PTC Drop Shot ~ October 2022

PTC Drop Shot
October 2022

Upcoming Events

Sat-Sun, October 29-30th Men's Club Singles Tournament Final
Tuesday, November 15th Quarterly Membership Meeting - via Zoom
Friday, November 18th Pizza & Pro - Family Day
Tuesday, January 17th Annual Membership Meeting - via Zoom

President’s Message: Kris Willig
Summer may be waning but the activities at PTC are not! USTA and Ladies Day League matches have started, and thanks to the hard work of Doug Heffernan, Denee Berliner, Val March and their respective teams of volunteers, we had a wonderful Calcutta weekend. At Friday’s kickoff dinner, emcee Jeff Tateosian kept the tunes pumping while Peter Stevenson ensured that the team draws went smoothly. Many, many thanks to all!

This past weekend, we held the Betty Cookson Doubles Championship, and the Men’s Club Singles is not far behind. We are very fortunate to have so many hardworking volunteers, ably assisted by Lona and our PTC staff, who fill PTC’s calendar with great activities for all of us to enjoy.

The newly resurfaced front courts look great! Thanks to Marty Funk for arranging for and overseeing the repairs. In other House and Grounds news, the barbecue project is nearing completion; we hope to have it open for use before too long. Watch for an email blast from Lona with the announcement.

The selection committee is putting together a slate of candidates for next year’s Board which will be presented to all members for a vote in November. Keep an eye out for an email with further details.

As always, your ideas and comments are always welcome. See you on the courts!

Editor's Note: Jeff Tateosian
Congratulations to Betty Cookson for celebrating her 60th year as a member of PTC! Betty is an amazing player and a gracious friend to all. Among her many accomplishments:
- National Gold Slam Champion (1992)
- Two-time PTC Award recipient (1992, 2003)
- Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame (1997)
- USTA National Service Award (2016)
- From 1958-1987, Betty was a volunteer and eventually the Tournament Director for the USTA Junior National Hardcourt Championships held annually at PTC.

Congratulations to Mark Strem for being inducted into the Aragon High School Hall of Fame.

High school accomplishments:

Played #1 varsity singles all 4 years, and earned all-league (MPL) honors each year
Won the MPL singles title 3 of his 4 years, with a 3^rd place finish in the other year
CCS singles runner-up one year
Team won the league championship each of his 4 years and qualified for CCS each year as well
3x High School All-American

- Earned a varsity letter in tennis at the University of Michigan

- Played on 2 teams that won the Big Ten Championships

- Currently playing Senior age-group tournaments around the country where he and his doubles partner are highly ranked nationally in Men’s 60s Doubles

- Quote from Mark—“This was quite an honor. Being a first-ballot inductee after the mandatory 43-year waiting period is truly humbling and surreal.”

Congratulations to Carolyn Campana for winning the Second Annual Wild Card Challenge last month at the Olympic Club. Thirty-five college players from Cal, Stanford, Pepperdine, USD, UC Davis and St. Mary's all descended upon the Lakeside tennis courts for a shot to win a main draw wild card into the Redding California $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit Event. Carolyn, daughter of members Mark & Adele Campana, plays at Pepperdine. Visit https://vimeo.com/751815749/e20211d608 for more.

Manager: Lona Means
Please check the lost & found area for lost items. We are overflowing and will be donating anything left over.

We have lockers available in the men's and women's locker room at $80.00 a year. Please let Steve or me know if you would be interested in renting a locker.

Please be courteous to your fellow members and cancel any court reservations you do not plan on using in a timely manner.

As always, with fall approaching, please be extra diligent in closing umbrellas.

Club Anniversaries for July - October (5+ years)
Congratulations to the following members:

Betty Cookson - 60 years
Matt Colvin - 45 years
Maris Laipenicks - 35 years
Chris & Harold Mangar - 30 years
Patty & Phil Rossi - 25 years
Ben & Nancy Chew - 20 years
Matt & Yana Maloney - 15 years
John & Filiz Kohli - 15 years
Steve Williams - 10 years
Barbara & Gene Trainor - 10 years
Barbara & Brian Kott - 10 years
Mike & Pam Shaffer - 5 years
Alice & Bruce Caron - 5 years
Zev & Teri Handleman - 5 years

Tennis News: Doug Heffernan
Thank you to everyone who has supported the tennis events throughout the year; it's been a great season. We will be wrapping up our season with one more event, The Men's Singles Tournament. The Semi's and Finals will be held on October 29-30. Please sign up to play. We look forward to seeing everyone attending as a player or just to cheer on the players and socialize.

