Lagunitas Open has Biggest Turnout to Date

Mark Innes
January 30, 2016
Ross, CA

The 2016 Lagunitas Open held in Ross California had its biggest turn out to date, with 28 teams in the Women’s Open and Ladies Divisions and 46 teams in the Men’s Open and Gentleman’s divisions. It seems the “Paddle Bug” has hit the west coast.

The Women’s tournament started with Ladies division first round matches on Thursday evening and continued into a rainy Friday evening. In the Ladies Division, number 1 seeds Sarah Barron and Karen Van Brunt prevailed over the unseeded Billie Buck and Sarah Rafanelli in a tightly contested match.

The Open division, National Ranking Tournament and Viking President’s Cup Qualifier, the final featured 3 players from Chicago with Linda Lanphier and Sara Williams taking on Wendy Shpiz and Lagunitas Club’s own Tori Eichleay. Eichleay and Shpiz had to beat 2015 champions Rudd and Yang to reach the finals and they kept the momentum going as they downed Lanphier and Williams in front of a crowd who didn’t seem to mind the rain at all. It was a very entertaining final and has raised the bar to a new level. (Pictured at right, l-r, Linda Lanphier, Tori Eichleay, Wendy Shpiz, Sara Williams)

The Men’s tournament started early on Saturday and was battled out all the way until Sunday afternoon. This was the year of the out of town and unseeded teams as the duo of Sullivan and Small from Concord, MA bested the local combo Chris Adams and Ed McDermott in the Gentleman’s Draw. (Pictured bottom, on left Sullivan and Small, on right, Adams and McDermott)

The Open tournament, National Ranking Tournament and Viking President’s Cup Qualifier, had two unseeded teams, Devens/Barry and Jablonski/Schloss, in the first semi final, and last year’s champion Huntley Montgomery playing with Greg Tusher in the other. Devens/Barry, fresh off a quarter final victory over former national champion, Mike Cochrane and partner Andy Ward, were unable to match Jablonski and Schloss’ level of patience. Montgomery and Tusher fell to Innes and Hoeveler in a very animated and fast paced match. The final was all set with Jeff Jablonski and John Schloss taking on Charles Hoeveler and Mark Innes. Jablonski and Schloss out lasted Hoeveler and Innes in a 3 set battle, wowing the crowd with their patience and superb lobs. (Pictured below left, l-r, Charles Hoeveler, Mark Innes, Jeff Jablonski, John Schloss)

Overall the event was a huge success and most of the "out of towners" have already marked their calendars for next year’s event. Thank you to all those who participated and supported. It is very exciting to see the growth that is taking place in Region 6.