For this group on the Top 45 list, the racquet facilities and programs are profiled for Baltimore Country Club in Baltimore, Md.; BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Philadelphia (Pa.) Cricket Club; Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta, Ga.; and Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va.
Club + Resort Business’ capital expenditures study, conducted at the end of 2020 about clubs’ spending plans for 2021 showed that racquet sports are once again growing in popularity and gaining participation numbers. C+RB’s inaugural Top Ranked initiative for Racquet Facilities highlights the club and resort properties with the Top 45 Racquet Facilities and programs, as judged independently by a panel of racquet professionals and industry experts.
The full rankings can be viewed a on the main Top Ranked Listing Page. Here are profiles of the Top 5 Ranked Private Clubs in the Racquet Facilities category.
1. Baltimore Country Club in Baltimore, Md.
With a rich tradition of hosting the Davis Cup and other professional events, the state-of-the-art tennis facility at Baltimore (Md.) Country Club (BCC) offers top-notch programs for all ages and abilities. The club’s racquets program consists of tennis, paddle, pickleball, squash, badminton and table tennis.
In the past three years, BCC has seen an incredible growth of more than 300 percent in its racquets program. The key to BCC’s success is not only the facilities, but the people that bring those facilities to life. The staff embodies hospitality and BCC’s Simple Truth of “Great People Make Favorite Places.”
BCC’s organizational culture and core values are well-known in the community and highly regarded by both the club’s staff and members. The club offers six racquet-sport options, with the average member playing at least three times per week.
BCC has become a national name in racquets and a leader in the country in innovation and pushing the racquets industry into the future. Its world-class professional staff brings the best programs in the country to BCC daily. Whether members are just starting out, or are seasoned players, the club has something for everyone, at every level and every age.
Paddle tennis, arguably the most social of any racquet sport, combines tennis and squash, providing a fun, yet challenging activity for the entire family. At BCC, two international singles squash courts, and a hardball doubles court, offer everything from clinics to world-renowned tournaments for all types of squash players.
BCC welcomes paddle enthusiasts and all members to one of the fastest-growing, most social sports at the club. Last year BCC had the busiest season in its history and this year continues to see incredible participation and growth. New clinics and special events are added monthly. BCC continues to welcome the best players in the country, to create memorable experiences for its members they cannot get anywhere else.
Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the United States and officially a hit at BCC. The club regularly welcomes the top-ranked players in the world, including Ben Johns and BCC’s Head Racquets Professional, Collin Johns. BCC was the first club in the world to have dedicated clay pickleball courts, which has allowed it to host the U.S. Clay Court Pickleball Nationals, the largest clay-court tournament.
BCC has quickly become a top destination for pickleball, with the program continuing to grow every day. Whether members have never played before, or are seasoned players, the club welcomes players to come try it.
2. BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
BallenIsles Country Club’s 62,000-sq. ft. Sports Complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. features 23 courts—20 Har-Tru® clay courts, two permanent pickleball courts and one hard court. Future plans will add seven pickleball courts by the end of 2021.
The impressive stadium court at BallenIsles provides an expansive 500-seat venue, where tennis greats Venus and Serena Williams trained for more than a decade. Invitational tournaments at BallenIsles regularly feature world-ranked players, and the list of those who’ve played the stadium court includes former and current Grand Slam champions.
BallenIsles tennis and pickleball programs feature year-round exhibitions, club tournaments, and clinics for all ages. Both the avid and novice player can count on an exceptional racquet sports experience and friendly concierge service that provides guidance into an active tennis lifestyle.
In addition, BallenIsles has an excellent Junior Development Tennis Program, led by former world-ranked players Gary Henderson and Andrei Daescu.
The complex also offers a full-service tennis shop for all tennis member needs.
3. Philadelphia Cricket Club in Philadelphia, Pa.
Founded in 1854, the Philadelphia (Pa.) Cricket Club (PCC) is one of the oldest country clubs in the country. With a trio of campuses, the club offers its membership three different types of surfaces on which to play tennis—21 grass courts, nine Har-Tru courts, and two hard courts.
