Woodson Park – Thank You Overland!

For our latest forgotten courts adventure we chose the five courts located at the Ladue Early Childhood Center.   Arriving at 7:30 am for our match the courts looked fantastic until we tried to open the gates.   Shockingly the courts were padlocked.   Surprising to say the least after all the controversy regarding this facility purchase.

We looked for a backup and decided to drive to the City of Overland for a match at Woodson Park.   Overland was settled in the 1820’s and was known as The Overland Park a night stop for people travelling from St. Louis to St. Charles.  Overland is also home to a bunch of mid-century modern buildings. Overland proved much more welcoming than Ladue as the courts were unlocked and available to the public.

The Woodson Park courts were in fantastic condition and appear to be the high school home of the Ritenour Huskies tennis team.  After a quick warm up the match began.   Unusual for our matches that we both held serve until 3-3 in the first set.   At that point Scott had an opportunity to earn a break point.   He hit a slice backhand approach on a short ball and came to the net looking for the easy volley.   The gluten free(see the pic) Bulgarian had the answer with a wicked down the line pass.

At 5-4 with Scott serving and still on serve Stan had ta break point which was promptly denied with a cross court passing shot from Scott.   At 6-5 Stan still on serve the streak ended Stan broke Scott with two fantastic shots a down the line return of serve, a topspin lob and a lucky netcord winner.

First set to Stan 7-5. Scott was thoroughly demoralized at this point and allowed Stan to sprint out to a 4-1 lead in the second set before he started to fight back.  He broke Stan and held to get to 3-4 and just when he thought he was back in the game Stan finished the set with two games in a row.  6-3 game set and match to Stan.

These were some of the nicest courts we have played on.  They have a lot of bite which makes spin very effective.   Location is great right of highway 170 and page.   Location and court conditions are 10!

Nearby is St. Louis most legendary hotdog stand, Woofies!