Northern California

USTA NorCal Hall of Fame

2019 Inductees
2018 Inductees
2017 Inductees

2023 Hall of Fame

USTA Northern California is proud to honor the Hall of Fame class of 2023:

 

 

The 2023 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Luncheon will be held on Friday, September 29, 2023, at the Round Hill Country Club in Alamo, CA. Registration is now closed. Feel free to contact USTA NorCal at marketing@norcal.usta.com for any questions or concerns regarding the Hall of Fame event.

We would like to extend a special thank you to our sponsor Vintage Contractors, Inc. for helping us honor these outstanding inductees. We are pleased to congratulate this class of outstanding players.

To see photos from the 2022 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Luncheon, click here. We hope to see you this year to honor a new class of inductees in 2023. 

The USTA Northern California Hall of Fame was established in 1974 to recognize outstanding players, coaches or individuals’ contributions to growing the game of tennis in Northern California.

USTA Northern California Hall of Fame History

The USTA Northern California Hall of Fame was founded in 1974 by Elmer Griffin.  A retired investment banker, Elmer started two clubs in his career, including the Beverly Hills Country Club. 

 

Since its inception, the Hall of Fame has honored hundreds of men and women for their dedication and contributions to the game of tennis.

ELMER GRIFFIN

He was the youngest of three brothers. His oldest brother, Peck, went on to fame as Bill Johnston's doubles partner, and Mervyn, who was a fine tennis player in his own right, is now best remembered for his son, Merv. Jr., the television mogul.

 

Elmer had taken great care in asking around NorCal to see if there was enough interest in a hall for him to secure the sponsorship of the USTA Northern California section. USTA NorCal has handled the operation ever since. An induction committee annually nominates and selects the inductees.

 

The first class of inductees totaled 31 was the Hall's biggest ever. It included Don Budge, Helen Wills Moody Roark, Helen Jacobs, Alice Marble and Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman. The Hall of Fame held enshrinement ceremonies in 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1979, inducting a total of 56 individuals.

 

After Elmer's death in 1980, the Hall of Fame was discontinued until then Executive Director, Peter Herb, resurrected it in 1991. As of 2022, there are 183 individuals who have been honored for their accomplishments as players or for their contributions to the game off the court in Northern California.

 

For 12 years, the enshrinement ceremony was been held in July, during the Bank of the West Classic WTA tournament on the Stanford University campus.

 

There is also a Hall of Fame wall, which includes plaques commemorating the members that have been established, in the USTA Northern California Section office at 1920 North Loop Road in Alameda.

