The 50 Clay Courts were held at the BallenIsles Country Club the last week in October. The weather was not cooperative, but the event finished nonetheless, despite many rain delays, & thunder and lightning storms. The grounds crew at BallenIsles did a terrific job in drying the courts and getting play in between showers.
Diane Barker and Fran Chandler moved smoothly to the final though Chandler had a tougher-than-the-score-would-indicate match with Julie (Pressley) Farina, a very good local clay court player, winning 63 62, but cramping in the process. Kathy Vick had a long three setter with Sue Bartlett in the quarters. Sue cramped in the third set (pickle juice and rain showers arrived a bit too late for Sue) but Vick thrives on long matches. Barker beat Vick pretty quickly, and was ready for Chandler in the final. Chandler beat Barker earlier in the year at the Super Cat II at BallenIsles and also in the final of the Indoors, but this time Barker won 57 62 63, winning the final 5 games of the match. Farina beat Vick 3,1 to win the bronze.
Vick/Worldey-Hagen won the doubles without the loss of a set, beating surprise finalists Bartlett/Ann Lowry in the final. Bartlett/Lowry upset the #2 seeds, Chandler/Myke Loomis in the first round in 3 sets and also took out Trish Faulkner/Marianne Caplan in the semis in 3 sets. Faulkner/Caplan won the bronze over Lynn Ellis/Lori Robertson.
Photos below of Fishburne (l) and Chandler, R, are courtesy of Pat Parsons.