History

The Glendearg courts were originally owned and operated by the Glendearg Grove Methodist Church Tennis Club (now Korean Church) from the mid 1940’s through until 1973. The church is located in Glendearg Grove, hence the name.

The original Clubhouse was built around 1952 and was replaced when Council redeveloped the facility in 2015. This club was a vital part of the local sporting community, however eventually, in 1973, the Church decided to sell the courts, primarily for a housing development.

A committee of local residents was formed and made representations to the Council.  The petition was presented on a Monday with the Council committing to purchase by the end of the same week. The Council then leased the courts to the Tennis Club which changed its name to the Glendearg Malvern Tennis Club.

The Club thrived, reaching a peak in the mid 90’s which a membership of 120 plus, with 10 competitive teams, consisting of midweek ladies, weekend junior (2 x girls, 2 x boys) plus 4 mixed senior Saturday afternoon teams. Also there was midweek social ladies (Wed & Friday am).

Glendearg Malvern during this period was a thriving community based club providing the local area with a tennis focal point for young and old. By 2000 the changing demographics of Malvern saw the beginning of the decline, firstly with the junior numbers dropping off, then with the older members slowly fading away.

One constant was the ladies social group which has been in operation from the 1970’s and is still going today. By 2013 it became obvious the Club could not survive in its current form, whilst at the same time All Saints East Malvern Tennis Club learnt that their facility had been sold by the Church to a developer and they were to become homeless.

At this point Stonnington Council had decided to spend significant monies to upgrade the clubhouse facilities etc as part of its plans to 2014 – 2024 Recreation Strategy.

As a result, Glendearg Malvern and All Saints merged to form the Glendearg All Saints Malvern Tennis Club in 2013 and successfully tendered for the management rights to the upgraded facility.