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????
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Hi George, reading the notifications of senior tournament cancellations. Here is the new schedule for USTA Florida Section Championships to keep hope alive during this present environment. https://www.ustaflorida.com/events/category/adult-events/team-play/ustaflorida-league-tennis/usta-florida-league-section-champs/list/?tribe_eventcategory=161
Bob, thanks for the added options. george
I don’t understand a ranking system that has Jimmy Parker ranked #23 in 75 singles and Don Long ranked #22…I can’t imagine any tournament director not putting Jimmy at top seed. They also have Jimmy and Ken Robinson ranked #29 and #30 in 75 doubles??
Doug, and me at #4 … doesn’t seem to make sense, does it?! george
Responding to Doug Brunner’s comment: Shadow rankings are based on 2020 participation and tournament play – not so much on who would win in head to head competition or a tournament – which a knowledgeable seeding chair or tournament director would use.
Dag, thanks for the clarification. george
Congrats to all those guys in the rankings….way to go!….and sorry that the annual Naples “Sr. swing” is yet another Covid victim.
Scoot, not as much as we all will miss it! thanks, george
Just to set the record straight, Sterling Oaks never agreed to host two tournaments in January. We were asked to do the doubles and Cat II but could not accommodate both. We agreed to do the doubles because it would be a smaller, more manageable event. Just this week, Paul Barrus was informed that the USTA National Adult Committee cancelled the doubles. We had nothing to do with that announcement.
I don’t know where all this misinformation is coming from, but it is making Sterling Oaks look bad when we are just trying to make things happen. Paul and Mark Vines even discussed moving our respective tournaments to April and doing them back to back to provide some incentive for people to travel to Naples, but that idea was shot down by the USTA, too.
I hope everyone understands that there are people who are trying hard to make something happen for tournament-hungry players. We would appreciate it if other people check their sources before disparaging those making the effort.
Thanks for allowing me to vent.
Jim, thanks for your perspective. George
Here is an off subject question that so many people with so many years of experience should answer easily.
Who’s call is this. If a player appears to reach over the net before hitting a ball. Is it his call to say he is sure he didn’t reach over or their opponents call because they are sure he did.
Dave, I believe… like double bounce, intentional double hit, and touching a ball as it passes by… it is the hitter’s call. Thanks. George