Spartanburg, SC
Inducted December 4, 1993
A LIFE LONG RESIDENT OF SPARTANBURG, PEYRE KENNEDY WAS CONSIDERED THE CITY’S NUMBER ONE TENNIS AMBASSADOR FOR OVER 30 YEARS. HE WAS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR TENNIS INTEREST AND GROWTH IN THE CITY BETWEEN 1940 & 1960. HE HELPED START THE PARK HILL TENNIS CLUB AND USED HIS OWN FUNDS TO KEEP IT GOING THROUGH THE WAR YEARS.
HE PLAYED NUMBER ONE ON THE PARK HILL TEAM WHICH RETIRED THE MCIVER CUP TROPHY, AN ANNUAL COMPETITION BETWEEN TENNIS CLUBS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. LATER, HE CONTINUED HIS EFFORTS AT SPARTANBURG COUNTRY CLUB, WHERE THE CLUB’S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY WAS NAMED IN HIS HONOR IN 1961.
KENNEDY WON SEVERAL STATE CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE 1930’S AND WAS RANKED AS THE NUMBER ONE SENIOR PLAYER IN THE SOUTH 4 YEARS. HE WAS CONSISTENTLY RANKED AMONG THE TOP 3 PLAYERS IN THE SOUTH THROUGH THE 1940’S & 1950’S.
HE EARNED SEVERAL NATIONAL RANKINGS IN SINGLES AND DOUBLES. HIS HIGHEST NATIONAL SINGLES RANKING WAS 16TH IN 1951. HE HAD A NATIONAL RANKING OF 6 IN SENIOR DOUBLES IN 1950, AND HE TEAMED WITH HIS SON, PEYRE, JR., FOR A #9 NATIONAL RANKING IN FATHER-SON DOUBLES IN BOTH 1950 & 1951.
HE PARTICIPATED IN SEVERAL U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS AT FOREST HILLS, AND PLAYED IN TOURNAMENTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE UNITED STATES GORDON TROPHY TEAM, THE SENIOR EQUIVALENT TO DAVIS CUP, IN 1951 & 1952.
KENNEDY WAS ONE OF EIGHT FOUNDERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA TENNIS ASSOCIATION. HE SERVED AS SCTA PRESIDENT IN 1956. HE WAS THE FIRST VICE PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN TENNIS ASSOCIATION FROM 1952 TO 1955.
HE WAS A PERFECT ROLE MODEL FOR YOUNG PLAYERS; ALWAYS AS GRACIOUS IN WINNING AS HE WAS IN LOSING. HE WAS A TEACHER AND PROMOTER OF THE GAME AT A TIME WHEN THERE WERE NO TENNIS PROFESSIONALS AND MOST OF THE COUNTRY CLUBS ONLY HAD A FEW COURTS. KENNEDY TOOK THE TIME TO WORK WITH JUNIOR PALYERS IN THE SPARTANBURG AREA AND DEVELOP THEIR INTEREST IN THE SPORT. THROUGH HIS EFFORTS THE MID-DIXIE TOURNAMENT BECAME ONE OF THE PREMIER EVENTS IN THE STATE. TENNIS ENTHIASIASTS STILL CREDIT IN SPARTANBURG AND THE UPSTATE.
DECEASED: DECEMBER 1979
