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GENERAL INFORMATION & HOUSE RULES
This information is provided to maintain a standard of service and orderly use of the Club
so that all members may fully enjoy its privileges. It has been drawn from a number of
sources that are frequently updated by the Board and its Standing Committees. Every
effort has been made to ensure that the information is current at the time of going to
press. Any inadvertent errors and omissions are the responsibility of the Club Office, and
will be corrected as identified. Updates will be communicated via newsletter and e-mails..

CLUB GOVERNANCE
Governance of The Marin Tennis Club is laid down in its bylaws. The bylaws are always
available for member inspection at the Club Office, and member copies are available upon
request. While the bylaws set forth club governance, they do not contain the Club’s day-to-
day operating rules and guidelines, which are set forth below. These day-to-day operating
rules are adopted by the Board of Directors with input from its Standing Committees and
management team. They are subject to change. Changes are advised to members via the
Club newsletter and e-mails.

INTERPRETATION BY MANAGEMENT
As all conceivable circumstances cannot be reduced to rules, members are requested to
cooperate with the intent of these rules and to accede to the directions of the General
Manager and his designees. The members shall support and agree to management’s
interpretation of the rules promptly and graciously, and without appeal, except in writing to
the Board of Directors.

TENNIS LEAGUE PARTICIPATION GUIDELINES
In addition to the rules set forth below the Tennis Committee formulates and the Board
approves rules and guidelines relating to Club/member participation in league tennis,
copies of which are also available upon request.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
The Club is fully licensed to sell wine & beer and members are encouraged to purchase
their wine & beer at the club. At the same time, adult members may bring their own beer
and wine onto the premise without any corkage or other fees. Members may use the
designated Club ice carts to keep refreshments cool, however all member provided
unconsumed beer & wine must be removed from the premises at the end of each day.
Under no circumstances will alcoholic beverages be sold to or consumed by persons
under the age of 21.

CLUBHOUSE ATTIRE
Swimsuits and bare feet are not permitted in the Clubhouse. Appropriate tennis
attire/casual clothing should be worn in and out of the Clubhouse, unless otherwise
stipulated. Shirts must be worn at all times on the courts and in the Clubhouse.

CHILDREN
Parents are responsible for the behavior of their children. Juniors 9 years or under must
be accompanied by an adult or responsible babysitter aged 14 or older when at the Club.
Under no circumstances may Juniors 8 or under be upstairs in the Clubhouse unless a
supervising adult or responsible babysitter aged 14 or older is with them.

PETS
Pets are not allowed on Club premises.

CHARGES
All financial transactions shall be charged to the member’s account. Charges made by
guests are the responsibility of the guest’s host; charges made by members under age 22
are the responsibility of the junior’s parents.

POSTING OF NOTICES AND PETITIONS
No notice, petition, subscription or magazine, excepting such as relates to the Club and
tennis affairs, shall be posted or circulated (Specific rules apply to the members’ bulletin
board.)

LOCKER ROOM RULES
The club is not responsible for items left in the locker rooms. Please put towels and litter in
proper receptacles. No food or drink except water is permitted in the locker rooms at any
time. Jacuzzis are covered to conserve energy, and it is helpful if members replace the
covers after use.

FOOD SERVICE
Meals will be served only on such dates and in such areas as are designated by the
Board of Directors. Food, including delivered food services, can be brought into the club
anytime the kitchen is closed including all day Monday and any day after 2:30pm. Teams
can also bring in food for post match socializing as well as the occasional birthday type
celebration even when the café is open. Please note that the kitchen, all food service
storage cabinets, refrigerators, freezers and ice machines are off limits to members. The
club ice carts are available for member use. Please ask the office or maintenance staff for
assistance in icing the carts for your use. All food and beverage should be cleared from
the ice carts and removed from the premises at end of each day. Please note that
Members are only permitted to use kitchen and office facilities in connection with pre-
approved Club business.

TIPPING OF EMPLOYEES IS NOT PERMITTED
Tipping of employees is not permitted. Members have an opportunity to show their
appreciation for employees via an annual employee holiday fund.

FOOD MINIMUM CHARGES
The single membership food minimum is currently $40 per quarter; the family membership
food minimum is currently $60 per quarter. Food minima are charged at the end of March,
June, September, and December. The purchase of alcoholic beverages does NOT count
toward the fulfillment of members’ quarterly food minimum.

GUEST RULES
All guests of any age who visit the club, whether to swim, play tennis, or simply to eat &
drink, must be registered by their hosting member at the front office upon arrival, and
guests 21 and older must sign their name acknowledging our “Assumption of Risk, Waiver
and Release”. Failure to register guests will result in an additional charge established by
the Board of Directors. Member children aged 22 or older must be registered as guests
unless they are Associate members.

