The Howard County Challenge Cup, symbolic of the reigning club tennis team, is traveling again -- only this time, it's not going anywhere.

Forest Hill, which hosted the Challenge Cup June 28, won the tournament, posting a 3-0 record. It was Forest Hill's first championship in the three-year-old event.

North St. John's won the inaugural Cup and Cattail Creek won it last year. Circle D Tennis Facility, which participated as Triumph Fitness a year ago, was the fourth team in this year's event.

The outcome wasn't decided until the final match -- Forest Hill vs. North St. John's. The host club won, 3-2. Had North St. John's been victorious it would have created a three-way tie and involved tiebreaking procedures.

"It was very close all the way around," said Jon Jacobson, tennis director at Forest Hill.

The Challenge Cup, which is really a silver bowl, was his idea.

"When I worked at several clubs in the Baltimore area, they had an event similar to this," Jacobson said.

The format is round-robin with each team fielding two singles (men's and women's) and three doubles (men's, women's and mixed). The matches are eight-game pro sets and to move things along there is a 50-minute time limit.

Some teams brought just enough players, others rotated players between matches.

"Teams could play whomever they wanted to play in any position," Jacobson said.

"It's friendly competition," said Tracy Romano, who played for North St. John's as did his college-age son, Aaron.

One of the best matches of the day pitted Forest Hill's Brad Chase against Cattail Creek's Andrew Ortiz. Chase, 45, smoked his Circle D opponent, 8-0, in the opening round, but Ortiz, a rising junior at Goucher College, had quickness and youth on his side. The two played to a 6-6 draw and then played a seven-point tiebreak, that went to 10-8 with Chase winning.

"I just kept the ball in play a little bit longer than he did," said Chase. Adding, "Do I get a wild card into the Legg Mason Tennis Classic now?"

No, but there are a year's worth of local bragging rights.

Jacobson said that the women's doubles team of Kelly Andrew and Elizabeth Clevenger, which went 3-0 on the afternoon, was also instrumental in Forest Hill's team victory.

The final standings were: Forest Hill, 3-0; Circle D, 2-1; North St. John's, 1-2, Cattail Creek, 0-3.

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