There is (negative) news about the upcoming Florida tournament season; but also some surprising new national ranking information, with some familiar names near the top.

Tournament Update

According to USTA Florida’s Mark Taylor, “Sterling Oaks CC in Naples was set to host both the NSMTA doubles only event the first week in January as well as the Cat 2 tournament two weeks later. Sterling Oaks has decided to CANCEL both tournaments; which coupled with World Tennis Center opting out of their event means there will be no senior tournament tennis in Naples in January.”

“More negative news came as the Lennar corporation (which owns the property of Lakewood National) has decided against holding any outside events until further notice. This means that the Lakewood National SSGP scheduled for February 1-5 has also been CANCELLED for ’21.”

As of now (November 18); the West Coast SSGP is down to just three remaining tournaments left:

January 25-29……….GT Bray Park (Bradenton)

February 8-12……….Meadows CC (Sarasota)

February 22-28……..Raymond James Cat 2 @ St. Petersburg CC (St. Petersburg)

Florida Cup

Mark Taylor also reported, “The 2021 Florida Cup has secured a host facility for a weekend in March at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens. The specific weekend hasn’t been decided yet as PGA National is hosting the Honda Classic PGA Tour stop that month and the PGA golf schedule hasn’t been finalized as of yet and the Cup will be held either the week before the gold or the week after. Stay tuned for further updates on this event.” 

“I’m asking for interested players to contact me at CatsCane@aol.com and let me know if you would like to be considered as a captain, or as a team member.”

New Shadow Rankings

According to the USTA, “In order to inform players about the transition and provide a set of data to be reviewed by the USTA before official implementation in 2021, the USTA will be calculating “Shadow Rankings.” Shadow Rankings will be an unofficial National Standings List (NSL) based on 2020 results using the new 2021 ranking tables. Unlike an official NSL, Shadow Rankings will only include 2020 results and therefore will not include a full 12 months of play, only the results to date this year, and they will not be used for any official purpose in 2020.”

Here are some highlights from selected age groups…

65 Doubles

9	Howard Ames	Salem, MA	New England/Eastern Massachusetts	5,367
11	Philip Landauer	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	4,932
16	Tom McGinnis	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	3,417
20	Edward Yablonski	Fort Myers, FL	Florida/Region 7	2,802

70 Doubles

1	Mas Kimball	Oak Bluffs, MA	New England/Eastern Massachusetts	9,198
9	Bob Wilkie	Sunapee, NH	New England/NH	4,995
10	George Dalphon	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	4,995
11	David Wendt	Chevy Chase, MD	Mid-Atlantic/Maryland	4,841
12	Andre Marois	Sarasota, FL	Florida/Region 5	4,703
13	Stephen Shreiner	Frankfort, MI	Midwest/Northern Michigan	4,703
17	Larry Albritton	Lehigh Acres, FL	Florida/Region 7	4,155
18	Frank Bova	Fort Myers, FL	Florida/Region 7	4,155

75 Singles

2	Hank Irvine	Placida, FL	Florida/Region 7	5,284
6	Evert Jonsson	Miramar Beach, FL	Florida/Region 1	3,949
8	Fred Drilling	Estero, FL	Florida/Region 7	3,413
13	Bobby Hampton	Chicago, IL	Midwest/Chicago	2,765
17	Thomas La Penna	Williamsville, NY	Eastern/Western Region	2,354
18	Hugh Thomson	Norcross, GA	Southern/Georgia	2,342

(Where is Don Long’s name????)

75 Doubles

1	Evert Jonsson	Miramar Beach, FL	Florida/Region 1	9,542
2	Hank Irvine	Placida, FL	Florida/Region 7	9,542
3	Fred Drilling	Estero, FL	Florida/Region 7	7,836
4	George Wachtel	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	7,504 🙂
7	Clive Kileff	Chattanooga, TN	Southern/Tennessee	7,245
8	James Hendrix	Boone, NC	Southern/North Carolina	7,071
9	Edward Underwood	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	5,673
12	Dave Spilseth	Wayzata, MN	Northern/	4,654
13	Tom McCune	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	4,654
14	Chuck Kinyon	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	4,088
15	Donald Keenan	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	4,088

80 Singles

1	Joseph Bachmann	Sarasota, FL	Florida/Region 5	5,734
2	Frank Hagelshaw	The Villages, FL	Florida/Region 2	4,253
5	Raymond Brodeur	Avon, CT	New England/Connecticut	3,658
7	David L Weber	OMAHA, NE	Missouri Valley/Nebraska	3,330
11	Glenn Gibson	Loveland, CO	Intermountain/Colorado	3,018
12	Ray Bellamy	Tallahassee, FL	Florida/Region 1	2,772
14	Dag Williamson	Chelmsford, MA	New England	2,580
15	Nicholas Ourusoff	New London, NH	New England	2,400

80 Doubles

1	Michael Fenster	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	9,071
2	Matthew Davie	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	7,779
3	Frank Hagelshaw	The Villages, FL	Florida/Region 2	7,484
5	Raymond Brodeur	Avon, CT	New England/Connecticut	5,925
6	Glenn Gibson	Loveland, CO	Intermountain/Colorado	5,801
7	George Pestrue	Standish, MI	Midwest/N.E. Michigan	4,512
11	Richard Valentine	Naples, FL	Florida/Region 7	2,718
12	George Lynch	Jamestown, RI	New England	2,679
13	Nicholas Ourusoff	New London, NH	New England	2,661

85 Singles

3

Gordon Hammes

Naples, FL

Florida/Region 7

4,253

For the full listings, click HERE

Comments on the tournaments or the Shadow Rankings????

Know someone who should read this?  Send them a link and if you are not on my “new posting alert email list” and want to be (I promise, no other uses of your email address!), just drop me a note at GeorgeWachtel@gmail.com

My Book: if you’d like to get a copy of “Senior Tennis”, just click on the link on the upper right of this web page to go to Amazon.com, look at the list of places under “My Book” on the bar above, or ask me what clubs are carrying it!