During the summer months, members may also sign their guests in with the pool lifeguard
when present, typically from 11am-5pm.

A member must accompany guests at all times. Members may not ‘leave’ a guest at the
Club. Members will be responsible for all charges incurred by their guests. It is the
obligation of each member to insure that his or her guests observe the rules of the Club.
The Board of Directors sets charges and limits for guest visits. Current pricing and
parameters are available from the Club Office.

LOST ARTICLES
The Club will not be responsible for articles lost, missing, or stolen. Lost and Found items
are kept in bins around the Club, except for small items of value, which are kept at the
Club Office.

PARKING LOT
Our use permit prohibits street parking by members using Club facilities. Please use our
parking lot, and keep your vehicle locked at all times.

SMOKING
Smoking is not permitted on club grounds except in a designated area in the parking lot
near the dumpster.

BILLING
Club bills are payable in full by 5:00 p.m. on the last day of the month. Late fees are
charged on overdue balances. Club by-laws allow for the posting of accounts that are
overdue, and suspension of member privileges.

BICYCLES
Members utilizing the bike rack must, for the safety of others, walk their bicycles from the
parking lot to the rack.

POOL AREA RULES
The Club swimming pool is for the quiet enjoyment and use of our members and their
guests. All members and their guests use the pool at their own risk, and are asked to act
in a responsible way to allow for the enjoyment of the pool and club grounds for all
members. Children under 9 years of age are permitted in the pool area only when
accompanied by an adult or responsible babysitter 14 years of age or older. Children 9 to
13 years old may swim without an adult present only when a Club lifeguard is on duty.
Children 14 and older may swim when the lifeguard is not present, but only during regular
office hours. Club lifeguards are in charge of the pool area when on duty, and enforce
pool area rules, up to and including asking members or their guests to leave the pool
area. All swim guests must be registered, and non-member children must be signed in by
their parent(s) or designated caretaker. A member planning to invite more than five
guests on any one occasion requires pre-approval from the Club office.

TELEPHONE MESSAGES
The Club Office will take occasional messages for members, but the Board asks members
to limit usage of this service. Please check the office message board for your messages.
Only emergency phone calls will warrant interruption of a game.

MAIL SERVICE
With prior notice, the Club Office will hold mail and small items for collection by members
for periods not to exceed one week. (Club storage space is at a premium).

TELEPHONE SERVICE
The Club provides phones for members to make free local area calls. Please keep calls
as short as possible, as these local calls are not free of charge to the Club. The Club
does not provide facilities for members to make long distance calls.

EXERCISE ROOM
The exercise room is provided for the usage and enjoyment of members aged 18 and
over. Rules for usage are posted. No one under 16 is allowed to use the exercise room.
An adult member must accompany juniors aged 16 & 17.

TENNIS BALL BINS
These bins are provided to recycle used balls into the Clubs ball machines and hoppers.

TOWELS
The Club provides towels for three distinct purposes: court towels for personal use; old
towels available at the office for mopping up water or other spills; and locker room towels
for use in locker rooms only. Please do use the right towel for the right purpose, and
remember to leave all towels in their associated drop boxes. Please return any towels
taken inadvertently from the Club premises as soon as possible.

TOURNAMENTS & LEAGUE PLAY
Tournaments are advertised via the Club newsletter, posters and e-mails to attract
participants and to alert members to court utilization for tournaments.

LEAGUE PLAY
Members have the opportunity to participate in a variety of leagues that are also
advertised via newsletter, posters and e-mails. Court reservations for league matches are
made by the Club Office, working under Tennis Committee/Board guidelines.

COURT RULES: DEFINITIONS
‘Priority’ shall mean the right to request players on a court to vacate the court at the
completion of the game in progress. Please do not walk onto a court during play.

A ‘junior’ for the purpose of the tennis court rules is a member or guest aged 17 years or
younger.

‘Tennis Professional Priority’ refers to the right of the Club Professional(s) to request
players on the Teaching Courts (Courts 11 & 12) to vacate the court immediately.

‘Tournament priority’ means the Tennis Committee has direction over all the courts and
their usage.

COURT RULES: ATTIRE
All players are expected to wear appropriate tennis attire and proper tennis shoes. Shirts
shall be worn at all times. Tank tops are permitted for women players only. Jeans and cut-
offs are not allowed, and this rule applies to children as well as adults. Black-soled shoes
are not permitted on the courts.

COURT RULES: FOOD & BEVERAGE
Fresh water is provided on every court early in the morning. No food is allowed on the
courts at any time. Liquids other than water may be taken on the courts only if the
containers have lids. Please dispose of used ball cans and cups when vacating a court.

