South Kempsey Tennis Club celebrates Ash Barty and the club's history with their Welcome to Wimbledon event

It's the perfect blend of food, drink and sport for the South Kempsey Tennis Club.

The group met together on Thursday (July 8) for their Welcome to Wimbledon event to catch up on all things tennis and show their support for the one and only Ash Barty.

The South Kempsey Tennis Club was founded in 1950 and one of the highlights for the club was a visit in the late 70's from tennis superstars Ken Rosewall and Tony Roche.

Both men came to town to stage an exhibition at the town courts on a Monday night, accompanied by Chris Silk and John Stoddard.

Rosewall, aged 44 and ranked 26^th at the time, and Roche, aged 33 and ranked 50^th in the world, were both at the twilight of their career and those in attendance said it was a delight to see them play.

Some years later the tennis club unfortunately lapsed but the determination of this group ensured it wasn't forgotten.

23 years ago a revival meeting saw the club get back on their feet through the work of the late Peter Mayhew and his wife Shirley.

"We had a revival meeting and found this old roller at Nambucca Heads, the men went over and got it," Mrs Mayhew told the Argus.

"It was a rusty, old iron thing that had a Honda motor on it.

"Bob Mavin from Mavin's Motors said it was a good motor so it was worth it."

During that revival, the legendary Max Waters bumped into Peter Mayhew and from there Max was on hand to assist Peter with voluntary maintenance.

Max is still on the roller to this day at the ripe age of 88.

"Peter wanted a hand after I ran into him - it keeps me out of trouble," Max laughed.

Today Max doesn't ride solo.

Ken Stevenson helps after he started out playing tennis with the club eight years ago.

"It gives us something to do," Ken said.

"We water the court, roll it and then do the line-marking."

Max recalls the days of the previous roller.

"We used to pull it by hand," he explained.

Nowadays both men spend three hours on a Monday doing their maintenance routine.

The flood kept the boys busy with Ken and Max describing the grass as being a metre high during the March rain.

The two worked tirelessly for four to five weeks to get the court back to its best.

While history was a topic of conversation, one of the biggest talking points was Ash Barty and her Wimbledon campaign.

At the time of the event, Barty was due to play in the semi-final and the support from locals would've certainly helped her get all the way to grand final glory.

"A few of us have been to Wimbledon, you can tell how long I keep my clothing," Patricia Fay said, sporting her Wimbledon 1997 outfit.

As the men and women of the South Kempsey Tennis Club rallied on the court, Shirley Mayhew touched on what makes the club so special.

"It's a lovely social group, the tennis club allows us to all hang out together," Mrs Mayhew said.

Fellow member Margaret Patterson added their love of the town helps keep the club going.

"There's something about Kempsey, we do matter," she said.

The South Kempsey Tennis Club plays on Thursday mornings, 9:30, at South Kempsey Tennis Courts on Middleton Street next to Jim Stirling Oval.

Any keen tennis players or socialites are welcome.

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