1920s - The early years
The idea of a tennis club was raised in 1920 by a group of men who were anxious to have tennis courts in the area, particularly for the young people of the district. The group met in the home of EL Tyler and comprised WJ McGown, AJ Fraser, A Johnston, LE Palmer, EL Tyler, CJ Bentley and AH England. Between £400-500 was donated by these gentlemen and others in the community to build the courts. Negotiations with the Lane Cove Council resulted in the Council approving of the Courts being built at the northern end of the Cricket Grounds, now Kingsford Smith Oval. The Council agreed to charge a nominal rental only for the use of the land as the original committee and members provided the finance to level the ground, construct the Courts, erect the fences and build the clubhouse shed.
The Club was known as the Longueville – Northwood Tennis Club in the Burrough of Lane Cove. The Lane Cove Tennis Club in Central Park had earlier been founded in 1908 to provide tennis facilities to the whole community of the Burrough of Lane Cove.
Four loam courts were built, and membership was limited to 50, with a waiting list.
Tournaments, bridge nights and dances were held to raise funds to build the fifth court, a grass court, which was ready by 1928. Careful control was taken of the grass court and only those permitted by the Ground Committee could use the court and had to contribute to the upkeep of it. Men paid twice as much as women for the privilege. It was because of the grass court that LTC was allowed to join the first weekend interclub tennis competition in Sydney, known as “Badge” and run by the Lawn Tennis Association.
The Sun (Sydney, NSW) Tue 28 Oct 1924