Remembering early tennis at Sunny Hills High School

Remembering early tennis at Sunny Hills High School

David Shaffer, ’62 remembers playing varsity tennis at Sunny Hills, One of his teammates was Jim Hobson, ’64.

David Shaffer:

Wow, great post. Thanks for doing this. Jim was #1 and I was #2 on our tennis team in 1962 when we took second in CIF. Jim and I played against each other in the Freeway League singles championship. We played doubles and went undefeated that year.

We also played in the Santa Monica Open known as the Dudley Cup and we lost in the quarterfinals. Jim was a great player even in his sophomore year and we all knew that great things were ahead for him.

He was good friends with Stan Smith and Bob Lutz, played singles and doubles against them. They went to USC and played at Wimbledon and other major tournaments with great success.

Jim was always ready to help others and was well liked and respected by his teammates.

I went to the U of Redlands and lettered on the freshman team. Because I was chosen to be the drum major and was majoring in music, I had to drop off the tennis team after my freshman year. That same team went on to win NAIA national championships under renowned head coach Jim Verdict. We played USC and UCLA. Thanks again for posting, made my day.

Follow up: In the Dudley Cup tournament both Jim and I lost in singles to Cliff Drysdale who later became the USA’s Davis Cup captain.

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PAUL FOR CHARLIE HERLANDS on July 1, 2020 at 7:14 PM said:

Dave Shaffer was a good guy.

Jim Hobson was actually Stan Smith's doubles partner in the juniors; they won the National Junior Doubles championships. Bob Lutz played doubles in the juniors with Jamie Carroll, from Newport Beach. Jamie went to Stanford with me in Fall '64 and played #1 on the freshman team; I was #3, behind Rick Reed. Stan and Jim went to USC and were #1 and #2 on the USC freshman team. (Freshman were not allowed to play varsity sports at that time.) The following year, Bob Lutz followed his junior doubles partner, Jamie Carroll, to Stanford, but stayed only one quarter before transferring to USC; the following year, he teamed up with Stan Smith, while Jim Hobson played doubles with Joaquin Loyo-Mayo (a Mexican Davis Cup player). USC and UCLA were the powerhouses of the PAC-8 in those days; Stanford and Cal were strong teams but still always lost 9-0 or 8-1 to USC and UCLA. I think that one year, Stan beat Bob in the NCAA final (in 5 sets!), and Stan and Bob beat Jim and Joaquin in the doubles final.

PAUL SAEVIG ‘67 on July 1, 2020 at 2:43 PM said:

I FOUND A COMMEORATIVE WEBSITE -- AN ILLUSTARYED MAGAZINE, ACTUALLY -- ABOUT THE OJAI TOURNAMENT, THEY WENT BACK ALL THE WAY AND LISTED ALL THE CHAMPIONS AND TEAMS, AND MANY OF THE OTHER PLAYERS AND COACHES. THEY MUST HAVE MENTIONED STAN SMITH 100 TIMES,AND HE WAS ON THE COVER, BUT THEY ONLY MENTIONED JIM ONCE OR TWICE, AND THERE WAS NO PICTURE OF HIM,

AN INJSTICE,