Turns out the most expensive tennis court in the world isn’t at the All England Club, Roland Garros, or even in Monte Carlo, but on a scrappy patch of parkland behind a chain-link fence on West Vineland Road, Augusta. It isn’t a lot to look at. The net sags and the asphalt is swollen, but there’s a broom with a snapped-off handle in the corner if you want to sweep away the pine needles (it’s been a while since anyone has). The court was sold just last month for $350,000, which is more than the homes either side are valued at, and just about enough to build a dozen more exactly like it.
If you want to understand exactly why it’s worth so much, well, you’d best ask Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley. The court sits right by the club’s eastern boundary, at Gate 14 over on the far side of the 10th hole. Now, the club didn’t just get the court for their money. The park it’s in, which measures 50 paces by twice as many again, also includes four benches, two swings, a plastic roundabout, a BBQ, a bin and a little blue elephant on a spring, which you can only hope the city’s Parks and Rec agreed to throw in given what they’re making off the sale.
