Why no clay courts in California?

Sudacafan

Sudacafan

Talk Tennis Guru
tenniscan said:
Palm Beach Gardens Tennis Center in Palm Beach Gardens FL. 20 perfect clay courts. Public. Also Jimmy Evert Tennis Center, Ft Lauderdale. Naples has a nice public clay facility. Lots of them in Florida. Also many in Europe
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Thanks much for your timely response. I also asked about grass public courts.
 
socallefty

socallefty

Hall of Fame
RCI in Irvine (Orange County) has six green clay courts. You have to constantly water them after every set as they get dry quickly. Rancho Valencia resort near San Diego has two nice red clay courts that play different from green clay - more bounce and less slippery maybe because they are well maintained.
 
M

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
socallefty said:
RCI in Irvine (Orange County) has six green clay courts. You have to constantly water them after every set as they get dry quickly. Rancho Valencia resort near San Diego has two nice red clay courts that play different from green clay - more bounce and less slippery maybe because they are well maintained.
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I set foot on RCI’s green clay court when I was there to watch a futures event a few years ago and was surprised to see how grippy they were. There was no give at all that it felt more like super gritty sandpaper. Nothing like red clay at all. Lol. Where in SoCal are you?
 
socallefty

socallefty

Hall of Fame
mad dog1 said:
I set foot on RCI’s green clay court when I was there to watch a futures event a few years ago and was surprised to see how grippy they were. There was no give at all that it felt more like super gritty sandpaper. Nothing like red clay at all. Lol. Where in SoCal are you?
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I live in South OC. I joined RCI a few years ago to see if the clay would be easier on my joints, but I did not enjoy that clay at all - many bad bounces and slippery footing. It is nothing like the red clay I have played on in other countries. While my knee was fine, I felt that it was putting extra strain on my calf and ankles trying to get good footing on the dry clay due to insufficient hydration - they don’t have an underground watering system and rely on sprinklers. So, I stopped being a member after a year and play mostly in Laguna Niguel.
 
M

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
socallefty said:
I live in South OC. I joined RCI a few years ago to see if the clay would be easier on my joints, but I did not enjoy that clay at all - many bad bounces and slippery footing. It is nothing like the red clay I have played on in other countries. While my knee was fine, I felt that it was putting extra strain on my calf and ankles trying to get good footing on the dry clay due to insufficient hydration - they don’t have an underground watering system and rely on sprinklers. So, I stopped being a member after a year and play mostly in Laguna Niguel.
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Yeah, I stepped onto the court, felt the surface and didn’t like it at all. The gray clay at Burbank tennis center is more slippery like red clay. Still not as good as red clay but better than the RCI green clay.

You’re really far down south in the OC. I’m in Diamond Bar. None of my hitting partners are lefties so if we were closer, I’d love to meet up and hit.
 
heftylefty

heftylefty

Hall of Fame
Way back in the day, there were two clay court in Lawndale, CA that bubby from college and I would play on. This was in the late '80s. One day the owner tells us to keep an eyes on kid who just finishing working out there. The kid was Michael Chang.
 
Cashman

Cashman

Hall of Fame
mad dog1 said:
I set foot on RCI’s green clay court when I was there to watch a futures event a few years ago and was surprised to see how grippy they were. There was no give at all that it felt more like super gritty sandpaper. Nothing like red clay at all. Lol. Where in SoCal are you?
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Yeah, I found green clay surprisingly different to red clay - almost more like a slow hardcourt in some ways.
 
WildVolley

WildVolley

Legend
MaxTennis said:
I played against @navigator on Har-Tru back in 2015. I think that's only the second or third time I played on Har-Tru and first time I played a set? It was tough to get used to.
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I've played on that court, had some crazy bounces and there was a bit of a drop off behind the baseline.

Probably less than a mile away are La Costa's red clay courts. I've walked on them, but never played on them.
 
Papa Mango

Papa Mango

Semi-Pro
We found a private red clay court in the bay area that the person is renting out (there was an ad in the tennis magazine).
We were booked to go on 3/20/20.... Bay area went SIP on 3/16/20... :(
Still have hope that we'll be able to go this year.
 
