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Tucson
By Roger Cox
 Sue
Tygielski laughed when I suggested that the Harris’s
hawks were playing quiditch—the aerial contest that
takes place on broomsticks in the Harry Potter books. She
is an animal behaviorist at Tucson’s Arizona-Sonora
Desert Museum, and she had just set loose two of a trio of
these chocolate-brown raptors for a free-flight demonstration.
Her take on their antics was more scientific. “The Harris’s
hawk is social and hunts in groups,” she explained,
displaying one perched on a glove while the others swooped
low over the saguaro-studded desert. “Some flush out
prey while others watch for opportunities to attack.”
Tethered to nothing but their training, these magnificent
raptors performed their aerial acrobatics—at times flying
so close that some of us ducked—and then returned to
the hand that literally fed them. During the 45-minute show,
we also witnessed the silent flight of a white-faced barn
owl and the incredible speed of a prairie falcon. Most of
these birds were either orphans or were bred and raised in
captivity. Thus, they haven’t actually had to hunt to
live—not that that means much to the museum’s
colony of prairie dogs. “At 1:30, when we normally do
this demo, the prairie dogs tend to stay underground,”
said Tygielski.
This stellar museum—in reality a cross between a zoo
and a botanical garden—was carved out of the very desert
it illuminates. Its exhibits showcase, in naturalistic settings,
the creatures and plants that inhabit this corner of the Southwest.
Bighorn sheep scramble up a man-made rocky cliff; mountain
lions peer out from the shade of caves; birds fly free in
the walk-in aviary; and botanical plaques provide names, both
familiar and scientific, for the trees, shrubs, flowering
plants, and diverse cactus that somehow thrive in the Sonora
desert.
If you grew up in a place of loamy soil and verdant deciduous
trees, the desert that completely surrounds Tucson may seem
desolate and inhospitable. It is in many ways, but the museum
dramatizes that hundreds of species of flora and fauna nonetheless
live and even thrive there. So do the 900,000 residents of
Arizona’s second-largest city; and in fact, people have
inhabited this site for more than 3,000 years, making this
the oldest continuously occupied city in the United States.
Though located just 100 miles south of Phoenix, Tucson feels
like a very different metropolis. It is higher and slightly
cooler than Phoenix—a boon to tennis players. Its proximity
to Mexico—the border town of Nogales is 64 miles to
the south—rich Spanish heritage and abundant attractions
mean that when you’re not on court you have all manner
of things to see and do.
Diverse choices range from the 18th-century Mission San Xavier
del Bac with its intricately painted walls and ceiling to
the Pima Air & Space museum of military and civilian aircraft,
the haunting formations of Karchner Caverns, the town of Tomb-stone
(home to the OK Corral and Boothill cemetery) and even a wine-growing
region. Planning your trip is easy using the thoughtfully
organized, interactive web site provided by the Metropolitan
Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau www.visittucson.org.
Meanwhile, opportunities for tennis abound. The city’s
Randolph Tennis Center (www.randolphtenniscenter.com)
has a very active complex of 31 hard courts. There, you have
a good chance of picking up a game most any morning, though
as in most public parks, your status as an outsider is liable
to spawn a certain amount of suspiciousness at first. Chances
are that you’ll end up playing where you stay, however;
and in Tucson, your range of options goes beyond full-fledged
tennis resorts to include a historic inn, a world-renowned
spa and even a dude ranch.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 86-room,
adobe-style Arizona Inn (www.arizonainn.com)
mixes heirloom furnishings—some crafted at its own cabinet-making
shop—with sophisticated elegance. Yet if you play tennis,
its most unusual feature is two clay tennis courts tucked
amid the gardens and trees in one corner of the 14-acre property.
USPTA-certified pro Jay Hitchcock is on call for private lessons
and runs weekend morning clinics, helping to make these soft
courts more than merely a perfunctory amenity.
Guests arriving at Canyon Ranch (www.canyonranch.com),
the internationally acclaimed spa, meet with a program coordinator
to plan their schedule for the week. Dedicated to improving
lifestyle, this former ranch mixes fitness and healthy cuisine
with a liberal dose of pampering. What’s not well known
is that the encyclopedic menu includes not only personalized
fitness regimens geared to tennis, but tennis itself on the
spa’s seven hard and artificial grass courts. In season,
Gerry Leavitt, who was All-Conference at Arizona State University,
heads a strong staff of five pros. “We give private
lessons, of course,” notes Leavitt, “but we also
have a schedule of weekly clinics and round robins and we
draw on employees or people who have houses on the property
to match people with games.”
Tennis also turns up as an optional activity at the Tanque
Verde Ranch (www.tvgr.com).
Founded in 1868, this award-winning guest ranch sprawls over
640 acres adjacent to the Saguaro National Park at the extreme
eastern fringe of the city. Guests bed down in accommodations
that include 74 authentically decorated rooms, most with adobe
fireplaces and outdoor patios. The ranch provides all the
down-home hospitality and unlimited horseback riding opportunities
you’d expect, plus tennis on five hard and artificial
grass courts. Adult and junior clinics as well as lessons
with local 4.5 player Daryll Saksa are free. So are the weekly
round robins, which draw as many as 40 participants in season.
But it’s the resorts that ultimately account for Tucson’s
prominent place on tennis vacation maps. Every January hundreds
of aspiring juniors in the 12s and 14s age divisions show
up for the annual Copper Bowl, which headquarters at the 428-room
Hilton El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort (www.hiltonelconquistador.com).
