Temperature In Mid-70's For 57th Santa Barbara Cate Invitational
by Terry Eagle
January 28, 2012 - Temperatures were in the mid seventies, the sky was bright, and the grass was green as players and their wives and significant others lounged outside in between matches. Alternatively they grazed in the Cate school dining room looking out over the Pacific. For the first time US Squash will not sanction junior events on our 1937 built 18 ½ foot courts so we had to join forces with the Santa Barbara Athletic Club. They graciously hosted 48 juniors, which including 16 from Cate school's varsity squash team and nine from the Santa Barbara School of Squash recently accredited by NUSEA. Twice a week SBSOS kids are tutored by Cate Students, then play squash, and then have dinner in the Cate dining room. More on the junior tournament later.
Joanne Sherry Ramsay getting her prize at Betty Woodworth's Lunch
27 hardball aficionados and a few newcomers signed up for the tournament. Six entered a very competitive A draw, including three time winner and current defending champion Ashley Kayler along with Robert Graham and Jason Jewell who each had won the tournament five times. They were joined by Cate's new squash coach Tim Thomas, nationally ranked handball player Tom Fuhrman and Max Franklin playing at Cate for the first time after a strong career at Vanderbilt. All of the matches were tight and unfortunately three of the players went down with injuries. Robert Graham, formerly the pro at the Santa Barbara athletic club and before that several time junior British open champion was at match point one all set two in the fourth game when he went down hard with a serious hamstring pull. Ashley Kayler and Jason Jewell played twice with one of the matches going 3-2 but Jason prevailed to break the tie with Robert and now have his name on the wall and on the trophy six times.
The 70+ featured defending national champion Ted Marmor, Alan Fox, and Sandy Clark who were lumped into the 60+ draw. Defending Cate and national 65+ champion Tefft Smith prevailed including a wonderful come from behind second game victory over Greg Stiles in the finals. Greg had seven game points but was unable to handle the assortment of power, spin, and placement that Tefft delivered on serve. Terry Eagle finished third while Paul Robbie won the consolation in a very close 3-2 match over Dan Karnowsky.
Everyone was a winner
Three women entered, and current SBAC club professional Orla o'Doherty was able to defend her title, although first time player at Cate Mimi Munson had her down two games to love. Joanne Sherry Ramsay had to withdraw at the last moment with back spasms. She had come down from Seattle to try and get her name back up on the board when she last won the ladies draw in 1995.
The B draw attracted 10 strong players. Tournament director Eagle was able to schedule 24 different matches for these players so that everyone got absolutely as much squash as they wanted. Mimi Munson put the most time on the courts over the weekend as she played five matches on Saturday and another two on Sunday. She attended all the events, went out to dinner with six of the other players, and even helped clean up after the post mortem on Saturday night at 12:45 AM. She had such a good time that on Monday having gone back home to Beverly Hills she drove back up to Cate with her daughter to show off the school. First timer Max Franklin beat kiss-your-sister Joe Mersola in a thrilling five game match. Matthew Morphy, Cate class of 1984, won the consolation and promptly showed off his prize on Facebook.
The traditions and the ambience of the Cate invitational bring players back again and again for more than just a lot of good hardball squash. This is a favorite tournament for wives and girlfriends. All meals are provided and no one can believe how far school food has come. Shopping, surfing, beach walking, mountain hikes, swimming, and tennis are easily available on the Cate mesa, in Carpinteria and Santa Barbara. Groups and couples went to an assortment of local eateries, sampled a wide variety of California wines and then came back to the post-mortem at Sally and Terry Eagle's home on Saturday evening. The event is capped with luncheon at Betty Woodworth's home on the Cate mesa overlooking the Pacific. If you haven't been before you should come, and if you have played, I know you will come again. \
And as Stan Woodworth said when he founded this tournament 57 years ago: "Remember, it's just a game".
