Planting new seeds

All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club to reopen with Alex J. Kuhn Invitational

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Mark Kuhn posed the question that even he — at that moment — didn’t know the answer to.

“How many pickets do you think are in this fence?” Kuhn said of bright-white and spring-green enclosure that surrounds the renowned grass tennis court on Kuhn’s 850-acre farm.

“We might use that for a prize quiz question for the kids.”

Kuhn will likely find out the number the hard way as he was involved in painstakingly painting each one of the pickets — which were all hand-made with a jigsaw years ago by his sons Alex and Mason — for a special memorial event later this month at the homemade court’s site since labeled the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club.

“Painting the outside white and the inside green can be pretty tricky,” Kuhn said while explaining that the green on this inside is much more optically friendly for players.

“And there are a few pickets that may have to be replaced.”

One of these pickets is without the top half of its topping circle, but you might forgive Kuhn for letting it be.

“Alex did that with one of his serves,” Kuhn said of the younger of his two sons. “He had a big serve, and he loved playing out here.

“This is where he spent some of the happiest moments of his life.”

Alex also enjoyed spending time at another place that in some ways very similar to the AILTC — Wimbledon.

During the 2015 Championships, Mark and Alex — due to various connections and friendships procured throughout the years — were granted primo access and wrote about their experiences and encounters with the locals and the players for a Rochester newspaper and a later-published book.

Alex even documented his brief light-hearted exchange with Rafael Nadal, who just won his record-setting 10th French Open on Sunday.

The elder Kuhn returned to Wimbledon the following year where he served as honorable court attendant on Centre Court.

“It’s all because of this place,” Kuhn said of the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club which he, with help of his family, built in 2003 after Kuhn followed through on a dream that was planted during his childhood when he use to listen to International Tennis Hall of Famer Jack Kramer call Wimbledon matches on his father’s short-wave radio.

Kuhn’s impeccable court, which is laser-mowed and includes Wimbledon-replica wooden net posts, caught the attention of The New York Times, which did a double-truck photo feature on the AILTC; and Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim, who did a short documentary “Court of Dreams” that ran during the 2011 Championships.

“They say ‘Build it and they will come’, but I built this and I was able to go over there because this caught the attention of the right people,” said Kuhn, who also interned at Wimbledon 2013, but his recent Centre Court service is his ultimate experience.

“And I learned so much when it comes to, as they say, ‘dressing the court’,” Kuhn said.

It was proving to be a summer to celebrate. But shortly after Mark returned home from over the pond, Alex committed suicide. He was 34 years old.

“We were devastated,” Kuhn said. “It came as such a shock.”

Like his father, Alex was active in politics as he served on the Mason City Council since 2011.

“He was also very active with youths,” Kuhn said of Alex, who is survived by his two sons, Rylan (12) and Collan (8). “He coached youth baseball, basketball … football, even tennis as the boys are pretty good players.”

After Kuhn returned from Wimbledon, he learned that he and his wife, Denise, had 68 reservation requests from lawn-surface aficionado tennis players across the country who wanted to play a match or two at the AILTC.

“We don’t charge anything, but we do request you make a reservation if you want to play here,” Kuhn said. “But after Alex died, we had to contact these people and say that we wouldn’t be able to accomodate them.

“They understood. They knew we were grieving and they sent their condolences,” Kuhn said. “So for the rest of last summer, no one played on this court.”

And no one has played on it since.

Yet the inactive court has not gone to seed. With his increased knowledge of the ideal Wimbledon playing surface, Kuhn decided to strip the old grass off his court and replace it with rye grass, which is used at Wimbledon.

“We also needed to replace our irrigation system,” Kuhn said. “We decided with no one playing on the court for the rest of the summer, that would have been a good time to do it.”

The All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club will officially reopen the weekend of June 23-24 for the Alex J. Kuhn Memorial Invitational.

The 12-and-under event will feature team challenge play between the top youth players from Iowa and Minnesota.

“Alex was always involved with the youth in his community, and we want to keep that spirit alive,” Kuhn said.

Assisting Kuhn in putting together the invitational is Charles City tennis coach Brian Parrott, who plans to hold a youth clinic at the AILTC during the weekend.

“We want this to be a community event to help get more kids involved in tennis,” Parrott said. “I want to see the big wrestler to come out here and see what tennis is all about. I want to see the baseball shortstop … golfer come out here. There are a lot of skills you can learn in tennis that can make you a better athlete.”

It can also be a learning experience for already established tennis players.

“There are different challenges in playing on grass,” Parrott said. “You’re not always going to get that true bounce, and you may have to slice the ball more often on your returns.

“The ball moves faster on grass, and it often gets heavier as the game goes on so you can serve harder.”

During the event, the court will be named in Alex’s honor. Plans are to have the Alex J. Kuhn Memorial Invitational as an annual event at the AILTC.

“It will be a way to instill important values of fair play and sportsmanship in kids,” Kuhn said. “Also, hopefully this will encourage anyone in need of help to seek professional counseling in dealing with depression.”

For more information about the Alex J. Kuhn Memorial Invitational, visit the website www.ailtc.net or go to the Alex J. Kuhn Invitational Facebook page.