The rules are simple; competitors play with wood racquets and must wear traditional all-white apparel on grass courts. Sportsmanship is expected and a code of conduct is enforced. The Woody has developed into a favorite "retreat" for players and their families from all parts of the country, attracting both club level players and teaching pro's, collegiate standouts and former touring pro's. "One of the fun challenges of The Woody is accommodating players of all ages and abilities while keeping it competitive in every round" says Granville Swope, Woody co-founder. Together with Jim Settles the two remain both tournament directors and competitors. "These days the white apparel is nearly as 'retro' as the wood racquets," says Jim, "...it's a visual experience as well as a competitive one."

Our Special thanks to Bill and Meredith Asher who will once again host The Woody at PGA West in La Quinta, California. Since our first meeting in 1996, the Asher's have adopted our event and are our most loyal fans and supporters. Thank you Bill and Meredith!

The format for The Woody is doubles round robin; rotating both partners and opponents in every round. Twelve games are played each round through ten rounds (the equivalent of ten close sets!). The top eight point (game) earners advance to the second round where they are paired into teams for the top remainder of the tournament. In the event of a point tie, a twelve point singles tie breaker between those players will determine the winner. If multiple ties occur (which it has) than a tie breaker singles round robin will be played. The semifinals and finals are best of three sets, no tie breaker in the third set. The champions take home a hand turned wood (mahogany) tennis ball and their names engraved on The Woody Tennis Championships® perpetual trophy (seen at the top of the page).

Stephen Higginbotham rounds out the tournament committee to three members. An avid tennis player he opts not to play so as to remain neutral in the event a deciding overrule is needed. In addition to Steve's tournament activities he is coordinating our modest fundraising efforts, including a developing relationship with the Silver Lining Foundation. Steve is a freelance sports photographer and is responsible for most of the action photographs displayed in this site.