The Beaudesert Tennis Club has been competing in the inter-district Tom Ferguson Shield competition for more than 50 years and for the most part they have just made up the numbers only winning the shield twice.
Now the engravers have been told to put the Beaudesert name once more on the trophy after a 16 strong local side grabbed gold in the recent 2024 competition.
Playing against teams from Beenleigh, the Gold Coast and Redlands the locals aced the opposition for an impressive third victory.
The scoreline at the end of the full day’s competition showed Beaudesert winning 33 sets to the second placed Gold Coast side’s 27 sets.
The competition honours former Beaudesert tennis stalwart Tom Ferguson who a number of years ago mortgaged him own home to fund the building of the Beaudesert Tennis Association’s clubhouse.
He also served on a regional level as the secretary of the South Coast District Tennis Association for 25 years.
Current Beaudesert Tennis Club president, Darren Thorpe, said it was a great feeling winning a shield named in honour of one of the district’s most dedicated tennis officials.
“When it was announced that we had won it sparked a great celebration,” he said.
“We are a much smaller association compared to the others and the victory showed the commitment of the team and their effort on a long day at Queens Park, Southport.
“It was an unbelievable feeling to beat the much bigger associations.
“The good news is that the Shield competition will be played in Beaudesert next year so we will get to defend the title on our home courts.”
The winning team (pictured) comprised of:
Opens: Nick Thorpe, Ben O’Neill, Ebony Thorpe, Steffi McDonald
A Grade: Logan Taylor, Max Hodgson, Ashleigh Ivanovski, Anastasija Stokic
B Grade: Hayden Griffin, Finlay Weston, Crystal Palliser, Marina Johnston
Over 35’s: Jason Taylor, Tristan Pearce, Diane Ardrey, Lauren Griffin
