Tim and Neil play tennis on the Court of Dreams
Game. Set. Sibling rivalry. This week the Moonlight Graham Show takes the pod on the road to the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club in Charles City, Iowa. This little-known gem has earned the nickname “The Court of Dreams.” The AILTC might be the only true grass tennis court in the state. It is styled after, and named after, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which hosts the iconic Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament. Neil and Tim record while on the road to Charles City and then on the ride home from their match to reflect on their experience.
Mark and Denise Kuhn built the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club court as a passion project on their family farm. Mark Kuhn grew up listening to the Wimbledon Championships on the radio and dreamed of playing on center court. That dream became a reality about 20 years ago as the family began the process of converting a cattle feedlot into a top-tier grass court.
Mark Kuhn’s research and preparation began with a call to Iowa State University to understand turf management and horticulture. The AILTC website includes images from the construction process, which included grading the tons of sandy soil that were brought in, planning drainage and irrigation, and picking up every little rock along the way.
If you haven't picked up on this yet, the Flattery boys are competitors. This isn’t just a friendly exhibition match. This is the most important tennis match that either brother has ever participated in. Neither man wanted this to go down as a loss and had to devise a plan to manage their frustrations to avoid slamming/breaking rackets or taking a divot out of the Court of Dreams.
The match came down to a tie-breaker super set as Tim took the first match and Neil came back to win the second match. Their version of the Flattery Iowa-style Wimbledon took the full two hours of their court reservation and came down to the last point.
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This year, Tim and Neil were not able to attend the big game in Dyersville, so they had to bring in a reliever. Who better to serve as the Moonlight Graham Show’s first unofficial correspondent than one of Iowa’s favorite role players, Moonlighter Nick Collison?