Tennis At The Barn Opens In Westhampton

Tennis At The Barn, a newly opened and updated sports complex on Montauk Highway in Westhampton with both tennis and pickleball courts, recently opened its doors to racket sport enthusiasts of all levels and ages.

The renovated club — which was formerly East Side Tennis Club — has four standard sized pickleball courts, 11 Har-Tru tennis courts and offers a variety of different programs, from private lessons to group clinics to club tournaments.

“We’re just getting started in a whole new chapter, and we’re really excited about the prospect of building programs here,” General Manager and the club’s Director of Racquet Sports Jim McDonald said. “We’re looking to make it a family club, with people from all ages and all levels. We welcome everybody.”

Prior to the opening on Fourth of July weekend, the club had been run down and non operational for seven years and its courts were severely out of shape, Mr. McDonald said. The project to renovate the space began in January of this year and included a full renovation and redesign of the clubhouse, including brand new bathrooms with walk-in showers, resurfacing of all the courts, and redecoration of the grounds.

“It’s a real rebirth of what was an old tennis club,” Mr. McDonald said.

The Westhampton area is well known for its tennis with a number of different clubs in the area, including the private Aspatuck Tennis Club in Westhampton Beach, Westhampton Beach Tennis and Sport also know as “The Bubble,” Sportime in Quogue, and Le Club. The latter, which is located on County Road 31, is expected to close at some point this year, leaving the area without 16 courts.

An ownership group of seven people, many of which are athletes themselves, felt the area could use another club without taking away from the others.

“A group of Westhampton people bought the property, and decided to refurbish it and it will complement all of the other clubs in the area,” Mr. McDonald said. “There’s room for an additional club, and one that offers pickleball courts and welcomes the entire family.”

The club’s staff features professional tennis players and coaches including head coach Rafael Coutinho, who was a top junior player in South America and competed six times in the Junior World Cup for Venezuela, before deciding to focus on his coaching career.

Mr. McDonald's wife, Kris McDonald, is also a part of the team. She is a former professional who reached the third round at Wimbledon before losing to Martina Navratilova in 1986. Frank Suarez, another Venezuelan born player, and Marc Roura of Barcelona, Spain, round out the pro staff.

“The staff is really quite exceptional,” Mr. McDonald said. “It's a very high level staff for anybody who is looking to build and develop their game.”

Mr. McDonald, who is an experienced tennis, pickleball, squash, and paddle coach for all ages, and former state coach of Western Australia, said the club hopes to bring families together and create a fun and social environment.

“The goal is to bring families out, to bring grandparents in with their grandchildren, to really create a family environment,” he said.

The club is open to members as well as guests, and programming will include round robin play for members on weekends, as well as social events scheduled almost every night of the week.

“I’m excited about getting people out to the club and having them experience it,” Mr. McDonald said. “If they are beginners, helping them learn, or if they are experts, coming out to enjoy competition. I’m looking forward to a high energy group of all ages, ability levels, and making it really social.”

To check out the various programs Tennis At The Barn has to offer, and for more information, go to tennisatthebarn.com.