Ansley Tennis/Golf club(Atlanta)

For the tennis folks in ATL....what is up with this tennis facility? We go over there and it is beautiful facility but it is not the most friendliest place I've been in. How about they will only allow "players" to eat there. Someone told one of the players that they have a introductory fee of like 50 grand to be a member there. One team said that when they went there that there was no food at all. For those of you that don't know, Alta has a set up where the home team provides refeshments and some form of food. It's funny how a club like this is so tight wad but then I go to my own place(Creel Park) where some of the team members are on unemployment and we feed anyone that walks up. What is up with that? To you that play in Atl what do you all think of this?...I just think that is so rude when I'm sure they have taken their husbands or wives to other places and eaten. So what do you atl players think about that? That's the first time I've seen such a thing.

I believe it is common courtesy in Alta to provide food for your opposing team but in no way does Alta require anyone to have refreshments. From my experience the teams that don't provide refreshments have always been the teams in the most upscale neighborhoods and country clubs. I don't know how these places don't serve food though, just the complaining and looks you'd get from your hungry opponents would get to me.

I agree. Sometimes the high-dollar in-town clubs will have a few plates of cookies and sandwiches out, along with some drinks, but nothing like what they could potentially provide.

We had a match at Druid Hills CC last season, and the clay courts were in absolutely horrible condition. It was more like playing on grass than anything resembling clay. Egad.

I guess that's what the unwashed masses deserve?

So the deal is that this club provided food for the opposing team, but not non-players that the opposing team brought with them? How many "extra" people are we talking about? Guess I would have to have more details on how it was handled, but I'm not sure I would consider it rude to provide food only for the players. So if everyone on a team brings their family, all these extra people are expected to be fed as well?

It's not providing a meal, it's more like snacks and water/gatorade/soft drinks. The cost is generally split up by each person playing that day (10 people) and there is normally stuff left over after the match. Generally, anyone attending the match (players and families) are welcome to help themselves, but not be gluttonous about it.

It's not required, but it has become an institution. If your team does not bring at least a little something to the match, it is seen as quite rude and inhospitable. We Southerners aren't usually known for that.

However, the higher-dollar clubs around Atlanta generally take a more lackadaisical approach to their provisions.

I think it is fair that food is for players only. Teams should not be expected to feed spectators. It is rude when the visiting team's guests eat food and there is non left for players, especially the line 5 players who are left with scraps.
Most of the upscale clubs don't have the food courtside. It will be served in the clubhouse and often it is not announced so the visiting team might get the impression that there is no food when actually there is great food.
Worst food is from teams with all young single guys who just stop off at the gas station before the match (chips, drinks, cookies). Best is women's ALTA (home cooked meals).

We had an away match a couple of weeks ago where the home team had the usual cookies, doughnuts, etc. but they also had coolers with about 5 varieties of beer, and different soft drinks. Then they fired up the grill and grilled brats and cheese burgers for everyone (including spectators).

Great bunch of guys. I kinda felt a little guilty bringing a couple of Subway sandwiches for our next home match.

Word on the street is that for our next away match, our opponents generally provide food and water/sodas/gatorade. They have beer available but they make the visiting team buy it. Maybe it's part of their subdivision clubhouse rules or something.

But even that comes off as unfriendly in our low B division where it's generally as much about the beer as it is the tennis. The only other teams that haven't provided beer play out of public parks where it's not allowed. I understand that more than having beer available but keeping it under lock and key from the guests.

chatt_town said:

For the tennis folks in ATL....what is up with this tennis facility? We go over there and it is beautiful facility but it is not the most friendliest place I've been in. How about they will only allow "players" to eat there. Someone told one of the players that they have a introductory fee of like 50 grand to be a member there. One team said that when they went there that there was no food at all. For those of you that don't know, Alta has a set up where the home team provides refeshments and some form of food. It's funny how a club like this is so tight wad but then I go to my own place(Creel Park) where some of the team members are on unemployment and we feed anyone that walks up. What is up with that? To you that play in Atl what do you all think of this?...I just think that is so rude when I'm sure they have taken their husbands or wives to other places and eaten. So what do you atl players think about that? That's the first time I've seen such a thing.

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Oh Ansley...
What a nice facility...and a nice neighborhood.
They surely can come off a bit cold.

However, I had an excellent encounter about a year ago at Ansley.
It was for an ALTA mixed doubles match with my now wife, we were engaged at the time. The team we played against were old hippies with too much $$ but treated us very fairly and bought us beers after to celebrate our engagement and my whole team was offered their taco/nacho/burrito bar for lunch...
This may have been a one-time thing but at least I got some great chicken nachos out of it.
For sure at my club the Buckhead YMCA, our ladies and mens teams bring tons of food, and ladies even bring center piece flowers...a hair over the top but a nice touch.
So, it may just depend on the people, and the level, and the season.

