Pine Hollow Country Club Hosts End-of-Season Championships
At the end of every summer, the best singles and doubles players who play at Pine Hollow Country Club compete in the Club Championships. This yearly tradition goes back decades, but this summer saw history made, with husband-wife Matt and Jessica Grossman sweeping all five events.
“What’s awesome about both Matt and Jessica winning the Triple Crown is that they have kept up the tradition and culture here of our strongest players being even better people,” said Ricky Becker, Pine Hollow’s Director of Tennis.
It began with Jessica Grossman & Jen Shuster defeating Alli Schwartz & Amanda Porlnutter to win the Women’s Doubles division. Later that same day, Matt Grossman & Neil Shmuely paired together to win the Men’s Doubles event, beating Ricky Spike & Steve Soifer in the championship.
The Grossmans then defeated Shmuely & Schwartz to win the Mixed Doubles final, leaving just the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles events left to be won.
Grossman would square off against Schmuely in the Men’s Singles final, and won 6-0, 6-1, although the scoreline did not reflect how competitive the match was.
Matt Grossman comes to net to hit a volley during the Men’s Singles final
“Neil and I played and won the doubles event together, and we’ve been playing a lot of tennis the last few days,” said Grossman. “This was a real fight. If a couple points in that first set go the other way, we’re going to have a very different scoreline. I was happy I was able to come through.”
Becker added:
“I thought our men’s singles division this year was easily the strongest men’s singles tournament we have had since I’ve been here.”
Neil Shmuely sets up for a forehand shot against Grossman in the championship match
To close out the Championships, the Women’s Singles final saw Grossman take on Schwartz.
Jessica Grossman and Alli Schwartz prior to the Women’s Singles final
Grossman completed the sweep for her and her husband, notching a 6-1, 6-1 victory to become the first couple to win all five Pine Hollow Country Club Championships.
“For us, we try to keep our home life separate from the court, but to have that competitive fire amongst us, it’s a great help. I’m really proud of her,” said Grossman. “It’s awesome. This has been our first season at the club, and it’s been fantastic. The people are wonderful and we’ve enjoyed immersing ourselves in the community. There was some great tennis as well, and we’re really happy about it.”
