BECK COLUMN: Spectacular Wild Dunes aging quite impressively
ISLE OF PALMS -- Wild Dunes was in its heyday before Hurricane Hugo hit the Isle of Palms resort in September 1989. The U.S. Men's Clay Courts appeared to have found a home then.
The portable stadium at the racquet club wasn't huge, its 3,500 or so seats no match for the 10,000-seat Family Circle Cup Stadium that sprung up on Daniel Island a little more than a decade later. In that sense, Wild Dunes tennis may never be the same.
The U.S. Clay Courts that helped Andre Agassi launch his Hall of Fame career with a title in 1988 was pushed by Hugo to Kiawah for a year and never returned to the area after that. The Clay Courts now appear to have found a permanent home at Houston's River Oaks Country Club.
Take the scenic drive from the Wild Dunes security gate to the racquet club area, and you might wonder why this absolutely spectacular resort no longer has grand prix tennis. But the racquet club is doing better than fine as the tennis centerpiece of the No. 5 tennis resort in the world by Tennis Resorts Online.
The racquet club is surrounded by the country club-styled golf clubhouse and the elegant 10,000-square-foot Sweetgrass Pavilion meeting facility, which replaced the old swimming pool and parking lot. Across the street, the Boardwalk Inn is now shadowed by phase one of The Village condo complex. The area has aged impressively.
On this Friday afternoon out on the lone hard court of the 18-court complex, tennis director Charly Rasheed is giving a lesson to Jonathan Edwards, the 16-year-old son of Lowcountry Tennis Association president Ken Edwards. They're playing points, and of course Rasheed is right at home. He was the state's player of the year for 2011.
"We're doing a ton of group business," Rasheed pointed out about the tennis activity.
Opened in the late 1970s, Wild Dunes has served as the host of the Super Senior state tournament the last four years. The state tennis association's annual meeting and banquet was held here in the fall. Both events are scheduled to return this year.
Rasheed arrived at Wild Dunes in 2005 from Lexington's Top Spin Racquet Club.
Wild Dunes seminar
Rasheed is preparing for Saturday's full-day seminar with noted sports psychology guru Dr. Jay Granat at Wild Dunes. The 9 a.m.-4 p.m. seminar will include three hours in a classroom setting and three hours of instructions on the tennis courts, along with lunch.
The seminar will focus on making participants aware of tennis' mind-body interaction, and how to conquer the psychological barriers participants encounter.
Jonathan Edwards and Rasheed speak highly of Granat's instructions. Edwards points to a session with Granat back in the fall for improving his approach to the game.
Granat, a psychotherapist and the founder of StayInTheZone.com as well as the author of several sports psychology books, has appeared on many major media outlets, including Good Morning America, ESPN and CBS. He has been featured in Tennis Magazine and Sports Illustrated.
Registration for the seminar is $89 by contacting (201) 647-9191 or emailing info@stayinthezone.com.
'Big' Leagues
The local adult 3.5 men's league has 26 teams, divided into two divisions. Twelve matches is a long season, especially when only one of the 13 teams in each division apparently will earn a bid to the local playoffs. As teams fall out of playoff contention, it's not unusual for players to lose some interest in the face of the numerous conflicts that the spring presents.
--The LCTA's captain's meeting will be held Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the main Charleston County Library on Calhoun Street.
Reach James Beck at jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. See his columns on pro tennis at ubitennis.com/english.
