The 3rd Annual Open was held Dec. 3 & 4, 2005, with 19 teams participating. Last minute changes included Dave Welch unceremoniously dumping Kepner as his partner in favor of Bob Curtis, a St. Louis ringer. Undaunted by this slight, Kepner talked his mentor Tom "Bubba" Denny out of retirement, with the duo taking the place in the draw of the Goodes, who were last minute pullouts due to imminent arrival of their new baby, a three year old Reilly court, which had not arrived on its due date. Hopefully, the court did finally arrive and Mom and Dad survived the delivery. The SPTA extends its heartfelt congratulations to the parents.

The weather kept court crews hopping to stay ahead of the snow, and heater issues in the days before the tournament presented a major challenge, but Park District crews got the heaters up and running, and all four courts were ready for action Saturday.

Early round action saw some major upsets, with locals Davlin-Sembell knocked out by Hinsdale's Herbst-Shephard, and St. Louis's Stude-Wilson outlasting Springfield's McAuliffe-Casper.

Hinsdale's Mr. Jeanne Harris-Brown & partner Donn York surprised Jacksonville's Harmon Deal & local Don Tracy in a grueling three-set first round match, and continued their amazing run by knocking out Stude-Wilson in straight sets before losing steam in the semis against locals Leistner and Mueller. Meanwhile, Welch and his boytoy partner romped through the other half of the draw, looking unstoppable as they advanced to the finals Sunday.

In the finals, Leistner and Mueller survived a bad case of the giggles brought on by a Curtis overhead that caught Welch in the back of the head, pulling out a 6-4, 7-6 victory.

Complete results below:

2005 Springfield Open Platform Tennis Tournament Results

December 3^rd & 4th

First Round:

Brown-York(both Chicago) def. Stapleton-Boor 6-3,6-2

Herbst-Shephard(both Chicago) def. Davlin-Sembell 6-4,6-1

G. Smith(Kansas City)-Pozo def. Sabo-Sables 6-3,6-1

Second Round:

Leistner-Mueller def. King-Williams 6-3,6-1

Pollitt-Schultz(both Chicago) def. Surges-Morton 6-1,7-5

Stude-Wilson(both St.L) def. McAuliffe-Casper 6-1,6-3

Brown-York def. Tracy-Deal 7-6,2-6,6-4

Connor-Connor(both K.C.) def. Herbst-Shephard 6-1,6-1

Drew-Cytron(both St. Louis) def. M. Smith-Mills

Kepner-Denny def. Harris-McDermott 6-0,6-1

Curtis(St.L)-Welch def. G. Smith-Pozo

Third Round:

Leistner-Mueller def. Pollit-Schultz 6-0,6-7,7-5

Brown-York def Stude-Wilson 6-4,6-2

Connor-Connor def. Drew-Cytron 7-6,6-3

Curtis-Welch def. Kepner-Denny 6-4,6-1

Semifinals:

Leistner-Mueller def Brown-York 6-3,6-1

Curtis-Welch def. Connor-Connor 6-3,6-2

Finals:

Leistner-Mueller def. Curtis-Welch 6-4,7-6

Third Place:

Connor-Connor def. Brown-York 6-2,6-3

Championship Reprieve Finals:

Drew-Cytron def. Stude-Wilson 6-3,6-4

Consolation Finals:

G. Smith-Pozo def. Tracy-Deal 6-4,3-6,6-3

Consolation Reprieve Finals:

M. Smith-Mills def. Sabo-Sables 6-4,7-6