About the Club

The Oak Bluffs Tennis Club was founded in 1959 by Gloria and Lincoln Pope Jr., along with Bill and Laura Hayling, and Lewis and Pat Downing. OBTC quickly became a centerpiece of Black summer life on Martha’s Vineyard, known for its community spirit and its annual Labor Day Weekend Tournament. For decades, families gathered on the courts to compete, socialize, and celebrate the joy of the game.

The club thrived across the 60s, 70s, and 80s before quietly ending in the 1990s. The memories remained, and the legacy stayed alive in the families who shaped it.

Today, OBTC is returning.

With the blessing of the founding families, the club is being thoughtfully revived by Gatsby and Donella Coram. The Coram family is deeply rooted in the Vineyard community. Gatsby has been summering on the island since he was one year old in diapers. He is a fifth-generation Vineyarder with a lifelong history of returning to Oak Bluffs every summer. His father and aunt spent their childhood/teen summers on the island as friends with Lance and Leland Pope, reflecting how closely the families have always been connected.

Gatsby and Donella recently achieved a lifelong dream by officially purchasing their own summer home on the island. They are committed to restoring OBTC with intention, respect, and a clear understanding of the responsibility that comes with stewarding a historic club.

As OBTC returns in 2026, the club will introduce tournaments, community programs, youth engagement, and opportunities for sponsors and partners to support a legacy-driven tennis tradition on Martha’s Vineyard. Gatsby will serve as Director.

We invite players, families, and corporate partners to join us as we honor the past and build the future of the Oak Bluffs Tennis Club.