Sue Rudd and Wendy Yang Bag Lagunitas Women’s Invitational

Will Lyon and Tom Mayes Seal Victory in Men’s

Cam Lanphier
January 30, 2014
Ross, CA

In an unlikely turn of events, Mother Nature blessed us with sunshine all weekend long as we welcomed a record number of teams to the 2014 Lagunitas Invitational. Players traveled from all over the country and we had a few first-timers grace our courts. Hallie Bodman was seen to mishit an easy shot when she was distracted by the towering redwoods around the courts. While the rest of the country was dealing with the polar vortex, we were basking in 65 degree weather and wondering if we shouldn’t have used low bounce balls.

The ladies tournament had two divisions. In the A division, the final was a hard fought battle with Sue Rudd and Wendy Yang outlasting Mary Doten and Tori Eichleay in three sets. Despite turning her ankle in the first set tiebreaker, a determined Eichleay refused to leave the court and almost pulled off a coup by taking the second set, only to get bested in the third. Third place was won by Linda Lanphier and Sarah Williams while the Repreive was taken by Chizzie Brown and Val Herzog and the Consolations won by Wendy Battey and Molly Woodring

In the B division, rookie Annie Winship paired with veteran Betsy Jonckheer to take the title over Chicago imports Elleke Haggerty and Stephanie Foster. In the Consolations, the winners were Betsy McDermott and Kathryn Freeman. The Reprieve was won by Amy Rabe and Lisa Kemp while last minute sub Kim Wight and Sarah Calvani won the Last Chance.

A packed Friday night party, hosted by Eileen and Chris Sheldon, featured a chili cookoff, with Janey Kuhl the winner. Saturday night’s highlight was the raffle with prizes ranging from 1997 collectors t-shirts to paddles. A good time was had by all.

Under clear skies, and surrounded by the soaring redwoods and flowing kegs, the men played throughout the day on Saturday and into early afternoon on Sunday. There were 16 teams in both the Championship and Gentlemen’s (B) divisions, all vying for some type of glory, preferably including some hardware. The Gentlemen’s division saw father and son duo Bill and Robbie Cahill, first time entrants, best Clarke Miller and Philip Pillsbury in a close two-set final. The Chicago team of Chris Foster and Steve Haggerty narrowly lost out to an up-and-coming youthful side, featuring Brad Hedrick and Russell Staley in the Consolations. The Reprieve was contested by two veteran teams with Bob Barton and Nick Hoppe cheerfully hoisting their winner’s trophies.

The Championship flight included the deepest talent yet to play in Northern California. Another solid Denver team, Peter Dinneen and Scott “the Ripper” Ripley, showed its prowess by winning the Consolation prize. The main draw held the top four seeds with two highly contested semi-final matches. First seeds Mike Cochrane and Andy Ward barely held off the fourth seeded team of Eric Pearson and Chris Sheldon in a tight three-set bout. The signature match of the day featured second seeds Will Lyon and Tom Mayes versus the third seeded team from Chicago, the brothers Chis and Matt Warner. After fighting off four match points, Lyon and Mayes were able to seal the victory in a third set tie-breaker. Their momentum held strong as the local boys were able to then defeat Cochrane and Ward in the finals.