Tefft Smith, Ted Marmor, Jason Jewell accepting the trophy from Betty Woodworth, Terry Eagle, and Ashley Kayler
by Terry Eagle
January 28, 2012 - Temperatures were in the mid seventies, the sky was bright, and the grass was green as players and their wives and significant others lounged outside in between matches. Alternatively they grazed in the Cate school dining room looking out over the Pacific. For the first time US Squash will not sanction junior events on our 1937 built 18 ½ foot courts so we had to join forces with the Santa Barbara Athletic Club. They graciously hosted 48 juniors, which including 16 from Cate school's varsity squash team and nine from the Santa Barbara School of Squash recently accredited by NUSEA. Twice a week SBSOS kids are tutored by Cate Students, then play squash, and then have dinner in the Cate dining room. More on the junior tournament later.
Joanne Sherry Ramsay getting her prize at Betty Woodworth's Lunch
27 hardball aficionados and a few newcomers signed up for the tournament. Six entered a very competitive A draw, including three time winner and current defending champion Ashley Kayler along with Robert Graham and Jason Jewell who each had won the tournament five times. They were joined by Cate's new squash coach Tim Thomas, nationally ranked handball player Tom Fuhrman and Max Franklin playing at Cate for the first time after a strong career at Vanderbilt. All of the matches were tight and unfortunately three of the players went down with injuries. Robert Graham, formerly the pro at the Santa Barbara athletic club and before that several time junior British open champion was at match point one all set two in the fourth game when he went down hard with a serious hamstring pull. Ashley Kayler and Jason Jewell played twice with one of the matches going 3-2 but Jason prevailed to break the tie with Robert and now have his name on the wall and on the trophy six times.
The 70+ featured defending national champion Ted Marmor, Alan Fox, and Sandy Clark who were lumped into the 60+ draw. Defending Cate and national 65+ champion Tefft Smith prevailed including a wonderful come from behind second game victory over Greg Stiles in the finals. Greg had seven game points but was unable to handle the assortment of power, spin, and placement that Tefft delivered on serve. Terry Eagle finished third while Paul Robbie won the consolation in a very close 3-2 match over Dan Karnowsky.
Everyone was a winner
Three women entered, and current SBAC club professional Orla o'Doherty was able to defend her title, although first time player at Cate Mimi Munson had her down two games to love. Joanne Sherry Ramsay had to withdraw at the last moment with back spasms. She had come down from Seattle to try and get her name back up on the board when she last won the ladies draw in 1995.
The B draw attracted 10 strong players. Tournament director Eagle was able to schedule 24 different matches for these players so that everyone got absolutely as much squash as they wanted. Mimi Munson put the most time on the courts over the weekend as she played five matches on Saturday and another two on Sunday. She attended all the events, went out to dinner with six of the other players, and even helped clean up after the post mortem on Saturday night at 12:45 AM. She had such a good time that on Monday having gone back home to Beverly Hills she drove back up to Cate with her daughter to show off the school. First timer Max Franklin beat kiss-your-sister Joe Mersola in a thrilling five game match. Matthew Morphy, Cate class of 1984, won the consolation and promptly showed off his prize on Facebook.
The traditions and the ambience of the Cate invitational bring players back again and again for more than just a lot of good hardball squash. This is a favorite tournament for wives and girlfriends. All meals are provided and no one can believe how far school food has come. Shopping, surfing, beach walking, mountain hikes, swimming, and tennis are easily available on the Cate mesa, in Carpinteria and Santa Barbara. Groups and couples went to an assortment of local eateries, sampled a wide variety of California wines and then came back to the post-mortem at Sally and Terry Eagle's home on Saturday evening. The event is capped with luncheon at Betty Woodworth's home on the Cate mesa overlooking the Pacific. If you haven't been before you should come, and if you have played, I know you will come again. \
And as Stan Woodworth said when he founded this tournament 57 years ago: "Remember, it's just a game".
Tefft Smith, Ted Marmor, Jason Jewell accepting the trophy from Betty Woodworth, Terry Eagle, and Ashley Kayler
Back To Main
