Jim Zug was awarded the 2025 A. Carter Fergusson Grand Master Honor Roll during a ceremony at Merion Cricket Club Thursday, September 11. Dozens of friends and family members came to a surprise seventieth anniversary party for Zug.
Having turned eighty-five this past July, Zug was honored for reaching a milestone: he joined the varsity squash team at Episcopal Academy in the fall of 1955. Since then, he has played both singles and doubles at the highest level. In December 1958 he won the National Juniors. He played at Princeton, captaining the Tigers and becoming an All American. Among the two dozen national titles he has garnered are two open National Doubles championships (in 1972 with Larry Terrell and in 1973 with Victor Niederhoffer), the 50+ singles in hardball in 1991, two Father & Son titles in the century division and the 80+ singles in softball in 2021. Three times he has been featured in Sports Illustrated: for winning the National Juniors; for toppling Azam Khan in the 1963 U.S. Open; and for being a part of a clean sweep of men’s national champions coming out of Merion. Zug has been a longtime leader in the game, including serving on the board of SquashSmarts, the Philadelphia after-school youth program. He has traveled extensively with his racquet, including getting on both the southernmost and northernmost squash courts in the world. In 2018 he was inducted into the Maryland State Squash Hall of Fame.
“Jim is a great example of a lifetime in squash,” said Kevin Klipstein, the president and CEO of US Squash, as he presented the Fergusson Award to Zug. “He’s played with wonderful sportsmanship and engagement for seventy wonderful years.”
“I love this community,” Zug said. “I told my wife Debbie when we met in 1962 that I might play in three hundred squash weekends in my life. Well, I’ve certainly done that and more. It has been great so far. And Carter was a favorite friend, partner, opponent and mentor, so this is a special honor.”
The A. Carter Fergusson Grand Master Honor Roll, founded in 2010, recognizes a lifetime of contributions and accomplishments of those who have demonstrated unbounded enthusiasm, competitive spirit and great sportsmanship and skill. The Fergusson celebrates the US Squash’s motto of “Fit For Life,” as honorees set the standard for a life and lifetime in squash. Carter Fergusson, a national champion and College Squash Association Hall of Famer, famously played in the National Singles for sixty-two consecutive years. With Zug joining the honor roll, there are twenty-three Fergusson honorees.