Betty Cookson Doubles Championship (by Denee Berliner)
The Tennis Committee hosted the 5th annual Betty Cookson Doubles Championship, and it was another awesome event in 2022. The tournament was enjoyed by all who participated, with 28 registered players and many more who came out to cheer for the finals matches. Saturday lunch was catered by Mendocino Farms with assorted sandwiches and salads. Breakfast was set up by Lisa Rosenthal. Louise Tierney graciously made and provided all of the appetizers for the reception following the finals matches.

Marci Martinucci and Louise Tierney managed the registration desk, deftly coordinating court assignments and tracking match scores. Loel, Tony, Steve, and Lona were all instrumental in pulling the event together, as usual.

Sheila Druskin was the event planner extraordinaire. Not only did she organize the tournament, prizes, food, and drinks, she also filled in for an injured player in the back draw finals match. A giant thank you to Sheila for her boundless energy, time, and effort to make this tournament so special year after year.

This year is Betty’s centennial year birthday - 100 years! We hope to celebrate that milestone with her in the near future. While she was unable to attend the tournament in person due to an injury, she sent her daughter-in-law and grandchildren to present the Cookson trophy to the champions.

It was a competitive weekend of ladies’ tennis, with great points, tie breaks, and wonderful camaraderie. We are already looking forward to next year!

Open Champions
Kelly Mulready and Christina Ching 7-5, 6-3 over Mindy Wong and Lexi Slavet

7.0-8.0 Champions
Cecilia Sharer and Kris Willig 6-4, 6-4 over Kristen Pierce and Eileen Lewis

Back Draw Open Winners
Erica Reilly and Shannon Foster 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) over Linda Benvenuto and Sheila Higgins Druskin (subbing for Amy Fenton)

Back Draw 7.0-8.0 Winners
Kate Belding and Lani Fregosi 6-2, 6-3 over Kerry Mahrer and Angie Kwan Crawford

Also worth noting, we had two teams sign up in the 6.5/under division, and all four players gamely agreed to play up in the 7.0-8.0 division to form a complete bracket. They played great tennis and held their own on court! Well done to Andrea Moore, Delyn Simons, Shawna Krasts and Alyssa McCoy. So much great tennis all weekend!

Men's & Women's Calcutta Tournament (by Doug Heffernan)
At the beginning of September, we held the ever-popular Men's & Women's Calcutta Tournament. 66 players participated over the weekend, and many more joined in for Friday night's wild Player Draw & Dinner. Thank you to Denee Berliner, Val March & their Social Committee for creating a fun-themed evening of food and drink. Every player that was randomly selected out of the "player cups" received a "walk up" song especially chosen for them as they came up to meet their captains. As usual, emcee Jeff Tateosian provided the hilarious song choices.

On Saturday, the men provided outstanding play on a beautiful day. The results were as follows:

First Place - Team Wang - (Capt) Anthony Wang, James Taylor, Mike Shaffer, Doug Heffernan, Duncan Grenier & Peter Stevenson

Second Place - Team Maloney - (Capt) Matt Maloney, Chad Partridge, Jeff Kline, Don Clark, Tom Treanor & David Marcus

Third Place - Team Williams - (Capt) Steve Williams, Gary Francesconi, Keith Taylor, Jim Sobel, David Hyman & Gerry Sydorak

On Sunday, the women took over the courts for a very competitive tournament. The results were as follows:

First Place - Team Wong - (Capt) Mindy Wong, Kristen Murphy, Val March, Davina Chall, Audrey Tse & Meagan Schaefer

Second Place - Team Cresci - (Capt) Kim Cresci, Sophie Treanor, Kristen Pierce, Carolyn Dowling, Jamie Shen & Andrea McMahan

Third Place - Team Slavet - (Capt) Lexi Slavet, Andrea Moore, Devi Ananda, Debbie Bakhtiari, Simona Jankowski & Nina Wang

Besides the spectacular play, there was over $6,500 to divy up between the team purchases and player's pool for the Men & Women.

We would like to thank the following members who helped to make the tournament such a success - Peter Stevenson, Shelia Druskin, Marci Martinucci, Jim Sobel, Marissa Hauselt, Nina Herndon, Beth Francesconi, and of course Lona Means and her wonderful staff. Finally, thank you to all the players and non-players alike for coming out and enjoying the tournament.

Membership News: Kate Belding
Please welcome our three newest members:

Jeff and Haomin Kline
Jeff Kline and Haomin Xu joined PTC in early August. Jeff is a 3.5 player who grew up playing recreationally and recently rediscovered his love of tennis. He has participated on PTC's USTA teams the past couple seasons. Haomin is a 3.0 player who has been participating in clinics at the Club. Jeff's daughters, Eliot (11) and Parker (9), are already loving their visits to the pool and look forward to being active in junior clinics. Haomin and Jeff are expecting a baby in December. They live near the Club with their dog, Lambeau, and are looking forward to making new PTC friends.

