 A Brief History of the Club
Bective Lawn Tennis Club is one of the longest established clubs in Dublin and has been synonymous with Donnybrook for over 80 years. It was originally part of Bective Rangers Rugby Club and in 1921 became a separate club in its own right, with seven grass tennis courts situated on the banks of the River Dodder in Donnybrook.
The courts have been resurfaced in recent times due to flooding (most notably Hurricane Charlie in 1986). The new hard court surface and floodlighting enable the club to play all year round, in contrast to the limited use of grass courts during the Summer months only.
In the many years of it�s existence, Bective has produced many famous tennis players, such as Joe Hackett and Jim Buckley who represented Ireland in the Davis Cup and other international competitions.
Over the years the Club has competed in the many leagues run by the Dublin Lawn Tennis Council
and has enjoyed success at all levels. We are very proud of our results in Summer League in recent years,
with our Men's 1st team being promoted to Class 1 for the 2005 season, a great honour for the club. Our Men's second teams won the Winter League Class 5 event and also the Summer League Class 4 competition in 2005, both major achievements, but very well deserved. It is always an honour to collect a pennant on Finals days of any one of these leagues.
Bective hosted the 1986 GOAL annual charity tennis match, featuring tennis legends Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg amongst others. Colm Holohan was also rumoured to be there.
We regularly run charity events for a variety of causes and concerns, supporting the likes of Outreach Moldova, the Special Olympics �Sponsor an Athlete� programme and also the RTE/People In Need Telethon.
Membership numbers have been on the increase in recent years and new members are always welcome. As a special concession, new members are entitled to three free lessons from the club�s professional coaching service.
Bective LTC is a young, energetic club, placing great emphasis on enjoying the game of tennis, but also encouraging a very sociable atmosphere amongst it�s members and friends.
We have a very full tennis calendar with American tournaments being run throughout the season, and team tennis events taking place yearround. Club handicap and championship competitions are also run during the Summer months with the Finals night at the end of the Summer season.
Both Mens and Ladies Teams are entered in the DLTC leagues; Summer and Mixed leagues are played during the Summer, Senior and Floodlit are run from September to December and Winter League takes place in February.
The club hosts one of the most prestigious Open tournaments on Dublin�s south side with usually up to 500 entrants in 15 different events. It is a week of great activity, full of good competitive tennis, social events each night and a reception and prize-giving on Finals night.
The club house has an excellent bar and the facilities cater for many social events, birthday parties, discos, wedding receptions and corporate events.
With the proposed redevelopment of the entire facility in Donnybrook, you can rest assured that Bective LTC will have an enduring presence in the historic grounds.
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