The Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club is making strides on its plans to expand, adding two new tennis courts and serving up more space for pickleball play.
At its Dec. 4 meeting, the Rancho Santa Fe Association board approved the club’s funding plan for a $1.3 million expansion project. Per the approved funding plan, the courts will be paid for through a combination of the club’s operating fund, a limited fundraising campaign and increased member assessments.
“These improvements aren’t just about courts—they’re about preserving the spirit of play, connection and excellence that define the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club,” wrote RSF Tennis Club Board President Jill Ruzich in a letter to the membership.
Currently, the club offers two clay courts, eight hard courts and four dedicated pickleball courts. The addition of two courts would get the club back to a total of 12 tennis courts, with four more courts dedicated to pickleball for a total of eight.
Membership at the club is the highest it has ever been. Over the past five years, membership has increased by 37%, with 244 tennis club members and 121 pickleball members.
RSF Tennis Club General Manager John Chanfreau said one of the biggest complaints they have heard from membership is the loss of two tennis courts to pickleball and the congestion it causes with playing time.
“One of the issues we have is with our hard courts during the prime time hours,” he said. About 70% of the year, league play takes place during a morning window between 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., and again from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The club runs into a congestion problem during those prime morning and afternoon hours when there is typically only one social court open for play, meaning members often have to wait for a time to play.
“Having one social court is not ok for our membership to have, especially when we’ve been getting requests to do more social member events, which we’d like to do,” Chanfreau said. “With the growth and being able to satisfy our membership, the expansion will enable us to provide a greater variety of social play, a better set-up for events, and more clinic options and leagues for tennis and pickleball, which also leads to increased revenue for the club.”
The new tennis courts will be located between Courts 2 and 9 toward the back of the club, near the existing community trail and playground equipment. The expansion will allow for four permanent pickleball courts to be added to Court 4. Chanfreau said the improvements are going to be beautiful, with the courts all flowing together, a viewing platform and all new landscaping around the new and existing courts.
The club received Art Jury approval for the project earlier this year.
Ruzich said the club has estimated a two-year timeline for the expansion, with the majority of that time reserved for county permitting before construction can begin. At this time, the Association has no plan to replace the playground equipment that will be removed.
For the $1.3 million project, $350,000 will come from the club’s operating fund, $92,000 from fundraising activities and $875,000 will come from member assessments of $2,500. The assessments can be paid up front with a 5% discount or spread out across 25 months in $100 installments. The assessments are tentatively scheduled to begin in February 2026.
“I think generally the tennis family is happy with everything that’s going on there…no one’s ever happy about spending money,” RSF Association board member David Gamboa said with the board’s approval of the funding plan. “We’re at a point now where we want to invest to make it better.”
The new tennis courts will be located in the back of the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club campus, near the trail and playground. (Karen Billing)
During member input at the Dec. 4 meeting, some tennis and pickleball members said while they love the club, they did not have an opportunity to provide input on the expansion. Pickleball members in particular said they lack representation and had no say on the assessment—per the terms of a pickleball membership, they cannot serve on the board and don’t have voting rights.
Diana Clark, a tennis club member for 16 years, said that the assessment took many by surprise. She also questioned the need for more courts and whether other options were considered to help improve the club such as fixing up the clubhouse, adding a reservation system or converting “underused” clay courts.
“There are a lot of different ways we can approach this congestion issue without having to go to this extreme change to the tennis club footprint,” Clark said.
In her comments, Ruzich said she believes the assessment was calculated fairly. During the project’s planning over the last two years, the club explored different ways to fund the project—to fundraise more would potentially delay the project for years, which would also add to the construction costs.
“It’s difficult to predict, but our feeling is that (the assessment) will not have a major impact,” Ruzich said. “For most people $100 a month added to the fees that they’re currently paying, which are much lower than any other club in the vicinity, should not be an issue.”
They have estimated 15 to 20 losses in membership.
Ruzich noted there are pickleball-playing members that serve on the board and all members are invited to attend meetings to learn more and provide input. She said the board is open to a discussion about changing the plan of operations in regards to voting rights and representation for pickleball members.
The club also has a dedicated email address to provide input on the expansion or any issues—emails can be sent to membersinput@rsftennis.club