Ray Godfrey, Former New England Interscholastic Champion and Yale Captain, 1945-2015 by Rob Dinerman Dateline July 17th ---
DSR is sad to report the passing earlier this month of Ray Godfrey, 70,
a former squash captain at both Exeter and Yale, after a pulmonary
illness. He was a longtime member of the Yale Club of New York and
later the University Club.
As a prep-schooler at the Phillips Exeter Academy, Godfrey
---who earlier had been required by legendary Exeter coach George
Bennett to play an entire month with his right bicep roped to his side
in order to make him acquire the elbow-close-to-the-side stroke that
Bennett preferred --- culminated his varsity career by winning the New
England Interscholastic championship as a senior in 1963 by virtue of a
five-game final-round win over Deerfield’s Larry Heath, who had badly
out-played Godfrey one month earlier in the Deefield-Exeter dual meet
and who would win the U. S. National Junior title the following autumn
(and later the 1982 U. S. National Doubles crown with John Reese).
Godfrey’s achievements catapulted Exeter to the New England team title
and inspired his talented teammates Chris Gadsden (the Exeter captain
the following year and later a Yale captain as well) Gordon Black and
Craig Stapleton to a 3-2 season-ending victory over arch-rival Andover
one week later.
Godfrey then earned three varsity letters at Yale
and the captaincy of the 1967 team, then moved to New York, where his
time representing the Yale Club in the MSRA league during the early
1970’s was highlighted when he sharp-shot his way to a victory one
night over Harvard Club star Victor Niederhoffer, the reigning U. S.
Nationals title-holder at the time. Throughout his career, Godfrey was
known for his capacity to come up with a big win when it was least
expected due to his ability to conjure up prolonged hot streaks with
his potent racquet, and the Heath and Niederhoffer outcomes are prime
examples of this phenomenon.
