Rossmoor Tennis Club

located in Walnut Creek, California

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Fri, Mar 29, 2024

RTC Tournament of Champions ... the winners!

The Tennis Club Tournament of Champions brings the end to a great season of competition at Rossmoor, shortened a little because of Covid-19.

This is an invitation only event for anyone finishing in the top three scoring positions for any of the other tournaments during the year. Not surprisingly, the standard of play was very high with tight play and close results. Indeed, the overall results were all open going into the last round and all six top players could hardly have been closer.

2021 11 06 Champions Winners Small

Photo L to R: Dave Kern, Pauline Hanley, Yvonne Merrick, Bob Benz, Ken Steiner, Carol Pillsbury

On the mens' side there was a tie between Bob Benz and Ken Steiner for top honors, with Dave Kern one point off the pace.

The womens' competition was just as tight with Pauline Hanley taking first place, one point ahead of Yvonne Merrick, who was one point ahead of Carol Pillsbury in third.

Everyone had a great time. The event was hosted by Tournament Director Chris Slee who would like to thank all the volunteers who help run these events during the past year.

2021 11 06 Champions Players Small

We all look forward to a complete season in 2022.

Photo L to R: Dave Kern, Pauline Hanley, Yvonne Merrick, Bob Benz, Ken Steiner, Carol Pillsbury

Tennis Newcomers Win last Wild Card Tournament 

Tennis Newcomers Win last Wild Card Tournament 

Saturday saw the last Wild Card tournament of the 2021 Season. There was a full card with 12 men and 12 women including five newcomers out for their first tournament with the club.  Chris Slee, tournaments chair, was on hand to host the event.

On the womens' side, newcomer Mary Benin and Terry Quinlan took first place honors. Anna George and Delia Wilkes took second place jointly, while Joan Gardner had the third highest score.

Barry Brian, playing in his first Wild Card, overcame his opponents with topspin, side-spin and underspin, anything but a simple flat shot. Jerry Robinson and Rick Sterling came in second, while newcomer Greg Hanson had the third highest total. Congratulations to all the winners.

The upcoming 2021 Womens Doubles Tournament is planned for Sat October 16 at 9 am and the last opportunity to win an invitation to the November Tournament of Champions. Rossmoor Tennis Club members may sign up at the Buckeye Tennis Complex kiosk. Stuart Coffey and Ike Ichikawa are the hosts for this event.

wildcard

First Wild Card Tournament of 2020

On Saturday Feb 1, in a thick fog, the Rossmoor Tennis Club held its first Wild Card tournament of 2020.  Twelve men and twelve women played on slightly damp courts in very hazy conditions without complaining at all.

    Three men tied for third place.  Allan Tam, Dave Corliss and John Corwin each had 18 points. In second place was Rick Sterling with 19 points. The winning man was Gayl Westendorf with a very strong 23 points.  For the women, in third place was Laura Kim with 18 points. In second place was Eppie Ying with 20 points. The winning woman was Susan Mann with a great score of 22 points.

2020 02 01 WildCard Small

    A Wild Card tournament is held the first Saturday of most months and is open to all tennis players in Rossmoor. Play consists of 7 rounds of a combination of mixed, women’s and men’s doubles. 

    Thanks to Barbara Blum and Ken Haley for hosting a great event!

2019-11 Wild Card Championship

What a tournament to close out the 2019 season!

2019 11 02 Wild Card Championship

Twelve of Rossmoor's Wild Card champions battled it out in the spirit of competition and camaraderie. The standard was remarkable with very few unforced errors, lots of long rallies, counter-punches and put away winners. 

In a nail biting final round, Susan Hill and Dave Kern took a close victory over Rowena Slee and her partner to clinch the following results. 

For the women, Rowena Slee and Susan Hill shared first place, each with 18 points. Becky Reiss took second and Linda Hague took third.

One the men's side, Dave Kern took first place with 19 points, edging out Ed Logwood on 18 points, with Ron Wyman coming third.

All players qualified for the Championships by placing in one of the monthly Wild Card tournaments hosted by the Rossmoor Tennis Club. These events are open to anyone in Rossmoor, whether or not they are a member of the club.  The tournaments are played over seven rounds.

Congratulations to the winners and all the other finalists: Barbara Blum, Carol Pillsbury, Margaret Logwood, Shin Kim and Terry Quinlan. 

We'll see you back again in 2020.

