Tennis column, Teaching young guns

There is no lack of private tennis clubs or top-notch teaching

professionals in the area. But when it comes to specializing in beginner

lessons, Cari Garfield of the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis

Club has cornered the kids’ market.

While Garfield has carved a niche in the sport’s age demographics --

“starting kids off right,” she said of her emphasis -- the former Orange

Coast College standout and NCAA All-American from Cal State Bakersfield

has also authored and published children’s books.

An ex-pro softball player and shortstop for the Santa Ana Lionettes in

the 1970s, Garfield started playing tennis late (age 15) for someone who

would win Ojai and state community college titles.

But what she didn’t do as a child -- play tennis -- she’s doing now

full steam ahead.

The 10-year Marriott teaching veteran is booked solid for lessons.

Seems, almost, every set of parents in Newport Beach with a child

dreaming of becoming the next Lindsay Davenport is signing up their

youngsters for early tutelage.

“There’s a three-month waiting list,” gladly reported Garfield, who

isn’t afraid of seven-day-a-week shifts in a career that includes pro-am

participation for charity fund-raisers and her own play in the USTA

women’s senior circuit (35s).

“I really care about fundamentals, and strokes are real important,”

said Garfield, who also teaches adults and wheelchair players.

Garfield, who has coached for about 22 years, got the ball rolling for

current Corona del Mar High sensation Anne Yelsey and Newport Coast

standout Brittany Reitz.

Garfield, who accepted a tennis scholarship to CS Bakersfield because

of the school’s reputation for television and news writing, wrote poems

and short stories for children in her first published book, then penned a

sports book entitled: “After All, It’s Just a Ball.”

She speaks in school classrooms and special events, like the recent

Spirit Run, but the bulk of Garfield’s time is devoted to teaching kids

the right form on the hard courts.

“I chose a different (career) direction,” said Garfield, 38, adding

that “99% of my kids have made high school teams.”

Two months after Garfield picked up her first tennis racket, she made

the Fountain Valley High varsity team and played No. 1 singles, a spot

she held for two years. She later played No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles

for Coach Janice Maran’s Pirates.

“I didn’t have a lot of coaching (growing up), so I was self-taught,”

Garfield said. “I did what I could by reading books and watching TV. We

didn’t have the funding for coaching when I was a kid.”

Robyn Ray, director of the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Tennis

Club, once said Garfield could’ve been one of the world’s top players

with her serve-and-volley game, had she started playing sooner in life.

Details: (949) 723-4630.

The Newport Beach Tennis Club, which is reportedly ready to change

ownership hands with Steven Joyce taking over Nov. 1, hosted a

successful, day-long corporate outing Saturday for Merrill Lynch’s

heaviest investment hitters, NBTC head pro Bernie Mitton said.

The outing included a clinic, contests, a pro exhibition, food and

round-robin play for the 50 or so Wall Street types. Mitton, Alvin

Gardner and NBTC Director of Tennis Ellen Bryant were among the pros in

the exhibition.

Newport Beach’s Brandis Braverman and former resident Alexandra

McGoodwin (training at an academy in Florida) are competing in the

$50,000 USTA Women’s Challenger at Largo, Fla., this week.

McGoodwin, 14, is still an amateur, but has started playing the pro

challenger and satellite circuits, according to Newport Beach Marriott

instructor and UCLA assistant women’s tennis coach Rance Brown. Brown

helped launch McGoodwin’s career.

The Newport Beach Tennis Club’s Senior Team has been invited and will

play in the Australian National Senior Men’s Championships at Adelaide,

Australia, Jan. 15-20.

In April, Newport Beach defeated Australia, 2-1, to win the World

Championship at the Phoenix Challenge for senior men in Palm Springs.

Newport Beach went on to capture the U.S. national title, as well,

becoming only the second team to accomplish the rare double.

Following the Australian National Senior Men’s event, team members at

Newport Beach have been invited to attend the Australian Open.

Newport Beach captain Gene Nalbandian has arranged for special travel

plans to tour Australia and watch the Open during a 15-day venture.

Details: (949) 723-2888.

Several local clubs will host opening-round matches of the 13th annual

Top Gun Tournament at SeaCliff Tennis Club in Huntington Beach Nov. 13-14

and Nov. 20-21. The deadline to enter the event is Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.

The tournament, which benefits the Huntington Youth Shelter, offers

$8,000 in Open division prize money. Details: (714) 536-9368.

Richard Dunn is the Daily Pilot tennis columnist.