*Ethel Burkhardt Arnold, 1974

*Helen Baker, 1974

*+J. Donald Budge, 1974

*Edward G. Chandler, 1974

*Willis E. Davis, 1974

*+Margaret E. Osborne duPont, 1974

*Elia Fottrell, 1974

*Carlton R. Gardiner, 1974

*+Clarence J. “Peck” Griffin, 1974

*Mervyn Griffin, Sr., 1974

*Samuel Hardy, 1974

*Sumner Hardy, 1974

*Anna McCune Harper, 1974 

*Joseph R. Hunt, 1974

*+Helen Hull Jacobs, 1974

*+William M. Johnston, 1974

*Howard Kinsey, 1974

*Robert Kinsey, 1974

*+Arthur Larsen, 1974

*Melville H. Long, 1974

*+Alice Marble, 1974

*Sidney R. Marvin, 1974

*+Maurice E. McLoughlin, 1974

*James Moffet, 1974

*R. Lindley Murray, 1974

*+Helen Wills Roark, 1974

Roland Roberts, 1974

*Richard O. Simon, 1974

*John R. Strachan, 1974

*Eleanor Tennant, 1974

*+Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, 1974

*Wallace J. Bates, 1976

*Thomas P. Brown, Jr., 1976 

*Virginia Wolfenden Edwards, 1976

*Golda Meyer Gross, 1976

*Edith Cross Jensen, 1976

*Frank J. Kovacs II, 1976

*John Murio, 1976

*Robert Seller, 1976

Patricia Canning Todd, 1976

*Fred A. Earle, Jr., 1977

*John C. Gardiner, 1977

Robert Harman, 1977

*Dorothy Head Knode, 1977

*Frank Smith, 1977

*Tom Stow, 1977

*Gerald Stratford, 1977

*Mimi Arnold Wheeler, 1977

*Richard Bennett, 1979

*Ray Casey, 1979

*++Elmer J. Griffin, 1979

*Cranston W. Holman, 1979

*William H. Hoogs, Jr., 1979

*William A. Marcus, 1979

*Paul A. Newton, 1979

Jane Albert Willens, 1979

*Ken Beer, 1991

*Norm Brooks, 1991

+Rosemary Casals, 1991

*Hunter Delatour, 1991

*Barry MacKay, 1991

Whitney Reed, 1991

Dick Gould, 1992

*George Rice, 1992

Erik van Dillen, 1992

*Henry “H.K.” Wong, 1992

*Nick Carter, 1993

Marcelyn Louie, 1993

*Dennis Van der Meer, 1993

*Joe Woolfson, 1993

Frank Brennan , 1994

*Warren Brown, 1994

*Robert A. Cookson, 1994

*Jim McManus, 1994

*Jerry Diamond, 1995

*John Charles Rohlfs, 1995

*Alex Swetka, 1995

June Gay, 1996

Ann Kiyomura Hayashi, 1996 

Helen Wong Lum, 1996

Sandy Mayer, 1996

*Betty Cookson, 1997

Don Gale, 1997

Kathy Jordan, 1997

*Butch Krikorian, 1997

Jeff Borowiak, 1998

Don Jacobus, 1998

Elaine Mason, 1998

Sharon Walsh, 1998

Hugh Ditzler, 1999

Kate Latham, 1999

*Clif Mayne, 1999

*Edgar Osgood , 1999

*Liu Shang-Ku Tao, 1999

Betty Brink, 2000

Peanut Louie Harper, 2000

2018 Peter Herb, 2000

Butch Walts, 2000

Tom Chivington, 2001

Arlene Cohen, 2001

Brad Gilbert, 2001

*Ned Mansfield, 2001

Tom Edlefsen, 2002

Charles Hoeveler, 2002

Bob Hansen, 2003

William G. Simons, 2003

Joan Vormbaum, 2003

Robin White, 2003

Dori deVries, 2004

Jack Frost, 2004

*Donald J. Johnson, 2004

Alycia Moulton, 2004

Susan Anawalt, 2005

Matt Anger, 2005

Gordon Collins, 2005

Patty Fendick-McCain, 2005 

Jeff Arons, 2006

Jim Grabb, 2006

Tracy Houk, 2006

Barbara Jordan, 2006

Jan Brogan, 2007

*Lise Frank, 2007

Greg Holmes, 2007

Ken Robinson, 2007

Lisbeth Blum, 2008

Mark Fairchilds, 2008

Harry Likas, 2008

Lynne Rolley, 2008

Linda Gates, 2009

Dan Goldie, 2009

Gary Lee, 2009

Graydon Nichols, 2009

Peter Burwash, 2010

Margie Campbell, 2010

Marty Davis, 2010

Jean Harris, 2010

*Larry Huebner, 2011

Meredith McGrath, 2011

Carolyn Nichols, 2011

Larry Stefanki, 2011

Steven Cornell, 2012

Martha Downing, 2012

Andrea Norman, 2012

Nick Saviano, 2012

Phil Cello, 2013

*Mark Manning, 2013

Jared Palmer, 2013

Barbara Scofield Davidson, 2013 

Rich Anderson, 2014

John Hubbell, 2014

Bill Maze, 2014

*Bob Walsh, 2014

Susan Mehmedbasich Wright, 2014

Wayne Ferreira, 2015

Bill Jacobson, 2015

Matt Mitchell, 2015

Marianne Werdel, 2015

Peter Wright, 2015

Larry Dodge, 2016

John Frank, 2016

+Ceci Martinez, 2016

Martin Mulligan, 2016

Steve Stefanki, 2016

Tom Barnes, 2017

Steve DeVries, 2017

Dave Higaki, 2017

Kristy Pigeon, 2017

Ted Robinson, 2017

Rich Andrews, 2018

Mike Bauer, 2018

Dana Gilbert Heinemann, 2018

Wendell Pierce, 2018

Tad Taube, 2018

Jeff Greenwald, 2019

Elly Hakami, 2019

Linda Peltz, 2019

Mike Skinner, 2019

Brad Stine, 2019

Rosie Bareis, 2022

Paul Goldstein, 2022

Melissa Gurney Van Ness, 2022

Bill Shine, 2022

Mark Elliott, 2023

Dana Gill, 2023

Kate Gompert, 2023

Brian MacPhie, 2023

Vic Seixas, 2023

Bobby Siska, 2023

 

*  Deceased

+ These Northern California players are also inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.
+ Elmer Griffin was the original founder and President of the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame.

 

Updated in 2023

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