Eric and Suyun Kim
The Kims joined PTC in August. Eric played varsity tennis in high school in St. Louis and is looking forward to playing more tennis at PTC and finding some of his old form. His wife, Suyun, got bit by the tennis bug more recently and plays on a 3.0 day league team. They have three sons, Adam (11), Colin (8), and Ethan (6). All three boys are learning tennis; Adam is an advanced junior player and has enjoyed being a member of the PTC club team.

Alyssa and Aaron McCoy
Alyssa and Aaron McCoy joined PTC at the end of August. Alyssa is a 3.5 player who grew up playing tennis; after recovering from shoulder surgery last fall, she is excited to play lots of tennis. Aaron also grew up playing tennis and was a junior member at PTC from 1987-1992; and so, the family has come full circle! Their son, Griffin (14) participates in Pablo’s tennis program, was on BIS' tennis team and also enjoys soccer. They live close to the club and look forward to everything from using the weight room and hot tub to participating in clinics, league play, and club tennis and social events. The McCoys want to thank everyone for the warm welcome they have received.

Resignations (since July 2022). We are sad to see them leave!
Beth Cody
Todd & Michele Friedman

Sponsors’ guidelines:
If you are sponsoring someone to become a PTC member, please keep the following guidelines in mind:
Sponsors should actively support and promote the person they are sponsoring by bringing him/her to the club to play tennis and to meet members. Note that applicants are considered guests, therefore the current club rule of a maximum of two times a month applies (with exceptions for USTA match play). Sponsors should continue to gauge the applicant’s interest in membership while on the waitlist and advise the club manager of any changes. In addition, sponsors should ensure that the applicant has reviewed and understands the By-laws, Club rules, and dues schedule.

House & Grounds News: Marty Funk
The court repairs went off without a hitch and were completed long before the Calcutta tournament. We were very pleased with the speediness and quality of the job. I've never had any contractor call me the night before and tell me his crew wanted to start early so they could finish ahead of schedule, until now. Keep in mind these were repairs for some bigger sub-surface problems that we're hoping to address in the next few years.

At the time of writing this, the BBQ area is very close to completion. A couple of bumps along the way are probably to be expected (measure twice, cut once!), but the long run payoff for this project will be worth the headaches.

I'm looking forward to working with the next House and Grounds chair to plan out a few projects for the coming year.

Social News: Denee Berliner
Calcutta was a great success. This year we had 66 players and 8 guests attend the dinner and subsequent betting. This is one of the most popular and well attended events of the year. All those in attendance loved the food, the ambience, the music/emcee, camaraderie, and of course the tennis. A big thank you goes out to the Social Committee volunteers, TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK!
Onsite Management/Décor - Val March
Lighting - Jeff Tsu, Chris Cook & Mike Shaffer
Set up - Lisa Rosenthal & Audrey Tse
Registration - Carey Welsh
Music/Emcee - Jeff Tateosian
Bar Station - John Garner
Planning/shopping/reservations - Lona Means (with Tony & Loel)

Tennis Pro News: Pablo Alvarado
Hello PTC Families! Fall is here and we are getting back to our regular routine with adult clinics, privates, and the Evolution year-round tennis program for juniors.

Nowadays, I'm organizing the coaches’ agenda, so don't hesitate to contact me in case you want to schedule lessons or clinics. For those who are looking for some tips but not on a weekly basis, Drop-In clinics will be back in October! Stay tuned as we will be sending out dates soon.

The Junior Program is in full swing! As every year, we are hosting our clinics Monday-Friday afternoons at PTC and Saturdays at BHS. As we know how important is to be on court and explore the new skills learned in class, all our players have access to free practices every Sunday morning at BHS.

We want to welcome Coach Lucas Rosenberg who joined our team during the summer. Lucas will be working mainly with the Junior program and he is also one of the stringers at Tennis Station.
Coach Stephanie is taking a very well-deserved vacation in Europe after a busy summer camps season. She attended the Laver Cup and celebrated Roger Federer on his last professional match!

We have upgraded our admin software and are now accepting credit card payments as well. We are encouraging all players to go to the portal and upload a card on your player's profile. It will really help us to make the administration more efficient and will let us spend more time where we like the most, ON COURT! (Don't hesitate to contact me if you don't remember your password or need a new login).

Looking forward to seeing you all on court soon!