In scenes reminiscent of PLTC's heydays in the 80s and 90s, Friday's Michael Venus Xmas Invitational saw a crowd of around 300 people packed around Peter Fletcher court to enjoy an exhibition tennis match played by Michael Venus and friends.

Our very own Chris Dobbs from Working Style put together an amazing event with additional high-level sponsorship from Mercedes-Benz Auckland and Lanvin & Fils Champagne, a slew of amazing auction items, together with some extraordinary tennis.  To have Michael Venus, a grand slam winner and Wimbledon finalist, our very own Rhett Purcell (himself an ex-professional player) and two of New Zealand's very best upcoming talents in Jack Loutit and Kai Milburn on display was a rare treat indeed.  Having Michael and Rhett microphoned up and able to provide on-court commentary added to the entertainment, even if it amplified Rhett's puffing at times!

Importantly, the event raised over $8,000 toward our LED lighting project. A huge vote of thanks is due to Chris for initiating and organising the event, and also to Feleti and the committee for putting together such a smoothly-run operation at very short notice. It was also great to see a number of members mucking in and helping with mundane tasks like toilet cleaning, helping behind the bar and rubbish collection to ensure PLTC performed at its best for all the invited corporate guests. Thank you all, that's true club spirit!

If you haven't already seen the TV footage, then please go to TV1 News on-demand (https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/one-news-at-6pm) and have a look at the sports segment from Friday December 15. It's great to see us featuring on nationwide news!

A photo library is being put together on our website.  Click here to have a look at some memories from the day. If anyone has some good shots they would like to have uploaded, please email them to newsletter@pltc.co.nz.