Hey Chatt, do you live in Chattanooga by chance?
I am moving there from Atlanta at the end of October and want to keep playing but not sure where.
Any thoughts?
j (dot) andy (dot) golden (at) gmail (dot) com

Our team (Peachtree City) has played at Ansley twice and had a good time there as well as Druid and the others. They have always had a food bar that was great and we were made to feel welcome.

BTW, we have played at Creel Park as well and the food was better!

well in this particular case we are talking about me and another guy. This is the deal. I was playing at my own home court and a lady brought the subject up of how they were done. It just so happens later that my wife's team played there. So me and two other husbands showed up, but we had already been warned that this was their practice so I never went up and even tried to get anything to keep problems down. The subject was brought up because we were grilling out and basically feeding anyone that walked up. it just amazes me that a team with unemployed members on it's team are willing to provide food and drinks for the other team and whoever that comes with them but a club who reportedly has some fee of around 50 grand can't provide it for their team's home matches. I went to watch a AA3 mixed up 400 somewhere once and they not only provided food...they had some guy in tux out there making sure everything was good. The houses started at like 1 mil or so. You couldn't even get to the website to see the houses without signing up. It was the first time I'd even been in a neighborhood like that. They were very nice people and if you saw them outside the area you wouldn't know they had that kind of money. @ Ansley you were suppose to wait for a golf cart to come and take you down to the courts(not far away at all). It's just amazing at how snooty some people can be.

Tennis Truth said:

So the deal is that this club provided food for the opposing team, but not non-players that the opposing team brought with them? How many "extra" people are we talking about? Guess I would have to have more details on how it was handled, but I'm not sure I would consider it rude to provide food only for the players. So if everyone on a team brings their family, all these extra people are expected to be fed as well?

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I can tell you this. I play line 4 and 5 for my team(as to not have to be in Atlanta at 9) and I can tell you I have enough sense to eat before i go on. I respect the young single guys for at least stopping off and bringing something. I've been playing alta for about 5 years or so and this is the first time I've seen anything like this. I think someone said they even had a sign that said "gals only". Keep in mind again in this instance now we are talking about 3 extra guys and no extra girls. I guess it could be worse on any given day but I just wondered if any of you had dealt with the same thing. You are right...the best food is women's alta. They take the food just as serious as the matches. Wife's ladies team won AA3 this past spring and their table won "best table" or whatever. The guy that did the food went waaaaay overboard and everyone and their mother ate off that table and he had food to take back home. It looked like a buffet.

treo said:

I think it is fair that food is for players only. Teams should not be expected to feed spectators. It is rude when the visiting team's guests eat food and there is non left for players, especially the line 5 players who are left with scraps.
Most of the upscale clubs don't have the food courtside. It will be served in the clubhouse and often it is not announced so the visiting team might get the impression that there is no food when actually there is great food.
Worst food is from teams with all young single guys who just stop off at the gas station before the match (chips, drinks, cookies). Best is women's ALTA (home cooked meals).

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Yea...I do live in Chattanooga. They have some good singles leagues but there are pretty much no doubles leagues worth playing in other than what's offered @ champions. There are some good teams that play in the men's league there. It is shutting down for the winter but it will kick back up in the spring. I have a friend that lets me on the indoor courts at UT Chattanooga but the trick is it's at 1100 at night. Me and another guy have some great matches through the winter. So if you are interested I'll be glad to let you come in and play there if you can hang at 1130 at night. That's about when we get in there.

owtdoorguy said:

Oh Ansley...
What a nice facility...and a nice neighborhood.
They surely can come off a bit cold.

However, I had an excellent encounter about a year ago at Ansley.
It was for an ALTA mixed doubles match with my now wife, we were engaged at the time. The team we played against were old hippies with too much $$ but treated us very fairly and bought us beers after to celebrate our engagement and my whole team was offered their taco/nacho/burrito bar for lunch...
This may have been a one-time thing but at least I got some great chicken nachos out of it.
For sure at my club the Buckhead YMCA, our ladies and mens teams bring tons of food, and ladies even bring center piece flowers...a hair over the top but a nice touch.
So, it may just depend on the people, and the level, and the season.

Hey Chatt, do you live in Chattanooga by chance?
I am moving there from Atlanta at the end of October and want to keep playing but not sure where.
Any thoughts?
j (dot) andy (dot) golden (at) gmail (dot) com

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I've played mixed at Peachtree and that is a nice community and some very nice people. Food was great as well. Met two ladies about a weekend ago at Mcghee that have defected from Peachtree and are playing at Mcghee this season. They were some nice ladies as well.

