General Manager Trey Waltke envisions a new club that caters to the comfort of an exclusive membership, while steering the talents of serious players.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
With his purchase of the 34-year-old Malibu Racquet Club last summer, Oracle CEO and über-landlord Larry Ellison is looking to transform the frayed-around-the-edges tennis establishment into a “destination” tennis club for serious players who also like their comfort, club General Manager Trey Waltke said.
“When I took over last September, our facilities were really due for a makeover,” Waltke said. “It had been run well by the previous owner for many years, but it was time for fresh blood.”
Fresh blood the club got, with former touring pro Waltke quickly moving to organize his staff of club pros and players’ leagues into a rotation of round robin tournaments and clinics designed to attract nationally ranked players in clubhouse facilities that are at once luxurious and comfortable.
“I used to play tennis with Larry [Ellison], who is pretty good, on his home clay court,” Waltke, who for years ran the Los Angeles Tennis Club in Hancock Park, said. “One day, I told him that he had some pretty good courts right here in Malibu and he didn’t even know the club was here! Shortly afterward, he purchased the club [from Calabasas resident Jerry Seymour] and asked me to run it.”
During his touring career in the ’70s and ’80s, Waltke had a top 40 world ranking in singles, with wins over superstars like Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase.
He won the World Team Tennis championships in mixed doubles with Billie Jean King, and startled Wimbledon audiences in a 1983 match against Stan Smith by appearing on court in 1920s traditional tennis garb of long, white flannel pants, a white buttoned-down, long-sleeved shirt and a necktie for a belt.
Channeling a pre-René Lacoste era apparently worked. Waltke beat Smith in five sets, but lost to Ivan Lendl in the second round.
Waltke would like to bring to the Malibu Racquet Club, if not the same sartorial splendor, a reputation for hosting serious regional tournaments and competitive events.
“We have a round-robin mixed doubles tournament going on all summer, and I like to try and schedule tie-in events as we lead up to a Grand Slam,” Waltke said. “My old friend Brian Teacher [1980 Australian Open singles champ] has given a clinic, and we want to do a fast serve challenge and other appropriate contests for the big tour events.”
Coupled with a re-invigorated clubhouse served by a local caterer and a décor overhaul put together by the KAA Design Group, Waltke envisions a new club that caters to the comfort of an exclusive membership, while steering the talents of serious players.
“We’ve got some of the top-ranked amateur senior women’s players in the country,” Waltke said proudly.
Members Christen Bartelt, Amy Alcini and Marianne Robertson are heading this week to the Women’s 40s and 50s USTA National Indoor Tennis Championships in Gross Pointe, Mich.
“I travel and play national and regional tournaments,” Bartelt said. “I like that high level of the game and competition does bring out your best tennis.”
Coming from a tennis-playing family, Bartelt has been on the courts since age 12, and said the Malibu Racquet Club exemplifies that “old-style, community and family-oriented tennis club.”
“There’s just an authentic feel there,” Bartelt said. “I like to play tennis and the racquet club is great for serious tennis players. The members are from all walks of life, so the demand for court time is spread out and you still get to be matched with challenging players.”
Marianne Robertson, an adjunct professor of sports nutrition originally from Stockholm, has been playing in the Malibu area since 1979, when she ranked on the Pepperdine tennis team. “So I’ve been a member, on and off, for a long time,” she said. “The changes Trey is making to the club are very nice. It’s very classy. With the new members, there’s new drama. It’s a great place to hang out and they match you with good pros.”
Meanwhile, Waltke said he would like to see club membership expanded a bit, as they add more playing courts, and establish the club as a signature juniors tennis academy, similar to Nick Bollettieri’s school in Florida.
“We’ve set up nice new viewing patios in the clubhouse,” Waltke said. “But the bottom line is, we’re here to play serious tennis.”