Tennis players enjoy a pavilion with an indoor/outdoor fireplace, two outdoor decks, and comfortable inside seating areas to complement a fully stocked bar.
In addition, PCC has four platform courts, eight singles squash courts and two doubles squash courts. The club’s newly renovated platform tennis facility includes four courts, all lit for night play, and a pavilion with an indoor/outdoor fireplace, two outdoor decks, and comfortable inside seating areas to complement a fully stocked bar.
PCC also boasts four permanent pickleball courts. Pickleball players can enjoy play on the platform tennis courts, indoor courts, or the newly constructed outdoor sports courts throughout the year.
PCC participates in men’s and women’s interclub leagues and offers a variety of organized team practices, clinics and private lessons. Friday-night socials are scheduled throughout the season, and club tournaments include men’s, women’s and mixed championships on both the Har-Tru and grass courts.
PCC also offers a QuickStart junior tennis program for those learning the sport, with a smaller court and low-compression balls, as well as private instruction, clinics, a summer tennis academy, and interclub competition for more accomplished juniors.
4. Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta, Ga.
Cherokee Town and Country Club (CTCC), with two Atlanta, Ga.-area locations—the Town Club in Buckhead and the Country Club in Sandy Springs—boasts a racquets program that is a hive of activity. Members and their families flock to the courts for up to 50,000 plays each year through tennis, platform tennis and pickleball.
The club also gets several thousand visits by its members, their families and guests for socials, shopping, meetings, and advice.
CTCC saw record numbers in 2020 through 49,000+ racquet plays, in addition to record numbers in shop and concession sales. Its programs and services are designed to address the various outlets these racquet sports provide for the membership: social interaction, skill development, exercise, competition, skill expression, physical and psychological well-being, and leisure time spent with a fun pastime.
The club offers a year-round program that consists of 140+ events via league play, mixers, interclub competition, programs and events. The racquets program consists of a vibrant league program of more than 70 teams a year.
CTCC has 12 clay and four hard tennis courts, two platform courts and two dedicated pickleball courts. It also has a growing clay court pickleball program in the wake of the pickleball explosion.
The staff consists of nine certified tennis professionals, seven certified pickleball instructors and four certified paddle professionals.
CTCC is the host for the Atlanta Senior Invitational (ASI) Men’s Prize Money National Tournament that boasts more nationally ranked players for ages 30 through 80s than any other.
5. Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va.
In the past nine years, the overall growth of the racquets program at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. has increased dramatically. The club went from 200 resident member racquet players to 850 resident member players.
By sport, Farmington has 700 active tennis players, 50 active pickleball players and 100 active paddle players. The club went from $125,000 in lesson revenues to $680,000 as of 2020.
This increase was achieved by the club’s staff meeting higher customer-service demands; developing a higher-quality staff of teaching professionals, with four former Racquets Directors on staff; and by designing and implementing a program for all levels of players—including players who wanted competitive events as well as those who just wanted to play socially or for exercise.
Farmington now has seven full-time teaching professionals—each responsible for a different area of the program, giving them a sense of ownership to the program. In the summer, the club adds eight more part-time professionals to help with the demand of the junior camps.
The Racquets Department offers a wide variety of social and tournament calendar events per year, such as: 30 platform events, including an American Platform Tennis Association NRQ event for men and a PCQ event for women; 40 adult tennis events; 20 junior tennis events; and 10 pickleball events.
In addition, Farmington has 1,000-sq. ft. of retail space dedicated to its racquets facilities and programs that produces $225,000 in annual revenue.
Along with what Farmington currently has, the club has approved plans to build four more indoor tennis courts, one more platform tennis court, two more clay tennis courts, and a brand new, larger racquets pro shop that will help take the programs and facilities to even greater heights.
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