Set beneath a ridge of granite cliffs in the Santa Catalina
Mountains north of town, this 500-acre compound has 16 hard
courts on a mesa above the horseback riding stables, another
15 hard courts available at the country club 5 miles distant
and 45 holes of golf.
 Personable
former touring pro Jennifer Fuchs (she reached the round of
16 in doubles at the Australian Open) shuttles between the
two tennis venues, actively feeding resort guests into ongoing
programs at the country club while seeing to their individual
needs at the resort. “The best thing we do is out game-matching
service,” she notes. “We set them up with our
members: singles, doubles, mixed, whatever they want. If we
can’t find anyone, we play at no charge. We go the extra
mile for guests. A resort guest will always get a court.”
The El Conquistador opened in 1982 and within a couple of
years it had competition from three additional high-profile
resorts: the Lodge at Ventana Canyon, Loews Ventana Canyon
Resort and the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa. Although
all three built significant tennis complexes, they produced
a far larger blip on golfers’ radar, as the Ventana
Canyon properties quickly became known for their two highly
rated Tom Fazio golf courses; and the Westin, for its 27 holes
designed by Jack Nicklaus.
You won’t see a lot of guests arriving with tennis gear
at any of these three resorts, but that doesn’t mean
there aren’t tennis options. Each has designed its programs
around the needs of local members, knowing that those same
programs can also serve the needs of tennis-playing guests.
The question is: Which best suits your style and individual
needs?
Court availability is never an issue at the Lodge at Ventana
Canyon (www.thelodgeatventanacanyon.com).
With a dozen hard and cushioned courts just steps away from
its 50 one- and two-bedroom suites, this 600-acre property
has one of the best court-to-room ratios in the country. Members
bought it from the management company in December 2003 and
have invested in renovating the public spaces and resurfacing
the courts, including the sunken stadium.
Tennis director Sue Quarelli, who was a top 20 Southern California
junior, runs a weekly series of clinics, drill sessions, round
robins and junior programs—all of them available to
guests. There’s a lap pool at the far end of the court
complex and excellent hiking in both the adjacent Ventana
Canyon and the nearby Sabino Canyon Recreational Area.
The Lodge shares those Fazio golf courses and hiking options
with the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort (www.loewshotels.com/tucson).
Seemingly constructed of rough-hewn stone blocks, this 398-room
hotel is the most architecturally stunning of the area resorts.
It flows seamlessly into the desert foothills, all but disappearing
amid the foliage and trees. It has eight hard courts, constructed
on terraces that cascade down from the resort’s spa,
fitness center and golf pro shop. Its director, Terry Gibson,
schedules some sort of activity or drill session every day
but Sunday. “Our organized play events, which are free,
typically get 16 to 20 players,” he told me. “For
those who just want a good workout, we run a Saturday morning
aerobic tennis session.”
The 487-room Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa in rosy-hued
stucco (www.westinlapalomaresort.com)
sits a little lower in the foothills, which affords it a sweeping
perspective on the desert peaks of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
What sets it apart, at least for tennis players, are its four
clay courts, part of a battery of 10 total (the others are
hard), under the direction of Eric Styrmoe, a former All-American
at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, with international
tennis experience. These wrap around an Elizabeth Arden Red
Door Spa, a multi-room fitness center, a children’s
playroom and a deli café—all of this just steps
from the swimming pools and a waterslide.
There is one final property in Tucson worth mentioning, and
I’ve saved it to last because it’s almost a different
species from the others I’ve mentioned. The 125-room
Westward Look Resort (www.westwardlook.com)
was originally a guest ranch, whose 1912 adobe homestead now
forms part of the lobby. In making the transition to a tennis
resort, it preserved the stables for horseback riding and
the rich Sonoran character of its architecture and desert
landscape. Now, however, guests can also look forward to such
citified amenities as sophisticated seasonal cuisine in its
award-winning Gold Room and desert stone massages and organic
facials in its intimate Sonoran Spa.
Following recent renovations, the guest rooms’ interiors
are as appealing as its desert views, and all eight of its
hard courts are slated for resurfacing (which should be complete
by the time you read this). Terraced into the Santa Catalina
foothills, those courts occupy a prime location at the top
of the resort. The observation deck on the roof of its tiny
pro shop has a 360-degree panorama of the mountains and valley.
Its new tennis director Tom Lepisto played No. 1 for the University
of Minn-esota–Duluth, competed on the satellite circuit,
and then taught adults and juniors at the former John Gardiner’s
Tennis Ranch in Phoenix and the one in Carmel. He’s
part of an overall reinvigoration of what has long been the
premier tennis venue in Tucson.
The court complex includes a modest fitness center with half
a dozen pieces of equipment and an adjacent lap pool. But
what draws players to the courts time and again is the friendly,
helpful staff and a genuine commitment to what they call their
“match assistance” program.
“Tennis players are social,” notes Lepisto. “When
we call our members, they really do want to play, and we have
enough at the 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 level that we can get something
going.” He adds, “The biggest thing is to find
programs that aren’t going to nickel and dime guests.”
Round robins, like the Friday evening “Wine Down,”
where players bring snacks and beverages to share after an
evening of playing, are free; so are Saturday clinics. “I’m
here anyway, so to run a round robin or play with a guest
is no big deal.”
Show up at the courts any morning and you’ll hear birds
calling from the adjacent desert. And look up, there’s
always a chance you’ll see Harris’s hawks playing
quiditch. |
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