Tournament Winners - 2023/24

Spring Hurlingham Shield - Sunday 23rd April - winning man: Rob Nicholson, winning lady: Sarah Grey

The Rosebowl - Thursday 15th June - won by Carolyn Scarff and Mike Keat

Men’s and Ladies Singles - May to October - Finals played Sunday 22nd October. Ladies winner - Sue Brown Men’s winner - Gary Bickle

First Thursday of the Month Hurlingham - October - winning man: David Brown, winning lady: Sue Burges

Autumn Hurlingham Trophies - Saturday 14th October - winning man: David Brown, winning lady: Val Leafe

Festive Hurlingham - Saturday 16th December - winning man: Adrian Riddock, winning ladies: Joan Coney and Sarah Grey

First Thursday of the Month Hurlingham - January - actually played on Saturday 6th - winning man: Paul Constantine, winning lady: Joan Coney

First Thursday of the Month Hurlingham - February - winning man: John Brooks, winning lady: Joan Coney

First Thursday of the Month Hurlingham - March - winning man: John Brooks, winning ladies: Joan Coney and Clare Pelling

Walking Quiz devised by David and Joan Coney 10 June 2023

Activators are Go!

In an attempt to reduce the average age of the club membership and increase the longevity of the club, in October 2023 we successfully introduced Parent/Play at the Bude Haven REC. Children aged 5 and upwards and any ability can attend with a parent(s)/guardian (who are encouraged to participate too!) on a Tuesday evening 4 – 5pm.

Several Bude Tennis Club members have undertaken online training and safeguarding on how to run sessions; the remit is not coaching but to facilitate play with a great deal of activity and enjoyment.

Some comments from the attending Juniors;

"The coaches are great, I always have lots of fun, the sessions are always different with fun warm ups, games and matches."

"I want it to be daily not just every week."

"I just love tennis and it's fun doing different things each week."

"I enjoy the fun games at tennis."

"I get to make new friends and enjoy some activities."

"The warm up was fun and I felt the session was good for all ages, which I really enjoyed."

"I enjoy playing games with others and it's really fun."

"Really kind teachers and they listen to us - we got to play dodge ball."

Closely Fought Tennis Tournament - Saturday 14th October 2023

The Bude Tennis Club autumn Hurlingham Tournament held last Saturday was extremely well attended with twenty-two club members all vying to win the trophy on a breezy but sunny morning.

The Hurlingham is a mixed doubles event where matches are played that consist of five games. After each match, the winning man moves one court up and the winning lady moves one court down. The losing pair split up and play against each other in the next match with new partners. It is a fun format where you get to play with lots of different people over the course of a couple of hours. All abilities can participate together and last Saturday the breezy conditions proved to be a good leveller too.

The individual scores were tallied and double checked before the winners were announced: Val Leafe was the leading lady (18.5), Sharon Box second (18) and Ann Mason third (17.5). David Brown was the leading man (19.5) with Adrian Riddock and Sarah Grey (honorary man) tied for second place (18.5).

A spectacular sharing lunch with a great variety of gastronomical delights was then thoroughly enjoyed by all. 

Autumn Hurlingham Participants 2023

Summer Singles Finals - Sunday 22nd October 2023

Bude Tennis Club held their men’s and ladies Singles finals on Sunday 22nd October, and these finals were watched and enjoyed by several Club members. The men's final was between Gary Bickle and last year's winner, Andrew Troop. This turned out to be a high quality close match over 3 sets. Gary won the first set 6-2, Andrew the second 6-3. The third set was a thriller with Gary finally winning it by 6 games to 4.  The ladies final, between Sue Brown and Val Leafe, was another good match to watch. Again, the rallies were long with Val doing a lot of court coverage, but Sue usually managed to find the winning shot, winning in two sets, 6-1 6-3, and thus retaining the trophy she won last year. The trophies were presented by Mike Keat who commented how impressed he was with the standard of play. Mike himself had won the Bude men's singles trophy for 40 years in succession many, many years ago!  Despite the passage of time, he is still competitive and had just returned from competing in the World over 80s Tournament in Majorca, which he enjoyed even though he was unsuccessful. 

Men's Singles Final 2023 - Winner Gary Bickle, runner up Andrew Troop

Ladies Singles Final 2023 - Winner Sue Brown, runner up Val Leafe

Mike Keat at the World Over 80s Tournament in Majorca 2023

Fun, Festive Hurlingham

On Saturday 16 December 2023, nineteen players and a handful of spectators braved the mizzle for the last tournament of the year. It was great to see so many members partaking in the mixed doubles Hurlingham, and for once we had more men than ladies, which was excellent news!

The leading men were, in third place, John Brooks, in second place, Paul Ferris and the overall winner and huge congratulations to Adrian Riddock!

The leading women were, in second place, Sharon Box and in joint first place and huge congratulations to Joan Coney and Sarah Grey!

At the conclusion of the tournament mince pies, yule log and other festive treats were enjoyed in the clubhouse just as the rain was settling in for the afternoon.