JORDAN OTTERBEIN

Richard Dunn

Whether it’s business, family or tennis, picking a good partner is

important, and, as former Corona del Mar High doubles standout Jordan

Otterbein has discovered, what goes around comes around.

Otterbein, a two-time CIF Southern Section doubles champion who

grew up admiring Rod Laver and later hitting with the Australian

left-hander at Newport Beach Tennis Club in the early 1970s,

appreciates his CIF titles more now than he did in 1975 and ‘76, when

he teamed with Jim Curley his sophomore and junior years to capture

the top prize.

“As sophomores, we didn’t know how the whole thing worked, but

everybody said how great it was,” said Otterbein, whose doubles team

upset the top-seeded squad from Dos Pueblos, John Sanford and Eric

Peterson, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, after staving off a remarkable five match

points in the second set.

Otterbein and Curley, who also reached the 16s doubles finals that

year at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, were no longer an unknown

quantity their junior years. The defending champions from CdM

defeated Bob Corneilson and Jim Slaught of San Marino, 7-5, 6-2, in

the 1976 CIF championship doubles match. They remain the only players

in Orange County history to win back-to-back CIF doubles titles with

the same partner. (Current CdM standout Garrett Snyder has won two

straight titles with two different partners.)

As a change of pace, Otterbein and Curley played with different

doubles partners their senior year in 1977 and both lost in the

semifinals. “I guess we probably should’ve stayed together,”

Otterbein said.

Under Coach Dennis Trout, Corona del Mar won CIF large-school

division team titles in Otterbein’s sophomore, junior and senior

years, the beginning of an unprecedented run of six straight CIF

championships for the Sea Kings (1975 through ‘80, a streak later

surpassed by Santa Barbara).

“We were just wiping people out,” said Otterbein, with played

doubles his senior year mostly with Kevin Forbes, now a teaching pro

at Newport Beach Tennis Club.

Growing up at Newport Beach Tennis Club, Otterbein was coached by

club pro Jim Ogle and also remembers Laver and Roy Emerson practicing

at the club, after the two stars moved to Newport Beach.

After high school, Otterbein would work tennis camps at the club,

and, on special occasions, get an opportunity to hit with his idols.

“Those are two of the greatest gentlemen in sports,” Otterbein said

of Laver and Emerson.

Otterbein earned a tennis scholarship to NCAA Division II Rollins

College in Winter Park, Fla., a small private school that was smaller

than Corona del Mar High.

But, after one year of playing No. 1 doubles, Otterbein returned

home. “It was just kind of far away,” he said, “and it was such a

small school, I didn’t enjoy it that much.”

Aside from a few local tournaments, like the Adoption Guild Tennis

Tournament, Otterbein stopped playing competitive tennis after

checking out of college.

Following a stint in acting school, Otterbein met his eventual

wife, Beth, and for the past 14 years has worked in the marketing and

advertising business.

“Everything that has become good or successful, however small the

success has been in my life, is because I’ve surrounded myself with

good partners, including, on a smaller scale, tennis partners,”

Otterbein said. “But the bigger, grander scale is having loving

parents (Keith and Jackie). I was brought up in a great home and a

loving atmosphere, and I’ve realized that not only have I had great

partners in sports, but also a great partner in my wife, and we’re

trying to do the same thing with our kids with a loving atmosphere.

Then I realized how much my parents enjoyed watching me play sports,

and now there’s another generation, and I see how much fun it is to

watch our kids.”

Otterbein, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of

Fame, and his wife of 18 years have four daughters: Madison, 17;

Paige, 13; Megan, 11; and Gracie, 6. They live in Newport Beach.