COURT RULES: SIGNING UP
Players must sign-up for a court at the Club Office before starting to play. If players forget
to sign-up, they may be bumped at any time.

To sign up for a court, a minimum of 2 players must be at the club. Players may not be
signed up on a court while they are playing on another court. (This includes the Challenge
Court.) Players may not re-sign for the same court for consecutive time segments.

Players who abuse sign-up rules may have their assigned court reassigned to other
players, and must vacate the court that has been reassigned.

COURT RULES: USAGE & PRIORITY
Court usage rules vary by singles versus doubles, adult versus junior playing
combinations and day of week, as set out in the sections that follow.

COURT RULES: TIME ALLOWED FOR PLAY
During the week, singles may sign up for 1 hour, doubles for 1 hour 15 minutes. On the
weekend, singles may sign up for 45 minutes, doubles for 1 hour 15 minutes. Members
may begin playing when the club opens. However, court sign-ups do not begin until 9:00 a.
m. during the week, and 8:30 a.m. on the weekends.

COURT RULES: BALL MACHINES
Two ball machines are available for members’ use free of charge. Guests may not use a
ball machine, except with their hosting member. Power is provided on courts 8, 9, 10, 11 &
12. Members must sign for one of these courts to use a machine.

From Monday to Friday, members shall have 45 minutes to use a ball machine and may
not be bumped until the 45 minutes has expired. On weekends, users of ball machines
have NO priority and may be bumped by 2 or more members wishing to play.

COURT RULES: BACKBOARD
One backboard is provided for member use. Guests may not use the backboard. Usage of
the backboard is limited to 1pm to 7pm, and may not be used when there is a league
match on an adjacent court. Members must sign up for Court 7 to use the backboard.

From Monday to Friday, members shall have a maximum of 45 minutes to use the
backboard and may not be bumped until the 45 minutes has expired. On weekends, users
of the backboard have NO priority and may be bumped by 2 or more members wishing to
play.

COURT RULES: RESERVATIONS
Reservations may be made in advance for courts 9 and 10. They may be made in person
or by phone at the desk up to seven days in advance and not less than two hours ahead
of time. Court reservations are to be entered by a staff member. Morning reservation time
slots are pre-set at the following times: 9:00, 10:15, & 11:30 am.

On the day of the reservation, no member of the group may play prior to the reservation
time or for two hours after finishing, unless in the judgment of the General Manager or
Tennis Director, there are sufficient courts available.

No reservations are allowed during Club tournaments. No more than one reservation per
day is allowed for a single person. Courts may NOT be reserved for ball machine or
backboard use.

Reservations may be requested by team captains for team practices via the Club Office. A
maximum of 2 courts can be reserved for this purpose, at hours established by the Tennis
Committee (typically after 1pm).

COURT RULES: BUMPING
All players who begin a match on an assigned court should be allowed to play for their
allotted time before being bumped. If possible within the framework of tennis etiquette,
players should be allowed to finish the game in progress. A court may be reassigned,
even though other courts are empty, only after the players on the court have received 15
extra minutes over the allotted time for play.

COURT RULES: PRIORITY
Junior member playing combinations are defined as:
•        2 juniors (under 18) playing together
•        4 juniors (under 18) playing together
•        3 juniors (under 18) playing with one adult
All other playing combinations are adult play.

Junior members have equal priority on Courts 7 through 12 during the week and on
Courts 9 through 12 at the weekend. Equal priority means that junior members have
EXACTLY the same rights to courts as adult members. Junior members have NO priority
on Courts 1 through 6 at any time. This means that juniors may be bumped from the sign-
up sheet or court at any time by adult members. The Tennis Staff have overriding priority
on Court 11 and 12 at all times, except on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to Noon.

COURT RULES: LIGHTED COURTS
The Club has 8 lighted courts, and all court rules apply to lighted courts with only the
following exceptions:
•        Play MUST cease at 10pm.
•        Juniors have equal priority on lighted courts 10 through 12 only.

COURT RULES: THE CHALLENGE COURT
From time to time, the Board sets aside a ‘Challenge Court’. Members may sign up on a
first comes first served basis at the front desk. If more than two persons are waiting to
play, play is doubles, with one set played using no ad scoring. The losers vacate the court
and the winners stay on for a second set. Junior members 9 years of age or older may
play on the challenge court, but no more than 2 junior members may be on the challenge
court at one time.

COURT RULES: RAINY DAY PROCEDURES
Members must sign up before squeegeeing a court. Play shall start when the court is dry
enough for play. Members who squeegeed the court receive an extra 15 minutes of play.

COURT RULES: MANAGEMENT DISCRETION
The General Manger may supercede rules governing court assignments for pre-
scheduled Intra and Interclub matches, tournaments, exhibitions, and other special
circumstances.