 Most Improved Junior Player Award went to two players: Calliope Yannuzzi and Hazel Christensen. The two young women from Tuxedo are nicknamed the Barracudas for their competitive zeal on court. In 2022 Calliope improved from a 72 to a 63, and Hazel improved from a 66 to a 57. Both played in Tuxedo, Philadelphia, Boston, Aiken and Newport during the year.
At the conclusion of the annual awards, Brook Hazelton served as auctioneer for the Association’s auction. Outstanding lots included a weekend at the Black Point Inn in Maine; padel, cheesteaks and golf in Philadelphia; a week in a flat in London; and golf at Owentsia, the Creek, Shoreacres, the Country Club and Gulph Mills. In addition, Lot 12, the paddle raise for the USCTA’s national sponsorship program for professionals, was extremely popular.
Because of Hazelton’s professional abilities and the exceptional quality of the lots, the auctions raised more than $79,000. Vern Cassin then compressed the fifteen billion years of court tennis history into a hilarious three-minute slide show.
The evening ended with the induction of Lesley Lee Ronaldson into the International Court Tennis Hall of Fame. A tennis pioneer for more than a half century, Lesley Ronaldson was the first woman in the world to work full-time as a teaching professional. She coached and gave lessons, strung racquets, sewed balls, kept accounts, made bookings and ran tournaments and leagues at Oxford, Melbourne (both clubs), Troon, Hardwick, Holyport and Queen’s; since 1979 she has worked at the Royal Tennis Club at Hampton Court Palace. In 1984 she captured the inaugural U.S. Ladies Open in singles and doubles. She lost in the finals of the 1985 World Singles Ladies Championship but captured the World Ladies Doubles two years later with Katrina Allen, as well as seven British Ladies Open singles and doubles titles. In 1981 she founded the Ladies Real Tennis Association and chaired it for ten galvanic years.
In her warm and powerful acceptance speech, Ronaldson spoke about her half century in the game. “I get paid to look after my best friends, every hour, hour after hour,” she said. “It is the best job in the world.” She concluded by discussing squandering match points in the world championship in 1985 and how the induction into the Hall of Fame had perhaps brought her a final sense of closure. The crowd gave her two rousing standing ovations.
The induction of Ronaldson means the International Court Tennis Hall of Fame now has thirty-seven members.
Below are some photos from the evening. Click here for all of the photos from the dinner and some shots of the afternoon matches.
ALL PHOTOS BY MARCO CALDERON
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George Bell
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Freddie Bristowe
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Hazel Christensen & Calliope Yannuzzi
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Ivan, Lesley & Luke Ronaldson
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John Pak
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Peter Vogt
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Peter Pell
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Mary Livingston
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Camden Riviere
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Silent Auction Items
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Brook Hazelton
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The Grassi & Smith Families
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The Pros
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The Vogt Family
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Matt Mitchell & Jeff Horine
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Haven Pell & Lesley Ronaldson
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U.S. Womens Players
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Ginny Goodyear & Dana Goodyear Kopald
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Lesley Ronaldson
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The Washington Crew
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The Aiken Crew
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Dick Brickley, Peter diBonaventura, Bill McLaughlin & Walter Deane
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Barney Tanfield & Mary Livingston
