HISTORY OF DELHI GYMKHANA CLUB
The Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club was established
on 3rd July 1913 at Coronation Grounds, Delhi for use of the ruling elite
comprising of officers of the Indian Civil Service, Armed Forces and Civil
Residents of the then Delhi. The Lutyens Delhi was conceived during 1912-1930
and consequently, "The Imperial Delhi GymkhanaClub", was allotted
27.3 acres of land in Lutyens Delhi, during 1928 when theperpetual lease was
signed with the Govt. Mr. Spencer Harcourt Butler was its first President. When
India gained Independence in 1947, the word "Imperial" was dropped
and it was simply known as "Delhi Gymkhana Club". Sir Usha Nath was
the first Indian President of the Club. The Club so far has had 52 Presidents.
The present incumbent is Air Marshal Naresh Verma, AVSM, VSM. The club is
located in the heart of Lutyen's New Delhi occupying 27.3 acres of prime land.
As per site plan made on the drawing board by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens as
part of his granddesign for Imperial Celebrations, Lutyens Delhi - the eighth
in line - was built in an area littered with stones, tombs, domes, ruined walls
and gardens of former Capitals - the historic cross roads and battle grounds of
India. The club is primarily a sporting club and has the distinction of having
26 grass courts and 7 clay/synthetic courts with three of them flood lit. The
grass courts have been in existence since 1940. The club has an active tennis
membership of over 200 and also runs an active training academy for juniors.
Despite increasing preference for synthetic courts, the Club maintains its
grass courts and can boast of the largest number of grass courts in the country
which if not better are of as good as the Wimbledon Grass Courts The Club has
the proud privilege of holding several National & International
championships including the Grand Prix Tennis Tournament and Davis Cup matches.
Some of the top Tennis and Squash Players have played here. The clay /synthetic
courts are the main stay during the rainy season when grass courts are closed.
They perfectly align in the North-South axis and are surrounded by thick bushy
trees so that the screens are not visible. The lush plants surrounding these courts
are interspersed with perennial flowering bushes which lend a pleasant colour.
An interesting feature of the club is its location in the middle of an elite residential
area. As a result, the Club has tennis almost through out the day. The busy
professionals like to play early in the morning combined with breakfast in the club,
followed by their house wives later in the evening. The Club also has 3 squash courts,
a covered swimming pool with solar heating facilities, functional through out the year, a dining hall with three bars, a
restaurant and a library probably larger than any other club in India with
approximately thirty five thousand books with reading rooms for adults and
children and 43 transit cottages for its members who come and stay here from all over the world .
