BLTC Club History

The Ballarat Lawn Tennis Club is perhaps the oldest tennis club in Ballarat. Before 1960 the BLTC was established in Tennis St, Ballarat located on its own freehold land that included four (4) grass courts, three (3) en-tout-cas courts, club house and other facilities.

Membership was expanding rapidly and a deal was made with the Ballarat Golf Club to relocate to a new site. The BLTC sold up the freehold land it owned to finance the move and paid for the building of thirteen (13) natural grass and six (6) en-tout-cas courts at the Ballarat Golf Club.

The money left over from this exercise was banked by the BGC on the proviso that money would be available on demand by the BLTC to pay for any tennis maintenance and facility improvements. At this stage the BLTC had three hundred and fifty (350) members and the club became the premier tennis facility in Ballarat, producing many champions.

Over the passage of time, the refusal of the BGC to provide money as required by the initial contract for upgrading of the courts saw the quality of the courts deteriorate dramatically and membership diminished to approximately 50 players. A major redevelopment of the BGC led to the development of a new home for the BLTC at the Prince of Wales Park.

The transition period saw us using the nearby courts at the Ballarat High School, for almost two years, before our new courts were available.