By Fred Hill
With a wrecking ball hovering in the wings, what may have been the last hardball doubles tournament in Maine concluded on a gorgeous Indian summer weekend with competitive matches in all three draws of the 2007 Charles Butt Doubles.
Bowdoin coach Tomas Fortson and top singles player Chris Nehrbas won the Open, shaking off flawless play by Scott Simonton (Wilmington, DE) and Walter Burke (Santa Fe, NM), both mid-70s graduates and squash leaders. Steady ball control by Fortson on the right and sizzling smashes from Nehrbas overcame a stream of deadly corner reverses by Simonton from the left and Burke’s hustle. The final scores (7-15, 9-15, 18-15, 15-8 and 15-10) made for the third straight Open title in the Butt tournament for Nehrbas, a junior who teamed with his father Andy to win in 2005 and 2006.
Kerry Martin and Paul Yaphe, from Montreal, duplicated their 2007 Maine Doubles win last spring in the 60+ draw, edging John Moncure and Mike Curtis, who also had 2-1 records but with more losses. Phinney White and Scott Staples, from Brunswick, won the B draw round-robin without losing a match.
Bowdoin is planning to tear down a major part of Morrell Gym and the older courts next spring to make way for expanded fitness facilities. While three additional softball courts and a hardball court are in college plans for the new Lubin facility (seven softball courts), they are unlikely to be built soon. Doubles enthusiasts are looking into possible options in Brunswick but, realistically, will be leading candidates for travel to out of town tournaments from next spring.
“It is an unfortunate collision of legitimate needs and interests,” says Hill, a former member of Baltimore’s Meadow Mill A.C. and now a resident of nearby Arrowsic. “The college certainly needs better fitness facilities, but it is too bad they can’t find a different space. The old courts are used by many coaches and students for recreation. And hardball doubles is really becoming a popular sport—with a dozen new courts being built around the country.”
Ironically, two Bowdoin players, Zach Linhart and Peter Cipriano, won the intercollegiate championship last spring, defeating teams from Princeton, Yale and Bates to capture the Ketcham Cup. Linhart graduated, but Cipriano is a second year student and, if he and Nehrbas can combine their skill and firepower, the cup may stay at Bowdoin for a while.
And there’s another twist to the squash doubles story at Bowdoin. Hockey players are encouraged to play singles and doubles in the off-season by Coach Terry Meagher, a doubles player himself who says the game enhances his skaters’ quickness and ability “to deal with a fleeting black object.” Two hockey players advanced past the first round of the 2006 Open and four competed respectably in the B draw this time.
The tournament, first organized by Bernie LaCroix, sports services manager at Bowdoin, and Hill, was named for Charlie Butt, a long-time swim and soccer coach who has won 17 national squash championships at different ages. Butt, now nearly 83, still plays competitively and won one of his three matches this fall with partner Hody White. Bowdoin’s squash tradition also includes Ed Reid, a former national champion who was head coach, including for Simonton and Burke, for nearly three decades.
