Senior Championships- With four GSTL teams winning their division, the Grand Strand
Seniors took the bull by the horns and threw him to the tennis court at the USTA SC Senior
Championships. The winning teams were: The Dunes Tidewater Senior 3.0 Men, Capt. Richard
Crumpler; Prestwick Tennis Center’s Senior 4.0 Ladies, Capt. Andi Standord; the Grand
Dunes/Kingston Senior 4.0 Men, Capt. Jim Bolig; Grand Dunes Tennis Club Senior 4.5 Men,
Capt. John Mack.
High Schools Win Titles- Myrtle Beach High School won their third straight Class AAA State
Championship. The Seahawks (15-3) defeated Clinton 5-1 to claim the title. They look to a
strong year next year as well since they will only be losing one player.
Waccamaw High School won their second straight Class AA State Championship by defeating
Christ-Church 6-0. The Warriors (27-1) will lose just three players next year. Senior Wesley
Moran won the Class AA-A South Carolina Individual High School Singles Championship with
a 4-6, 6-2, (10-7) victory over teammate Billy Kenny. Thomas Ligon took All-State honors by
winning the consolation bracket.
Sponsorship Renewed- The Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union has renewed their corporate
community sponsorship for the third consecutive year.
New Tennis Courts- Loris Community Hospital is exploring an option to build and develop
several new public tennis courts in the community of Loris. An advisory council made up of
Graham Cox from USTA SC, plus David and Susie Honeycutt of the GSTL, met at the hospital
to offer guidance and to help oversee the project.
New Singles League- The GSTL will begin their second season with the Men’s Singles League
and will start a Women’s Singles League this July. The pilot program has playoffs scheduled for
September. For more information, visit www.grandstrandtennis.net.
Junior Tennis Rankings- Top juniors in the East Area who ended the 2007 highly ranked
include: Chip Cox, #1 and Harrison Richmond #2 in Boy’s 14s singles; Wesley Moran #3 Boy’s
18s singles; Jessie Mae Dumas #2 Girl’s 10s singles; Tolley Rice #4 Girl’s 12s singles; Bobby
Browning #2 Boy’s 16s.
Adult Tennis Rankings- Top adults in the East Area for 2007 include: Pat Paggeot #1 Men’s
35s; Larry Rizzo #2 Men’s 55s; Bill Jagger #4 Men’s 55s; Johnnie Williams #1 Men’s 70s; Dick
Wardman #3 Men’s 70s.
Junior Results- Chip Cox won the Boy’s 12s singles title at the Topspin Annual Junior Classic.
Tolly Rice won the Girls 14s singles title at the Cary Tennis Park Classic in Cary, NC.
Jeffrey Dayton won the Boys’10s singles title, Taylor Childress won the Girl’s 12s singles title
and Sallie Funderburk won the Girl’s 18s title at the Dunes Waccamaw Cardiology Junior Open
at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
Harrison Richmond made it to the finals in the 14-16 division of the USTA National Spring
Championship. In addition he was awarded the Sportsmanship Award.
Wesley Moran won the Boy’s 18s division at the BullFrog USTA Southern Section Designated.
Coleman Martini won the Boy’s 12s singles title at the Creekside Junior Tournament held in Mt.
Pleasant.
Florence News- The Florence Tennis Association was awarded the USTA National Community
Tennis Association of the year Award at the USTA National Community Development
workshop held in February in Las Vegas, NV. Ed Sprenger, President of the FTA, accepted the
award on behalf of the FTA.
The Florence Pepsi Junior Open was completed in April at the Florence Country Club. The
event drew over 300 players.
The West Florence Knights successfully defended their AAAA State title by defeating Lexington
High School in a 4-3 nail biter. Bobby Browning won the individual AAAA/AAA State title,
and Pruitt Williams won the consolation bracket.
May 24, 2008 - FTA volunteers wrapped up the second one day introductory tennis clinic which
were preliminary events for the Abriendo Puertas "Opening Doors" program we will conduct this
summer. The program is designed to encourage and introduce Hispanic youth. Using the
QuickStart teaching method, instructors introduced approximately 20 area youth to tennis. The
two one day events were held on May 10th and May 24th from 9:0am to 11:30am. At each
session participants were taken through a warm-up session and then split into groups by age and
skill level where they went through the skill appropriate drills and games. Our focus was to make
sure that it was a fun activity that would make the kids want to come back for the three one week
sessions we will provide this summer.
May 18, 2008 - The Florence Tennis Association wrapped up the 2008 Girls Singles League
Sunday, May 18th with an ice cream party at Slice It Pizzaria. Twenty-four girls participated in
the inaugural season design to give local female juniors an opportunity to continue to get match
play between tournaments and high school seasons. The season ran for six weeks on Sunday
afternoons at local high school courts.
We would like to thank West Florence and South Florence High Schools for permission to use
their courts for the season. The FTA would also like to recognize the efforts of Gary Elms and
Patti Maney for pulling this season together. They are both parents of local juniors that have
given their free time to make sure that area kids have a competitive and fun activity to
supplement their other tennis activities.
May 17, 2008 - The FTA celebrated National Tennis Month with a Tennis Block Party on
Saturday, May 17th at Timrod Park. Approximately 75 people showed up to take part in the on
court activities and to learn about our great game. Participants were grouped by age and skill
level as we took them through warm ups, drills, and then some games. Those in attendance
competed in a one point contest and were able to win a prize on the "Hit and Get" court. The
FTA set up an information booth that provided flyers on summer programs as well as upcoming
Kids Team Tennis and Junior Team Tennis programs. We also provided information on how to
become a tennis official.
Also at the event the FTA presented scholarships to Whitney Timmons and Quincy Washington
to attend the Francis Marion Tennis Camp this summer. Whitney is a rising eight grader at
Williams Middle School in the IB program. She played for the Wilson Tigers Girls tennis team
this year. Quincy is a rising 11th grader at South Florence and played for the South Florence
Bruins Boys tennis team and was named team MVP by his teammates.