PAT "P.R." RITCHIE

CLASS OF 2019
 

     

Pat Ritchie grew up in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, and learned tennis from his father, Dr. T. A. Ritchie.  He started playing competitively at age 11 and quickly became one of the top players in the state.  Pat was a two-time State Champion at # 1 singles while at Sapulpa High School and was named to the Oklahoma All-Decade Tennis Team for the 1970s.  In junior tennis, Pat played nationally, qualified for the Kalamazoo National Hard Courts on two occasions, and was a Rawlings Honorable Mention All-American.  

In College, Pat was a four-year letterman for the University of Tulsa.  His freshman year he received Tulsa’s  ‘Star Award’ for outstanding athletic performance in any sport.  He played #1 singles three of his four years at TU & #1 doubles all four years. Pat was team captain two years and was All-Missouri Valley Conference three years. Following college tennis, Pat played challenger future tournaments across the country for several years and ultimately played qualifying rounds for the US Open. Pat and his longtime doubles partner, Mickey Coates, were considered one of the dominant teams in the area for most of a decade as they won many USTA sectional tournaments over the years.  

Pat considers his greatest contribution to the sport of tennis to be his 40 plus year teaching career at Hillcrest Country Club in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  He first began teaching tennis at age 13 in Sapulpa, taught throughout high school for Frank Ward in the Tulsa area, and continued throughout college teaching at LaFortune Park and other clubs in Tulsa.  Pat got the opportunity to start his own program at Hillcrest in Bartlesville in 1978.  During his 40 plus year career Pat has taught over 50,000 hours of lessons, sharing the game across the lifespan with countless people.  He has run state sanctioned tournaments for over 20 years, was one of the founding coaches of the USTA Area Training Center, and has coached over 30 juniors to college athletic scholarships.  In reflecting on his career at Hillcrest, Pat says “my first job turned out to be my dream job” as he has given his life to investing not only in a sport he loves but in a community that loves him back.  

Pat has won the following awards:  2014 Bartlesville All Sports Hall of Fame;  2000 ODTA Family of the Year;  1992 ODTA Tournament Director of the Year;  1986 MVTA Professional of the Year;  and the 1986 Plaza Bank Tournament of the Year.

Pat and his wife Linda run the Hillcrest tennis shop.  They have two children, JP and Kaitlyn, who both played USTA junior tennis and went to Division 1 colleges on tennis scholarships.