BUTLER TWP -

Question: Mix in a few club pros, a Division I college coach, a woman playing in a men's doubles division, 16 of the top amateur players around and what do you get?

Answer: The third annual Butler Country Club Pro-Am Tennis Tournament, which took place Sunday at the Butler Country Club courts.BCC tennis pro Whitney Snyder formed eight three-person teams for the event. Each team was comprised of a club pro, a top male BCC tennis club member and a top female BCC tennis club member.The exception to that formula was Katy Trostle, 25, who competed in the top male club member category."She's such an advanced women's player that I have to put her there," Snyder said. "Katy's not afraid of the speed of the ball. Guys will try to hit the ball through her, but she's smart enough to play defensively and she more than holds her own."And Trostle welcomes the challenge."It makes me better, playing with them," Trostle said. "It's a unique challenge, a faster-paced game with harder serves … I look forward to this event."Each pro teams with the woman in his trio for round-robin mixed doubles play. Each pro then teams with the male club member on his squad for men's doubles play.The winning doubles tandem in each division gets eight points, second place gets seven, etc. Point totals from mixed doubles and men's doubles are combined to determine the winning trio."Labor Day weekend is a big time for tennis with the U.S. Open going on," Snyder said. "I wanted to develop a unique event locally to hold in conjunction with that."The trio of Vikas Punna - assistant pro at Lakevue Athletic Club - Judy Barkley and Bill Kemper won Sunday's event in a 10-point super-tiebreaker over Duquesne University men's tennis coach Rob Castille, Mary Jo Sylvia and Nate Succop."I've been friends with Whit for about 15 years," Castille said. "I was an assistant pro at Butler Country Club last year and I know what this program is all about."This is a great event. It's good tennis, you meet new people and have a lot of fun."Matt Riva, tennis pro at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley, has participated in this pro-am all three years."I wouldn't miss it," he said. "Whit was my high school coach (at Sewickley Academy), I've taken private lessons from him, now we're just good friends."Riva led Sewickley Academy to its first-ever WPIAL tennis championship in 1993.Much of the 2005 Pro-Am, was a family affair. Jenny Ivory played mixed doubles with her brother, Jay Barkley. Their third team member was their father, Jack Barkley.Bob and Judy Ferree were a husband-wife team in mixed doubles.Ivory attended Knoch High School when it had no tennis program, then played at Washington & Jefferson College for four years."I'm a member here and at the Oxford Tennis Club now," Ivory said. "I primarily play socially now. I'm a stay-at-home mom and it's my athletic activity out of the house."Our kids are 5 and 2 years old now and we're exposing them to the game. We want them to learn to play. There's a lot of value to it."Judy Ferree is a former club manager at BCC, which is where she met her husband. Bob Ferree is a 1977 Mars graduate who also played tennis at Robert Morris."This event is wonderful in that it brings people together from all levels of tennis," Mrs. Ferree said. "Whit works very hard at making the competition and the teams even."Bob and I have been married 15 years and that's when I started playing tennis. I was too bull-headed to play with him at first, but once we matured, we've had a lot of fun playing doubles together.""You don't see many married couples that talented that they can team up and be competitive in an event like this," Snyder said. "That's a tribute to them."3rd annual Butler Country Club Pro-Am Tennis Tournament1st -Vikas Punna, Judy Barkley, Bill Kemper, 12 points (won 10-point super-tiebreaker)2nd -Rob Castille, Mary Jo Sylvia, Nate Succop, 12 points3rd -Leet Sommerfeld, Judy Bloom, Jim Davison, 10 points4th (tie) -Tim "Koach" Konroy, Melissa Aliuuci, Andrew Gillan, 8 points4th (tie) -Jay Barkley, Jenny Ivory, Jack Barkley, 8 points4th (tie) -Bob Ferree, Judy Ferree, Doug Johnston, 8 points4th (tie) -Tom Kopf, Madeline Konesni, Katy Trostle, 8 points8th -Matt Riva, Liz Giancola, Bud Santora