Club member Mike visits historic New Zealand club
Mike Lewis (L) with club president Grant Weller
On a recent visit to New Zealand, East Glos member Mike Lewis dropped into Parnell Lawn Tennis Club in Auckland, one of 98 Centenary Tennis Clubs (CTC) globally, and perhaps the furthest from East Glos.
Mike was warmly welcomed by the club manager, Feleti Sofele, and club president, Grant Weller, on a typical blustery afternoon in what was said to be a poor summer. Unfortunately, Mike was unable to take up an invitation to play a few games.
Parnell LTC is the oldest and only CTC club in New Zealand, and one of the oldest in the world still in existence. In fact, it is older than East Glos, but with similar origins around croquet.
On 12th August 1872, it was proposed that a club be formed, to be called the “Parnell Croquet Club”. A provisional committee of eight was set up. Over the next four months, 114 people became members at a subscription cost of half a guinea.
The first AGM was held on 18 January 1873, and only three rules applied:
- Visitors were to be admitted only once
- Children under 15 were not allowed
- All dogs would be hunted off the field, or the owner would be fined one guinea.
The game of lawn tennis emerged on the paddock at the top of Parnell Road, at Cathedral Place (an affluent suburb of Auckland). In 1877, the club’s name was changed to the “Parnell Lawn Tennis Club and Croquet Club”. The game of croquet disappeared early in the twentieth century. At the 43rd AGM in 1915, the rules were amended to delete the word “croquet”, and the club became the Parnell Lawn Tennis Club. During this period, the club flourished, and the First World War only slightly curtailed its activities.
At the end of the First World War, the question of increasing the playing area was again raised. A deputation visited the Reserves Committee of the Auckland City Council regarding the possibility of obtaining a lease for the Titoki site (the present site of the courts).
Unfortunately, the cost of the move precluded consideration of new courts in the Auckland Domain (a large area of the city’s protected parkland) at this stage. The move was finally to be made 38 years later to the present site in the corner of the Domain in 1956. With its location in the Domain, there is no room for further expansion.
The club survived the Second World War years, even when the ball ration was seven pairs a fortnight, and at the war’s end, membership was full, and finances sound. A limited number of United Services personnel had been welcomed as honorary members, recalling an earlier custom when visiting officers of the Royal Navy were accorded the same privilege.
Again in 1950, officers of H.M.A.S. Sydney were similarly welcomed. The club boasts the distinction of hosting a Davis Cup tie when New Zealand played the Philippines in 2008. Unfortunately, New Zealand lost.
150 years later, the club still appears to be thriving, with the recent installation of eight floodlit Astroturf courts extending the playing season beyond the previous, restricted grass-court season. The courts were in constant use on Mike’s visit, with a mix of more mature adults playing doubles and a couple of juniors receiving coaching – not unlike East Glos. A bar and kitchen support the club area with views over the courts and surrounding parkland.
The club is fortunate to be in an idyllic location on the border of the Auckland Domain, among the pohutukawa trees, where the chorus of many native birds can be heard. With a strong social and tennis focus, the club has grown in membership.
It achieves outstanding results in the Auckland Tennis Interclub competitions. It also hosts a number of social and competitive tournaments throughout the year, including Caro Bowl and the club championships, which attract an average of 350 entries and are played over two months.
Today, the club has some 500 members, the majority over 50, with the oldest player over 80, and includes 80 juniors. As the premier club in Auckland, it is slightly more expensive than others in the area. Full fees for 2026 are 765 NZD (approximately £336) and 250 NZD (£110) for juniors.
This is a friendly club keen to foster international links and which would give a warm welcome to any visitors from East Glos who may be in Auckland in the future. Maybe one day East Glos and Parnell will play a match against each other?
Read more about our CTC membership and how to play at member clubs globally.
Mike Lewis
March 2026