Boughton Park Lawn Tennis Club is an integral part of Worcester Golf and Country Club.

It is managed by a Tennis Committee which reports to the Captain’s Committee of WGCC and thence to the Board of Directors who have overall responsibility for the sports of golf, tennis and squash.

Background

In 1928 four golfers noticed that the walled gardens of the listed building would convert ideally into tennis courts and four red shale courts were built in 1929 and a Tennis Committee formed.

The club was granted affiliation to the County Lawn Tennis Association in 1933 and the services of a coach was secured to attract young players.

A wooden pavilion was acquired in 1937 and tennis flourished up to the outbreak of WW2.  Post war saw adult membership drop off and fund raising became vital not least because the fire in the main club building in 1948 drained resources.

The monies raised by the tennis club from monthly dances, rummage sales and raffles went to help with the refurbishment of the main Clubhouse and helped to fund the conversion of two shale courts to good all weather surfaces.

In the 1960s the provision of three grass courts was made possible by tennis members levelling the ground, removing stones and trees. The funding of £550 was raised entirely by the tennis club and the quality of the courts was recognised in 1963 by becoming the venue of the Worcestershire Closed Tennis Championships.

This was the first time that these championships had been held in the County and the improved facilities improved membership by 70 % enabling the appointment of Maurice Jacobs * as the Tennis Professional in 1966. His influence improved the standard of play of the Junior section with no fewer than 7 juniors being groomed by the Worcestershire LTA.

With increased membership the need for a new pavilion was recognised and a two storey building was constructed in 1979. The initial funding was provided by a member, designed by another member, and the ‘100’ club formed to repay the loan.

In 1973 flooding-lighting was installed on Court 4 and on Court 3 in 1978. The two shale courts and the two other courts were replaced with new all-weather surfaces and new floodlights on all courts were installed in 1989 and upgraded again in 1999.

The 3 grass courts were stripped and re-sowed by the ground- staff in  1991 providing excellent grass playing surfaces. In light of the increasing hot weather in the summer a new irrigation system was installed in 2020

All-weather courts 1 and 2 were upgraded to synthetic grass in 2019 followed by courts 3 and 4 in 2020 and all 4 courts are now serviced by   LED floodlights.

Booking of courts was introduced in 2020 by utilising the ClubSpark system and an electronic gate was installed to facilitate the use of the courts by visitors.

Pics

Juniors 1966 * Coached by Maurice Jacobs

Umpiring * Maurice Jacobs