HISTORY TIMELINE

The Cashmere Hills Recreation Club was registered in April 1922 with the aim of establishing a place for playing tennis, croquet and bowls. The club bought some five acres of land in the current spot, blessed by sun and sheltered from wind.  An existing house is thought to have been used as the bowlers old pavilion while the tennis pavilion was built for about £1000.

In 1923, a committee of the club created a set of rules for the tennis section and agreed to affiliate with the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association.

The Depression hit hard and the recreational club came under pressure to sell the land for building purposes.This was resisted for several years but the financial pressures continued.  In 1939, the grounds were sold to the Heathcote County Council for £3800, more than enough to clear the club’s £2500 mortgage. In 1961, the land was then transferred to the Crown and was vested as a recreation reserve so it could  never be used for housing.

1970 –  In the early 70’s the old chip courts were upgraded with 2 new courts made of porous concrete .

1976 – The croquet club built it’s own pavilion and established their own premises.

1979 – The clubrooms were redesigned with improvements to the kitchen, new doors onto the veranda, and a new implement shed. The club also considered installing floodlights for night tennis.

1982 – The 2 chip courts in front of the pavilion were replaced with Astroturf and a huge fundraising effort was initiated.

1984 – Courts 7 & 8 were converted from grass to Astro at a cost of $28,000

1989 – Two more Astro courts were laid (9 &10)

1993 – Bar license was obtained 

1995 – Richard Suckling initiated a computerized system for club play

1997 –  A further 6 grass courts were converted to Plexipave and Astro

2012 – New outdoor decking and seating area was built

2017 – After a tough campaign to get resource consent we saw the installation of new lights on courts 7-10 enabling the club to extend playing and coaching hours during the winter

2018 Courts 1-6 were upgraded with new plexipave surfaces

2018/19 – New bathrooms were completed with extensive upgrading to the lounge and furnishings

2020 – Future planning to upgrade courts 9,10 and 13. We now have 6 Plexipave and 6 Astro courts nestled in the Cashmere Valley and our members are very proud to be a part of this fine club and are future focussed to promote tennis for the next generations.

2023 – 24 March   Cashmere Tennis Club turned 100 and celebrated its centenary in style

         -23 September  we opened two new astro courts on courts 5 and 6

2023/24 – Nov / Dec major project to put new drainage and asphalt on courts 9 / 10.

17 February courts 7-10 opened with new plexi surfaces