Sumter, South Carolina: Palmetto Tennis Center Leads Industry with Innovative RedClay Courts to Advance American Tennis

USA - English

• USA - English

HARBOR SPRINGS, Mich., July 25, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Tennis marketing firm RedClay USA announces Palmetto Tennis Center of Sumter, SC is proceeding as planned to lead the nation in advancing the general state of American tennis by adding a highly acclaimed German red clay court innovation. Palmetto is expanding its current 24 hard court facility with eight new RedClay pro™ courts this year, including a stadium court.

"The City of Sumter is upgrading its USTA award-winning Palmetto Tennis Center. We're including eight super-sized RedClay courts. After extensive research and analysis, the City has selected the proprietary Engineered RedClay Pro™ clay court system," says Palmetto Tennis Director Sam Kiser.

"We will be the first major facility in the United States to have the Engineered RedClay pro™ courts," says Susan Wild, City Recreation Director. "The new RedClay courts are porous, which means no rain saturation (rain delays) and they are more economical for long-term maintenance (no compaction needed)."

Palmetto TC is one of the largest tennis facilities in the southern region. The facility hosts an average 15 major professional and amateur tournaments annually, boosting the local economy by more than $18 million annually.

RedClay pro™ courts use traditional red clay materials, but with modern proprietary construction methods. Palmetto will showcase the new cost effective clay courts that RedClay USA claims allow any facility to afford the best tennis (and pickleball) courts available on the market today.

Palmetto, a 2018 USTA Facility of the Year winner, will also serve as a national Innovation Center for the patent-pending courts imported by RedClay USA from exclusive partner Viacor GmbH of Germany.

As the official court of the Porsche Grand Prix pro tournament in Stuttgart each year, the RedClay pro™ is poised to bring clay court tennis out of the typical country club setting and allow any facility to now afford clay courts. The U.S. can join Europe with having red clay as the general surface for all players.

"Palmetto Tennis Center can be the biggest advertisement for tennis in the USA for years to come, encouraging other facilities to jump on the global red clay bandwagon," says RCUSA CEO Brian Osterberg.

RCUSA is working with a network of tennis clubs to achieve the goal of half of all courts used for junior training becoming the new RedClay pro™ surface within five years.

Discussions are currently being held between RCUSA and the two most renown tennis training academies in Florida and New York.

Other facilities include Peak Tennis NJ, scheduled to house the country's largest number of indoor RedClay pro™ courts. And on-going developments with Redmond Tennis Center in Seattle and Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas would form a coast-to-coast group of clubs, along with Palmetto, focusing on the transition to RedClay for junior training.

"We look forward to working closely with the City of Sumter and Palmetto to create a world-class RedClay tennis facility," says Osterberg, "We believe the leadership exhibited by Sam, Susan and Sumter will ignite a renewed interest, plus highly anticipated improvement, in American tennis. Especially by way of an eagerness to provide new generations a reason to play, when outdated schools and public facilities convert to this new clay technology."

"Sam is our RedClay Ambassador, and an integral part of the whole revival and roll-out of red clay tennis again in the USA," says Osterberg. "Grass and red clay courts were the common original U.S. tennis courts about 100 years ago."

Kiser is also planning for Clemson University to hold a NCAA Division I match on the new Palmetto RedClay™ courts and RedClay national champioships.

ITF, USTA Pro Circuit and USTA National tournaments are also being scheduled at Palmetto. For more information on the new RedClay complex at Palmetto TC call 803-774-1651 or RedClay USA at 231 622 1869.

https://www.sumtersc.gov/news/palmetto-tennis-center-named-top-innovation-center

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SOURCE RedClay USA LLC