HISTORY
OF THE PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE
MEN'S TENNIS PROGRAM
A PROUD TRADITION
Presbyterian College has a tennis tradition that few colleges or universities in the country can match. The earliest recorded indication of PC superiority in this sport is found on the South Carolina Intercollegiate Tennis Trophy. Here, the first name etched as the singles winner of the inaugural state tennis tournament in 1911 is that of C. Darby Fulton, then a PC student and later one of the greatest leaders of the Presbyterian Church USA.
Dr. William P. Jacobs II, an avid tennis player who served as college president 1935-45 and was vice-president of the United States Lawn Tennis Association, set the course for national prominence. He hired noted tennis coach Bill Lufler to develop the program here and make PC a tennis center. During the years 1936-43, Lufler’s teams gained national recognition for the Blue Hose while competing against the strongest collegiate squads in the country. Presbyterian also inaugurated the tennis clinic program for youth that became a model adopted officially by the USLTA. Dr. Jacobs’ enthusiasm for tennis attracted many of the world’s greatest stars to the campus for exhibition matches. Among these players were Don Budge, Bill Tilden, Bobby Riggs, and Alice Marble.
Jim Leighton arrived in 1949 to continue and extend the PC tennis tradition. His teams over the next 12 years ranked among the top ten in the nation and competed in Florida to the Ivy League to Texas, compiling a remarkable record of 155 wins and 57 losses against some of the best intercollegiate fields. The combined records of Lufler and Leighton teams show Presbyterian College winning 21 consecutive South Carolina championships.
Among the special highlights of the Leighton era, two stand out above all the rest. All-time great Allen Morris, while still playing for PC, was chosen for the 1956 Davis Cup team and reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. (Morris served as Director of Athletics from 1994-2000). The next year, with Morris, the Blue Hose defeated the University of Miami—ranked number one nationally under former PC coach Bill Lufler —and ended the school’s winning streak of 72 straight matches extending over several years.
For a number of years after 1962, the conference allowed its members only two grants for spring sports. This caused some de-emphasis until PC began rebuilding the program under coach Jim Shakespeare, a former Blue Hose star of the previous decade. His 1970 team returned all the way with a 22-5 record.
Among the leading players under Shakespeare were the Amaya brothers, George and Jim, brothers Milan and Jan Kofol, and Howdy Letzring. George Amaya in 1971 won the NAIA singles championship and then combined with Milan Kofol for the doubles title — the year the PC team finished number two nationally.
Richard McKee, former University of North Carolina All-American player, took over as coach in 1978 to maintain PC tennis emphasis in the increasingly competitive collegiate circles during his five-year tenure.
From the fall of 1984 to the end of the 2000 season, former PC All-American Bobby McKee guided the Blue Hose program.
Throughout the 80’s, PC competed well in the NAIA realm, participating in the national championships seven of those years. Five Blue Hose players earned nine All-American honors during those years, and five players earned nine Academic All-American honors as well.
The 90’s began with dual membership with the NAIA and NCAA Division II. The team participated three more years in the NAIA National Championships before becoming full NCAA members. Mallory McRae has been the lone All-American during the 90’s, along with two other players who have earned four Academic All-America honors.
PC is currently a member of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) associated with the Southeast Region of NCAA Division II tennis. The team has participated in 12 seasons in the NCAA Regional Championships with the 1999 squad advancing to the NCAA Division II National Tournament via an automatic bid. The 2000 squad captured their third straight SAC Tournament Championship and in 2001, the team captured the program’s first SAC regular season title and advanced to the NCAA Division II Regionals. In 2002, the Blue Hose were runner-up for the Food Lion/SAC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament. In 2003, the team posted a top 25 national ranking, won the SAC regular season championship, and returned to the NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament for the third straight year. In 2004, the Blue Hose posted a top 15 national ranking, won the SAC regular season championship and Food Lion SAC Tournament title, and returned to the NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament for the fourth straight year. PC won their opening match over Florida Southern before falling in the regional finals to nationally-ranked Barry University.
From 2001-2004, Paul Maxwell coached he Blue Hose men’s tennis program and continued the success and tradition that the program has come to enjoy.
Patric Hynes is in his second season at the helm of the Blue Hose men’s tennis program and has continued the success and tradition the program has been known for. This past spring, PC won the Food Lion SAC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional for the fifth straight year.