You don't have to join a club to play on its courts in Christchurch. Some make it easy. With others it's worth asking first.
Burwood Park
Burwood Park is the easiest one. Courts are open 7am to 9pm and anyone can book through Pay2Play for $13 an hour per court. You get a 7-digit gate code by email, punch it in at the keypad on the clubhouse wall, and the gate opens for your slot. Tennis shoes are required.
Four of the seven courts are hard courts with lights, and the lights come on by themselves for evening bookings. The other three are astro turf with no lights.
The bit worth knowing about is the social tennis. Non-members can try it for up to three sessions free: Saturdays 12 to 5pm, Tuesdays 10 to 11:30am, Wednesdays 5 to 7pm and Thursdays 5:30 to 8pm. They match you up for doubles, or set up singles if you ask. Three free sessions is a decent way to find out whether you like a club before paying for one.
Redcliffs
Redcliffs has a Sunday social from 3 to 5pm and says non-members are welcome. There's a casual player fee for club sessions, but the amount isn't published, so email redcliffstennis@gmail.com before you go. In summer the gates lock at 8pm even though you can play until 9.
Shirley
Shirley lets non-members book online too. It's $10 per court per half hour, with a $20 minimum. Bookings run one to one and a half hours. Lights are another $5 an hour and cut out at 9pm, and in winter anything after 5pm on courts 4 to 9 needs them.
Bishopdale and Te Kura Hagley Park
Bishopdale says visitors are always welcome at $10 a session. Te Kura Hagley Park charges visitors $10 per person per session, paid by internet banking with the reference "greenfee". We've covered the rest of Te Kura in our Hagley Park guide.
Worth asking first
Burnside Park's "Senior Casual Membership" is still a membership, and it's for people who only want to use the courts privately, so it doesn't include the club sessions.
South Brighton says you're always welcome to visit. Get in touch with the club before you turn up.
The part clubs don't fix
A booked court is half of a hit. At $13 an hour, Burwood works out at $6.50 each if you split it, which is cheap, but only if there are two of you.
That's what we're building Hitter for. Finding a court in Christchurch is mostly solved. Finding someone at your level who's free when you are is the harder bit.
Hitter helps Christchurch players find someone to play with when they're free: say when you're available, see players near your level, and send a hit request. More at hitter.nz.