JSF1 said:

Our team (Peachtree City) has played at Ansley twice and had a good time there as well as Druid and the others. They have always had a food bar that was great and we were made to feel welcome.

BTW, we have played at Creel Park as well and the food was better!

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I swear, I'm moving to Atlanta to join your guys leagues! They seem like so much fun!

-Fuji

I love Alta...it like anything I'm sure has it's draw backs but I've had a lot of fun playing it. I enjoy it. I've met a lot of nice people through Alta.

Fuji said:

I swear, I'm moving to Atlanta to join your guys leagues! They seem like so much fun!

-Fuji

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chatt_town said:

I love Alta...it like anything I'm sure has it's draw backs but I've had a lot of fun playing it. I enjoy it. I've met a lot of nice people through Alta.

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It just seems like such a great way to enjoy tennis! We don't have a lot of social tennis like that around here.

-Fuji

Yea, we don't either for the most part. I've played against a lot of different people. Most of them are very nice. A few ****s but that is to be expected in a pool of something like what is it....70,000? There is always somewhere to stay and of all the parks I frequent, there is a cookout of some sort going on almost every weekend. I start calling as soon as I leave chattanooga and by the time I reach calhoun...I've been invited to about 3 cookouts.

Fuji said:

It just seems like such a great way to enjoy tennis! We don't have a lot of social tennis like that around here.

-Fuji

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I play for an ALTA team out of Alpharetta, so we don't get down into the city for matches much unless it's for the playoffs, so I can't say too much about Ansley. I do know that most teams provide a decent spread of sandwiches, chips, fruit and cookies for most matches. For USTA when it's warm out our team will break out the grill and we'll have brats and dogs for everyone. We also feed whoever is there. If they are there and there's enough food, they're more than welcome to eat.

Thats the way it should be.

Dave_D said:

I play for an ALTA team out of Alpharetta, so we don't get down into the city for matches much unless it's for the playoffs, so I can't say too much about Ansley. I do know that most teams provide a decent spread of sandwiches, chips, fruit and cookies for most matches. For USTA when it's warm out our team will break out the grill and we'll have brats and dogs for everyone. We also feed whoever is there. If they are there and there's enough food, they're more than welcome to eat.

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chollyred said:

Then they fired up the grill and grilled brats and cheese burgers for everyone (including spectators).

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Sounds like you had a TOTALLY different treatment. It sounds like it really depends on the captain.

chatt_town said:

Thats the way it should be.

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This is some quality rhetoric regarding food and tennis.
I work currently at the Buckhead YMCA as the Tennis Manager under our Head Pro and it is quite a production when the ladies get out there on thursdays and sundays.
What is funnier is that I will accidentally get added to their team emails as a CC and get all their Reply All's about who is bringing what and who is in charge of the tables centerpieces of flower arrangements!!!
Hilarious!
Anyway, I have been blessed to not only work at a nice facility but also play tennis there for free as well. As I am moving to Chatt at the end of the month and leaving my job for my wife to continue working for Mem hospital as a social worker, I know i will have to find somewhere to play in Chatt.
Thanks to chatt_town for the thoughts and information! I look forward to playing with you and others in chatt very soon indeed!

We will definately get you hooked up. Like I said...not much goes on here in the Winter league wise, but if you are willing to play at 1130 at night...I do singles that late. I have a regular playing partner but I will be glad to work you in if your schedule permits. I normally have crew come up from atl when it gets real cold on Friday night and we run some mixed...again starting around 1130 and we play until no one can hit any more balls. When the spring gets back going, I'll get you hooked up with the champions singles leagues. If you have some extra cash you can join Manker Patten or the Raquet Club.

owtdoorguy said:

This is some quality rhetoric regarding food and tennis.
I work currently at the Buckhead YMCA as the Tennis Manager under our Head Pro and it is quite a production when the ladies get out there on thursdays and sundays.
What is funnier is that I will accidentally get added to their team emails as a CC and get all their Reply All's about who is bringing what and who is in charge of the tables centerpieces of flower arrangements!!!
Hilarious!
Anyway, I have been blessed to not only work at a nice facility but also play tennis there for free as well. As I am moving to Chatt at the end of the month and leaving my job for my wife to continue working for Mem hospital as a social worker, I know i will have to find somewhere to play in Chatt.
Thanks to chatt_town for the thoughts and information! I look forward to playing with you and others in chatt very soon indeed!

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