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Tennis great Drysdale will make a visit to Heber's Red Ledges
By Ray Grass
Deseret Morning News
October 12, 2007
Having a good backhand or forehand is nice, but the key element these days to good tennis is fun. Without it, said Cliff Drysdale, tennis is just another game. With it, well, tennis is fun. And having fun is something Drysdale, long considered one of the true greats of the game, stresses in his clubs and clinics. Which means that within the next two years he'll be stressing fun tennis here in Utah.
Drysdale will be in Heber this weekend, along with Jack Nicklaus and Jim McLean, for what might be considered the official opening of Red Ledges, a new master-planned recreational community near Park City real estate. Part of the recreational offerings will be the Cliff Drysdale Tennis Club built between fairways in the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. It will be the first tennis club/academy he has built west of the Mississippi.
When completed, there will be six tennis courts-three outdoors and three indoors-of what he called "the new, softer clay Hydrocourts." The softer, playable surface, now popular in the East, "is easier on the body and the bones, and lets you play tennis longer," he said.
Drysdale said he'd partnered with Nicklaus on a similar project in North Carolina, "and it was very successful. It's designed as a lifestyle creation. "Golf, of course, is paramount, but not everyone plays golf. Residents will have a small post office and store, a swimming pool, workout room, aerobic room and tennis." When completed, Red Ledges, located just east of downtown Heber City, will consist of 1,200 homes and condominiums on 2,000 acres, all developed by M. Anthony Burns, and a wide range of recreational opportunities.
Saturday's function will introduce prospective owners to available building sites and amenities, such as the two Nicklaus courses, McLean's golf instructional facility and Drysdale's tennis club. Drysdale's tennis credentials are impressive. He was voted one of the top 50 players of all time. He won 33 singles titles during his long career and was the first player to introduce the two-handed backhand. For the past 24 years, he has been the voice of tennis on ESPN. And just who does he consider to be the greatest player? "(Roger) Federer is the best I've seen. But I've been saying that for years," he said.
This is not Drysdale's first introduction to Utah tennis. Years ago, he said, he played a small part in the design of the Park City Racquet Club. Since then his efforts have been confined to designing tennis clubs in Florida, Mexico and New York. His teaching methods, and his clubs, are recognized worldwide. He said he's not a proponent of one particular teaching method.
"For us, it's more a matter of enthusiasm; hiring pros who know how to make the game fun. It's what keeps people in the sport. And it's not so much about teaching technique but more about attitude. Having enthusiasm in a teacher has a certain magnetism that makes it fun, and we're talking about this reaching all the way down to 4-year-olds. Make it fun for them and they'll want to come back. If it's too arduous you'll lose them."
One of his more successful programs, and one he sees expanding to the Utah market, involves the changing role of women. "We hold ladies' retreats, and they've been very popular. Women have more leisure time and are more inclined these days to take trips without Dad, which a couple of decades ago was unheard of," he explained.
As for the current trend in tennis, he said all indications are it's attracting more players. "Ticket sales at the U.S. Open were up dramatically. I sense a new enthusiasm for tennis. I wondered if it was just something at the clubs we are involved with. You need a Pied Piper to get people into the sport, and we're good at that," he said.
"Industry folks, though, tell me sales for rackets and tennis balls are up." Here in Utah, membership in the Utah Tennis Association is the highest in more than a decade. Drysdale sees it gaining even more players as long as it continues to be fun.
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