Tut Bartzen was one of America's top amateur tennis players, ranked in the U.S. top 10 from 1953-62. He was unflappable on clay courts, achieved a national ranking of No. 2 in 1959 and reached as high as No. 3 in 1961. He was 15-0 as a Davis Cup player and also served twice as assistant captain. He competed with players like Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, and Chuck McKinley, and won.
Bartzen joined the USPTA in 1961 and a year later turned professional as a player and became a tennis professional at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. After the 1998-99 season, Bartzen retired from Texas Christian University after 25 years as men's tennis head coach. Starting with a group of walk-ons and 1 scholarship, Bartzen experienced 24 winning seasons. With a winning record of better than 70%, his team finished in the nation's top 20 all but 3 times between 1977 and 1998.