G

gooberwho

Rookie
Papa Mango said:
We found a private red clay court in the bay area that the person is renting out (there was an ad in the tennis magazine).
We were booked to go on 3/20/20.... Bay area went SIP on 3/16/20... :(
Still have hope that we'll be able to go this year.
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I think I recall seeing that ad in more recent Inside Tennis issues in the second half of 2020. Has she canceled all reservations?
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
WildVolley said:
I've played on that court, had some crazy bounces and there was a bit of a drop off behind the baseline.

Probably less than a mile away are La Costa's red clay courts. I've walked on them, but never played on them.
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I play on Har Tru almost exclusively. That court is WAY too dry.
 
Papa Mango

Papa Mango

Semi-Pro
gooberwho said:
I think I recall seeing that ad in more recent Inside Tennis issues in the second half of 2020. Has she canceled all reservations?
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Don't know. Haven't checked to see if she is open.
Even if she was, it would weird going to someone's place during this time and one of my buddies that was supposed to go with has a parent living with them so he aint going anyway.

The ad might have been paid for, for a set number of magazine issues.
 
T

tennistiger

Semi-Pro
GeoffHYL said:
They do take regular work to maintain. You have to run a big brush over the court every so often to clear the lines and even out the clay. The big advantage of clay courts is they dry off quickly after rain, and since rain is not a big issue in California, there really isn't a compelling reason to install them here.
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Main advantage of clay courts is that they are much more comfortable for your body.
 
socallefty

socallefty

Hall of Fame
tennistiger said:
Main advantage of clay courts is that they are much more comfortable for your body.
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Yes and no. If it is Har-Tru and not watered enough (like at RCI), it can be easy on your knees while being tough on your calves and ankles due to being too slippery.
 
S

struggle

Legend
We've got a 12 clay court (har-tru) public park in Asheville, NC. No, play isn't free (was this year due to Covid), but hey......
we have a public clay court facility from March/April-November.

Otherwise, my club (2 locations) has 25 or so clay (har-tru and hydro-court) courts as do several other locations in town
(not as many at the other clubs).

Winter, we play indoor or outdoor hard (we have 10 indoor hardcourts and 10 or so outdoors, we also Host the UNC Asheville
mens and womens teams on the property as they got rid of their on campus courts and some funds have co-mingled to build them a small
6 court facility on club property which is available to all unless they are practicing and/or having matches).

Brevard NC has two INDOOR clay courts...... It's just down the road. They don't get re-done enough since they don't see the winter freeze.....
 
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Z

zipplock

Hall of Fame
Clay courts out here are Har-Tru. I don't consider them true clay. For me red clay is a true clay court, Har-Tru something of a hybrid between clay and hard. My experience is that Har-Tru gives more unpredictable bounces than either hard courts or red clay.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
struggle said:
We've got a 12 clay court (har-tru) public park in Asheville, NC. No, play isn't free (was this year due to Covid), but hey......
we have a public clay court facility from March/April-November.

Otherwise, my club (2 locations) has 25 or so clay (har-tru and hydro-court) courts as do several other locations in town
(not as many at the other clubs).

Winter, we play indoor or outdoor hard (we have 10 indoor hardcourts and 10 or so outdoors, we also Host the UNC Asheville
mens and womens teams on the property as they got rid of their on campus courts and some funds have co-mingled to build them a small
6 court facility on club property which is available to all unless they are practicing and/or having matches).

Brevard NC has two INDOOR clay courts...... It's just down the road. They don't get re-done enough since they don't see the winter freeze.....
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I've been eyeballing up there for summer retirement homes because of all the clay courts.
 
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eshin213

New User
I just got back from the JW Marriott in Palm Desert and they have 15 hard, 3 clay, and 2 grass courts. Unfortunately, the grass courts looked like they were being worked on with the posts removed. Their facility is called Desert Springs PBI Tennis Club.
 
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tennis tom

Legend
Tennis Channel is re-airing a Champions Series event now on Har-Tru from Heathrow CC in Orlando with players such as Tommy Haas, Robbie Ginepri, Vince Spadea if you want to see what Har-Tru tennis looks like.
 
T

TennisFreak004

New User
GrandSlam45 said:
I get envious watching a lot of tennis videos from the East coast. There seems to be a ton of clay courts there. Here in California there is virtually no clay. Every court is hard. Why?

I can't imagine it would be weather related. Are they too hard to maintain?
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There's quite a bit of Har-Tru but for the most part there isn't any real clay courts on the West Coast as far as I know.
 
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