Peachtree City tennis at a glance:

Free public courts in the city, lighted. . . . . . .4 at Glenloch

2 at Pebblepocket

Public courts for a fee. . . . . . . . 12 now at Planterra Ridge

6 clay courts soon to open

Free public courts, not lighted. . . . . . . . . .2 at Blue Smoke

2 at Braelinn

2 at Smoke Rise

Court fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3.50 / hour, daytime

4.50 / hour, evening

None if member of club

Court reservations?. . . . . . . .Not available at no-fee courts

Available to club members at Planterra Ridge

Tennis instruction available . . . . . . . . . .At Planterra only

Numbers served at Planterra. . . . . . . . approx. 1,000 per week

Based at Planterra . . . . . . .ALTA, USTA, 40 other associations

1998 Peachtree National Bank Women's Challenger:

Founded. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1995

Participation. . . . . . . . 75 women from 13 different countries

Money raised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . More than $4,000

Among charities benefitted . . . . . . . .David Harris Foundation

Cystic Fibrosis

Breast cancer research

Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .More than 100

"Ball kids". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Peachtree City Development Authority advisory board: Tom Suzanne Heil,

Tommy Turner, Jim Davis, Virgil Christian, Terry Maple, Patrick Emmet,

Sherry McHugh, Dan Wright

Information provided by Virgil Christian, director, Peachtree City Tennis

Center, 770-486-9474; Sherry McHugh, Peachtree City Recreation

Department, 770-631-2542

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By SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE

Staff Writer

It's a stretch, the two words that gave the Cal-Cap company its name, but co-owner Jolene McCann is glad to explain it.

First, however, you need to know about the product. Cal-Cap calls itself the Ultimate Subsurface Irrigation System for soft clay tennis courts. The six newest courts at the Peachtree City Tennis Center, already recognized as a state-of-the-art facility, will be Cal-Cap courts. Scheduled to open in just a few weeks, the clay courts will augment the public center's original 12 hard courts, making a total of 18 courts available.

In subsurface irrigation, water comes out under the court through slits in pipes, and by capillary action, maintains a precise moisture level within the composite surface. Construction is not cheap, but provides a "soft" surface that is kinder to older tennis players or athletes with knee injuries.

"Our system is operated electrically," McCann explained in a telephone interview from her Morehead City, N.C. office. "It has a hydro-manager irrigation device connected to a sensor, one at each end of the court because there may be different amounts of sunlight.

These are the only courts that will not 'water' when it's raining. "Other subsurface systems are controlled by a ball valve or the level of water," McCann continued. "Ours are by pressure they only come on when needed."

Another advantage, McCann said, is that a Cal-Cap system can be quickly drained, allowing a court to be playable almost immediately after a rain shower. "When they held the U.S. Clay Championships at Disney World in Florida, there was a horrible rain storm during the semi-finals, which were being televised," McCann said. "Our courts were ready to play 20 minutes after it stopped raining."

Although by no means common in public facilities, several in Florida, and, soon, those in Greensboro, N.C. are switching to the Cal-Cap technique with the expectation that over a 10-year period, maintenance will cost less than for a hard court.

"You have to resurface a hard court periodically, and keep debris off," McCann said. "Our soft courts are practical because they don't require constant maintenance. An overhead-watered court would have to be rolled often, probably two to three times a month, but some we've built in Florida have not been rolled since they were built."

Because of this practicality, many clubs are resurfacing existing hard courts with Cal-Cap, McCann said including two at the Carmel, CA club of Clint Eastwood. The gritty green surface is finished with "TCM," Tennis Court Material, a meta-basalt mined in Pennsylvania by a company that makes roofing granules. "It's sort of like a bi-product developed about 50 years ago," McCann said. "The matrixes are sharp when crushed. When it's wet, it holds together, but comes apart when dry. After [a surface] sets up, it's no problem, and what sets it up best is lots of play."

The McCanns built an experimental court in their backyard and invited a local ladies club to play doubles. "The best thing for a new court is the pitter-patter of little feet," Jolene McCann said. Professional players like the courts because operators can control how fast a court "plays" by withholding or adding water, she said. "For example, Jimmy Conners likes a court to play faster it's better for his game."

Virgil Christian, director of the tennis center, predicts instant popularity for the new courts. Stan Smith, a Wimbledon competitor who is an older professional player, helped design some of the layout. "I see the senior citizen that loves tennis able to get back to playing his game, even if he can't play on hard courts any more," Christian said. "Tennis is great aerobic exercise for seniors and people with injuries to their knees." He said players can stay on the soft clay court two to three times as long as on a hard court.

It is not necessary to become a club member, he added, but more than half those who use the courts are members, enjoying a reservation system and no court fees. If a player uses the court more than once a week, it would pay to be a member, he said.

Sherry McHugh of the Peachtree City Recreation said her department no longer offers tennis lessons, since the Planterra center has filled that niche. She said she is proud of the condition of the city courts "We keep our facilities good, playable, safe" and wants people "to use tennis courts as tennis courts, that is, not as a place for walking dogs and roller-blading."

The origin of the name Cal-Cap? "Cap" is for capillary, the process by which water is drawn into the surrounding paving material, and "Cal" is for Calico. And thereby hangs a tale: When the McCanns bought a motel, marina, and restaurant on Harkers Island, N.C. in 1968, they wanted to "improve the name," Jolene McCann recalls. She taught North Carolina history and was intrigued by a pirate nicknamed "Calico Jack" for his plundering of ships carrying fabric from India. In an aside, McCann said that the only two known female pirates even more ferocious than old Calico Jack sailed on his ship. "What if people call you Calico?" McCann asked her husband, Jack. "No problem," he said, and people did. "He's now known as Calico, and everything we've owned has been calico, including a Calico Boutique.

"Later we sold the motel and marina, and [Jack] built his first tennis court and developed his system, and we've continued to build tennis courts for 28 years."

The Cal-Cap system belongs to the family business, Calico Racquet Court, Inc. The McCanns keep tight control over who builds their courts, licensing only a handful of "quality-conscious" contractors, site by site. "This is a family business," Jolene McCann said. Her husband is "partially retired," and sons John and Jeffrey build soft clay courts, or teach contractors to build them. Their daughter was married three years ago on the family's backyard tennis

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