Weekly Update - Sunday 1/9/2011

The courts are getting busier and it is great to see our court utilization continually improve. The on line reservation system appears to be working well. Mark and I have worked very hard to get the organized play, the permanent court times, the tennis events and the pickleball events on the schedule. But, we are not perfect, so if you see something that does not look right, please shoot us an email or give us a call (6459). If you have any problems signing on reservemycourt.com or if you have a problem making a reservation, please give us a call and we will be more than happy to help you with your problem. So far, the only problem we incurred is that we had to limit the time frames to 1 ½ hours for prime time slots and therefore when you book non-prime time slots you can only book for 1 ½ hours even though you are reserving for 2 hour slots. Robson Ranch is looking to go to an online reservation system and they were very impressed with our system!!


Club Team Tennis had 8 teams playing last Thursday and this Thursday we have added two more teams: the “Racqueteers” and the “Court Jesters.” We will now have play on all of our courts. If you are not on a team, please call and get on the sub list. And, please come out and cheer the teams on. If nothing else come out and see the wild and crazy teams that take to the courts every Thursday! Tennis Club Happy Hour follows club team tennis and last week we had a “rockin” full house with lots of great appetizers. I requested additional tables and about 25-30 white chairs from the park but as this is a weekly event we were turned down. I know that many of you ride your bikes over to the courts, but if you are not riding a bike and it is not too much too ask it would be great if you could bring a chair.

We have just added Men’s Intermediate (3.0 & 3.5) to the organized play schedule on Friday’s 11:00-12:30. This is for men who play at the 3.0 and 3.5 level. Currently Men’s advanced (4.0-3.5) only has four courts available, this addition will provide our Men players with another chance to have a permanently reserved organized play in addition to the Men’s League. Bob McConnell and John Blessen will be co-captaining.

Sign up sheets are up for the Palm Creek Tennis Club’s Cancer Awareness Tournament. You don’t even need to find a partner as partners are drawn at random. The ladies are playing on Wednesday, Feb 2nd, the Men on Thursday, February 3rd and Mixed is on Friday, February 4th. There are lots of sign ups for the ladies and the mixed but where are the Palm Creek tennis club’s men’s players? I know we fill up all of our courts for Men’s leagues…so I know you are here. I am hoping that it just takes the guys a little longer to remember to walk over to the board to sign up! This is for a great cause and it is really a lot of fun. We will have an awards banquet for all of our Cancer Awareness Tournament players and their spouses, following the mixed doubles play on Friday and then we can all walk over to Palm Park for the lighting of the luminaries and the Balloon Glow!

We have a Tennis Club Soup and Salad Social/ Meeting scheduled for Sunday, January 23rd at 4pm in the San Tan Room. The first page of the sign up sheet was full so I added a second sheet – Wow isn’t that wonderful. This is always a great event with loads of great food. Please remember the next time you are at the courts to sign up and let us know if you plan to bring a crock pot of soup or a salad. I know I have said this many times but it is really important for our great social committee to know how many people to expect. I hate when they have to scramble to set up tables and chairs and dig around for extra plates. Let’s make it easy for everyone and just sign up – if something comes up and you can’t make it, I promise we will understand!

Speaking of making it easier for everyone else – Mark and I make a lot of phone calls following up with people and it is just amazing how many people do not have an answering machine on their phone. I know that Walmart has a cordless phone with an answering machine and it is not a lot of money. If it is not too much to ask, this would be a great help to us and I am sure your friends would appreciate it as well.

Tennis Lessons begin on Tuesday for every level of play from beginners to “pros!” Skip had a meeting with the instructors, Walt got our nets with holes changed out, and we have plenty of tennis racquets for those who don’t have a racquet or don’t think their racquet is quite “up to par.” Every Tuesday at 2 pm courts 2-5 will each have an instructor to help us improve our game. Come on out and hit lots of balls and have fun with your fellow tennis players. We are trying out Ball tube retrievers to pick up balls. In other words you don’t even have to bend over all you do is position the tube over a ball and give a little push. When the tube is full you invert it over the ball machine or the instructor’s basket and get back in line.

Couples Tennis on Sunday used all of the courts, Social Tennis has had days with all the courts in use and people lined up to rotate in, Club Team Tennis has all of the courts utilized – this is great news. But, we still have lots of non prime time available for permanent court time reservations. Get with some of your tennis friends and call Mark or me (6459) to schedule a permanent weekly game in a non prime time slot (Monday – Friday after 12:30PM and all day Saturday and Sunday). Once your permanent court time reservation is confirmed you don’t have to bother with making another court reservation for that time. Mark and I take care of all of the reservations for you and a permanent court time reservation is posted on the Palm Creek Tennis Club White Board.

I have distributed most of the Tennis Club Shirts and I have a new order sheet started. The shirts are available in White or Dark Red and are high quality Antigua Shirts that retail for $60 but our cost is only $25. The shirts are and easy to care for in that all you need to do is wash it (without fabric softner) and put it on a hanger to dry. I will have the order sheet available at club team tennis as well as at the January 23rd social. Shirts will be only be ordered once I receive your money.