All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club

History

The All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club (AILTC) was established on the Mark and Denise Kuhn family farm near Charles City, IA in 2003. Building a grass tennis court was the dream of club founder Mark Kuhn since 1962 when he did chores on the cattle feedlot where the single grass court is now located. The dream that began as a fascination with vintage Wimbledon broadcasts on his grandfather's shortwave radio was finally turned into reality with the hard work of the entire Kuhn family. After decades of thinking about building a grass tennis court that resembled Wimbledon's Centre Court, the Kuhn family decided to 'go for it.' Mark researched turfgrass management at Iowa State University and made plans for construction that began in July of 2002. The court took 14 months to build. A grand opening celebration was held on September 6, 2003 when more than 100 guests were treated to an exhibition match featuring four of Coe College's finest players and alumni. The AILTC was, for the most part, a little known curiosity enjoyed by Mark and his playing partners until he hosted an invitational tourney in 2005. After one of the players contacted the United StatesTennis Association about his experience at the AILTC, Mark received a call from Jeff Sikes of the Missouri Valley Section with a request to write a story. The rest, as they say, is history. As soon as the story entitled "Court of Dreams" appeared on the Missouri Valley web site, Mark started receiving calls of inquiry. One of those calls came from L. Jon Wertheim, senior writer at Sports Illustrated and author of My Point, his column in Tennis magazine. When Wertheim's column entitled, "If you grow it..." appeared in the July 2006 issue of Tennis magazine, the response was overwhelming. A total of 252 visitors from 25 states visited the AILTC between July and September of 2006. Guests from across the country continued to make the trek to the AILTC in 2007. The AILTC was featured in the June 30, 2006 issue of the Des Moines Register in a two-page story entitled "A Lot Like London," written by Nancy Clark. The AILTC was also included in the August 2006 issue of Tennis magazine as one of the 64 hot spots from coast to coast on the 'Great American Tennis Road Trip.'

AILTC Mission Statement and Goal

The mission of the AILTC is to provide as many people as possible with the opportunity to play on a quality lawn tennis court in a unique setting in rural Iowa. The goal of the AILTC is to improve the playability of the court and continue adding features that create the ultimate "Wimbledon experience" for our guests.