[3] A promising junior tennis player, Schoenfield was evaluated by Jack Kramer in Los Angeles, which encouraged the family to move to Beverly Hills when Howard was 14.

[3] Schoenfield's most notable performance on the professional circuit was when he won the Tulsa Grand Prix Tennis Tournament.

[5] Following his first round loss at the 1980 Surrey Grass Court Championships, Schoenfield was reported by umpire Bill Kempffer for "unsportsmanlike behavior".

[7] At a Grand Prix tournament two months later, the Canadian International Tennis Championships, Schoenfield was ruled "unfit to play" and disqualified four games into his opening round match against John James.

Grand Prix supervisor Dick Robertson stepped in when Schoenfield trailed 0–4 in the first set and ruled that his play was not up to professional standards.