This past August, we embarked on a major renovation on courts 3 & 4 indoors, giving them a much needed face lift. If you don’t remember, the courts better resembled the 18th green at the Masters than a tennis court! The project was an extensive operation that involved a number of steps which I actually found interesting and informative.

big machinery was needed
The first job we performed was to bring a 5 ton vibrating roller onto the courts and double roll both courts. This helped compact the base and begin to top off some of the high spots or “Starke bumps” as my staff affectionately referred to them as. Standing on the court, one could feel the vibration from the roller. Yes, I was a bit concerned about my courts, but I figured I couldn’t make them much worse then they already were, so what the heck!

if you ever have to use a grinder, hire this guy, and wear this mask!

Next, we took a floor grinder and meticuosly grinded off the numerous high spots. Due to the amount of dust created, a mask was needed. We then took a floor polisher to the entire surface to sand down and further even the court.

We then spent two days patching the various high and low spots still left. Now, finally the court was ready to be resurfaced.

We chose a plexicushion system, which is a seven layer cushin/coating system. This is one of the finest systems you can purchase, and due to the amount of layers is very time consuming to lay on. The initial layer is an acrylic resurfacer, to help the next coat adhere. The next two layers contain the cushion, and must be laid on with care, and given proper time to cure. The cushion is color coded, so the customer knows what he is getting. The cushion coatings are followed by 3 coats of fortified Plexipave, and then a final paint or cosmetic coating.
The “master” at work laying down a cushion coat

Kris trying her hand at laying out Plexipave. Helps if you keep your eyes open! The entire project lasted 3 weeks, finishing the night before the first day of contracts. The courts now play completely different. I have yet to sniff a bad bounce. They are considerably slower, with long lasting points. They play more like a clay court but without the sliding and bounces. One can feel the cushion under ones feet. We owe a big thanks to Bob Okienowski of Okie Construction. His expertise, care and effort made this project a huge success. He worked on these courts like they were his own. Enjoy!
Bob Okienowski in a rare pose for the camera.

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BTC’s annual Level 1 ETA junior summer classic will take place August 5-7. Age categories include Boy’s & Girl’s 12, 14, 16 & 18 & under singles. This is an ETA sanctioned event which is well attended by juniors throughout upstate NY. We encourage our local juniors to participate.

To enter online: Click Here or you may pick up entry blanks at the club.

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BTC Clay Court
BTC will run the 25th annual BTC Clay Court June 10-12, Friday - Sunday. Events include Men’s & Women’s singles, Men’s B singles, Men’s Doubles & Mixed Doubles. The winner of mens open singles and doubles receives a wildcard into the $50,000 Binghamton Professional Tennis Tournament Aug 6-7 at Rec Park.

Singles participants receive a t-shirt. Pizza courtesy of Dominos will be served Sat 1 pm for all in attendance. This is always a great event to play in or watch. There will be excellent tennis to watch in the men’s open, and plenty of fun competition for members in the women’s singles, Men’s B singles and Mixed Doubles. It’s one of our banner events you won’t want to miss.

You can now enter online by…. Click Here
If you don’t want to use Pay Pal for payment, you may simply mail in a check or call in your credit card #. To check online for draws and start times, click here:
Click Here

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US Open bus trip tickets are now on sale! As always, we travel to Flusing Meadows on Day 2, Tuesday August 30, returning the same day. Trip price is $90 for Arthur Ashe stadium and $85 for ground passes, and includes ticket, transportation happy hour refreshments and a Wilson US Open bag raffle.

We offer 96 seats in Arthur Ashe and 12 ground passes, totaling 108 seats.
Seats will be sold to members on a first come first serve basis. Full payment secures your seat. Beginning April 14, remaining tickets will be available for non members. Book your seat now for our annual pilgrammage to the Big Apple for the greatest tennis event in the world, the US Open

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The 2nd Annual Sambursky/Gennett Men’s Pro-Am was held Saturday, Feb 20. was once again a big hit, with 10 “amateurs” and 10 “pros” duking it out on the tennis courts for BTC bragging rights.

With $400 in prize money the tone was set. The amateurs came prepared, ready to knock off their favorite pros and friends to claim 1st place. The pros,vying for the $80 1st place prize, rose to the challenge of the amateurs, bringing out their best shots when needed, aiming at both pro and amateur without prejudice.

The format included four sets of no-ad tennis. Players drew numbers out of a hat to determine who they paired with, playing with a different partner against a different team each round. Luck of the draw is a factor, and one must be ready to roll with the punches each round.

All in all, everyone had a great time. The amatuers more than held their own, coming up with some surprising yet well skilled shots. Some of the pros on the other hand exhibited signs of rust and wear, and will be honing their skills in the off season after a less than stellar performance!

L-R Mark Dolan, Parker Gennett, Edwin Gerard & Joe Fanara1st place went to Mark Dolan of Syracuse and our sponsor Parker Gennett, who defeated Edwin Gerard, Binghamton University junior and Joe Fanara 10-7 in a super tiebreak. The point breakdown is listed below:

Pros:
Edwin Gerard 11.. not so nice to coach, played brilliant
Mark Dolan 10.. a great performance from a senior citizen
Jordy Asher 3.. best pro am finish since 84′ must be the racquet
Bill Mendler 3.. 1st non final pro-am finish ever…35??
Faisal Mohamed 2.. was nice to coach or could have finished higher
Dan Levene 0.. great to see an old familiar face at BTC
Vladimir Victr -4.. very respectful addition from Hartick College
Michael Starke -7.. will be joining Drill with Bill next week
Shawn James -9.. his 1st place prediction was a bit off
Collin Crawford -10 ..will be joining Michael in Drill with Bill!

Amatuers:

Joe Fanara 10.. the old man still has the magic
Parker Gennett 9.. stick to tennis and forget the Formula 1
Jeff Conklin 8.. couragous effort
Tim Saunders 2.. The “Bite Me ” shirt wasn’t quite enough
Don Krebbecks 0.. Same score as Dan Levene, a legend
Dan Sambursky -1.. His pros let him down this time
John Thornton -4.. Bragging rights at IBM with victory over Pat
Mike Musok-6..The surprise gift did not leave enough preparation time
Bill Mirch -7.. will be joining Michael & Collin in Drill with Bill
Pat Clas -9..Actually, great effort for a 1st year player. Shoud receive bonus points for hitting a pro (Michael). Way to avoid double digits

Special thanks to our sponsors, Dr Sanbursky & Dr Gennett, who put up the entire prize money. Their support makes this great event possible.

Rumour has it that the women want a pro-am of their own. I thought equal rights was over with. Stay tuned!

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