Tennis: Up for auction

Richard Dunn

With a unique handicap system, even club players can participate

with the professionals this weekend at the Newport Beach Tennis Club.

In taking a page from the Huggy Bear Tournament in New York that precedes

the U.S. Open, organizers of the inaugural Paramount Pro-Am Classic are

putting eight pros on the auction block tonight at 7:30.

Amateurs will bid on the pros in an effort to join them as a team, then,

following a brief handicapping session headed by NBTC Director of Tennis

Scott Davis, pro-am teams will enter phase two of the Calcutta-style

bidding process ... all to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes

Foundation.

The three-day event, which starts tonight with the player auction and

team bidding, is open to any player, male or female, with a charitable

pocketbook, a decent game and a sense of humor.

The handicap system, based on the strength of players, awards a certain

amount of points to pro-am teams (to be determined after the initial

player auction).

Five points is about what officials have in mind to grant underdog teams,

but the handicapping is subjective, and, if a team is deemed too strong,

it could actually enter the pro-am with minus points.

“You may see a team that is not as strong as other teams, but the beauty

of it is that you get a great return on your money,” NBTC owner Steve

Joyce said. “It’s like horse racing. If you bet the favorite, you get

even money, but if you bet a team, say, at 30-1 odds, you’ll do better.”

Teams awarded points prior to the event can use them at any time during

the match.

Four matches will be played Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by

a player party (the public is invited). The semifinals and finals are

Sunday, followed by a Super Bowl Party that could be the best in town --

that is, if you even care about St. Louis and Tennessee.

The pro-am is free and will feature Rick Leach, David Pate, Jim Pugh,

Grant Connell and Davis. Leif Shiras will be the master of ceremonies.

“At this point, we’re ready for just about everything,” said Davis, who

is familiar with the event’s format, having competed in the Huggy Bear

Tournament last year with Pate, and won.

Joyce said 60% of the pool will go to the winning pro-am team, with a

“small percentage” going to the losers and the rest to charity.

“We want people cheering,” Joyce said. “This isn’t going to be a

tournament where people are sitting quiet in the audience.”

The Paramount Pro-Am Classic is not the grand reopening of the club,

Joyce said, because more remodeling is planned for the 33-year-old

facility. But it is the first big bash under new ownership.

NBTC, which is sporting a new logo around town, will have 11 television

sets -- including a big screen -- in operation for the Super Bowl Party.

Joyce also said he has purchased five satellites dishes for the facility.

“I’m not a sports bar, per say, but I want (members) to have the ability

to watch football or tennis, or whatever they want,” he said.

Joyce said his decision to hire Davis in November as director of tennis

was one of the best moves he has made.

“I’ve never been so happy with anybody I’ve had on board,” Joyce said.

“He’s just the perfect person ... he’s just like the total team player.”

Davis, 37, was an informal teaching pro at Palisades Tennis Club before

coming to NBTC. In his playing career, the doubles expert won over $2.2

million. He captured three singles titles and 21 doubles championships.

“It’s a bit of a transition for me and it’s definitely a learning

experience, but I’m enjoying seeing the other side and being at a tennis

club,” Davis said. “It’s a challenge for me.”

Corona del Mar High boys tennis coach Tim Mang, director of the inaugural

CdMHS-Pavilions National High School All-American Team Invitational March

16-18, said Green Valley from Henderson, Nev., has dropped from the

event.

Mang has attracted some of the best tennis programs in the United States

and has established what will be the most official national championship

anywhere, but first-time tournaments are not always easy to pull off ...

especially with schools coming from across the country.

Some high-ranking schools could not attend, even though they were invited

and wanted to come, because of travel restrictions over 500 miles.

Davis Cup update: All three sessions of the U.S.-Zimbabwe Davis Cup tie

Feb. 4-6 at the 4,000-seat Harare City Sports Center were sold out in 1

1/2 days last week, according to Tennis Zimbabwe.

“The public response is almost frightening,” said Paul Chingoka,

president of Tennis Zimbabwe. “There are still thousands of people out

there searching for tickets, but we have nothing to give them. People

were queuing as early as 5 a.m. for tickets that were only going to be

sold at 10 a.m. This is unprecedented. This will be the biggest sporting

event in our history for a long time to come.”

Richard Dunn’s tennis column appears every other week.