[Left to Right in the picture: Ron Wyman, Ed Logwood, Dave Kern, Susan Hill, Rowena Slee, Becky Reiss and Linda Hague]

July Wild Card

Another great monthly Rossmoor Tennis Club Wild Card!  Saturday July 6 saw 70 degrees, low humidity, great weather and 24 eager players.

Six rounds of very competitive play saw the womens' and mens' leaders face off in the last round.  In the end Becky Reiss and her partner won out, knocking Jerry Robinson out of first place and down into third.  Ed Logwood and Jim Lindsay seized the opportunity to sneak by into first and second places.

On the womens side, Susan Mann took second alone. In the spirit of fun, three women collaborated to create a three-way tie for third place. Congratulations to Poppy Tanner, Shin Kim and Terry Tobey.

Left to right:Terry Tobey, Shin Kim, Jim Lindsay, Becky Reiss, Ed Logwood, Susan Mann, Poppy Tanner and Jerry Robinson. 

2019 07 06 Wild Card Winners Medium

 2019 07 06 Wild Card All Medium

2019-06-08 Chop Suey

12 ladies and 12 men showed on a glorious sunny June Saturday to try out a new format for the Chop Suey tournament. 

8 rounds of chopping and changing teams had the winners working their way up to the top court..

In the final round, Roger Artley and Terry Tobi took a closely fought decision over Terry Quinlan and Allan Tam.

On the second court, Elicha Gatelmundi and Jerry Robinson were edged out by Ed Logwood and Eileen Plotkin.

The new format was judged to be a great success with a lot of positive comments. Teams split and change every round with the winners moving up toward the top court.

Wild Card Championship

It was a glorious crisp fall morning, ideal for the tournament of champions -- the Wild Card Championships.  Coffee, breakfast, orange juice, all provided by Rowena Slee.  Glorious!

18 women and 12 men qualified by placing first through third in one of club's many Wild Card tournaments during the year. Competing in the grand finale were:

On the womens' side: Cinnamon Renvall, Eppie Ying, Joan Gardner, Liz Rutter, Shelly Schlender, Shin Kim, Susan Mann and Terry Quinlan.

On the mens' side: Alan Tam, Chris Bang, Chris Christopher, Ed Logwood, Ken Steiner, Larry Barclay, Mike Ying and Ron Wyman.

Things started slowly with many 2-2 ties in the first two rounds but then some players started to pull away, then others caught up again.  After more rounds of jockeying, five of the eight men were still in contention to win, and four of the women, going into the last round.

Liz Rutter and Susan Mann both scored three points in the last round to stay in joint first place, while Shin Kim and Terry Quinlan took joint third place,

Allan Tam's last round perfect score wasn't quite enough to catch Ed Logwood who took first place, leaving Allan in second.  Ken Steiner and Mike Ying tied in third place.

Congratulations to all competitors.  See you next year.  Your tournament director, Chris Slee.

Strong RTC Team Defeats Trilogy

On Saturday, May 19th Rossmoor Tennis Club hosted a team from Trilogy in Rio Vista at the Buckeye Tennis Complex. This is twice annual event that is played on a home and away basis.

In perhaps the most competitive match of the day at #1 men’s doubles, Larry Barkley and Frank Haswell won 6-4, 6-4. At #2 men’s doubles, Bob Benz and Chris Slee made quick work of their opponents winning 6-0, 6-1. Dave Besenfelder and Bernie Wolf also won easily at #3 men’s doubles 6-1, 6-2. In #4 men’s doubles, Chris Christopher and Ron Wyman ran into a very strong Trilogy team and lost 6-1, 6-1.

In the #1 women’s doubles match Sherry Endicott and Becky Reiss won easily at 6-2, 6-0. Mary Jane Kiefer and Sherry Wiseman shut out their Trilogy opponents 6-0, 6-0 in #2 women’s doubles.

In mixed doubles, Rossmoor’s teams of Mike Kiefer and Jackie Rideau and Jerry Robinson and Barbara Blum both won their matches 6-1, 6-0.

After tennis, a barbeque lunch was served to the players and RTC members who were there to root on their teams.

Special thanks to Sally Nordwall who managed the court assignments, name tags and recorded the scores, and to Irene Wong and Ken Haley who helped Rob Ingalls with the barbeque grill and to Carol Pillsbury who filled in on a Trilogy team that was short a player.