Proud day as club opens tennis courts

Havelock North Tennis Club officially opened its two new astroturf courts on Saturday, celebrating the end of a 12-month project.

After speeches and the official opening, the rest of the day was spent playing tennis on the new courts, which had cost the club about $45,000.

Club secretary Leigh Johnson said members were thrilled with the new turf, as the previous two had worn out.

"On the other two courts the fabric had completely worn out. It has sort of been a 12-month project," she said. "We had some money but it was quite a celebration to have it finally completed.

"We've just been working over the years to accumulate funds, just fundraising and not spending any money basically.

"Lots of people helped out with the project - they all did their little bit."

She said they were also pleased that the new turfs were blue, in line with current trends around the country.

"We decided to go blue because because they're better for the vision of the ball.

"We have a lot of interclub matches so it will be fantastic for interclub."

With more than 300 members, the club had a centenary approaching and she hoped its next project - lighting for another two courts - would be done in time.

"We were just so pleased to get the project done. We had a fantastic day. The weather was great and [so were] all the people who turned out to celebrate it."