Golden Gate Park Tennis Complex

Great courts and plenty of parking around.
Sometimes they have tournaments during weekends and will ask you to move mid-​game. Wasn’t able to find a schedule online, though.
#5 is usually wet and slippery
#11 is cracked
#16 and #17 — there’s a practice wall adjacent

We love the Golden Gate Tennis Complex. We usually play on the weekends and sometimes it’s a bit challenging to get in at a popular time (i.e. Saturday mornings). Best advice– call or email early in the week to make a reservation.
The courts are well maintained, there are water fountains and clean restrooms and even table tennis inside of the office.
Once you’ve checked into your court, you have a full 90 mins until the next session begins so you don’t have to worry about clearing off the court for people waiting.
Cheap, convenient and accessible to everyone.

Located in a beautiful, scenic location, not always crowded on bad weather weekends. Sometimes you can find pick-​up games, and there’s a rare tennis wall (two walls, facing each other), tucked away in a corner of the complex, closest to the panhandle entrance on the eastern side of the complex, near the hippie drum circle park. A beautiful place to work on your strokes, and if you want you can ride the merry-​go-​round behind Sharon art studio nearby afterwards for $ 2, as a treat to yourself.

The hope is that you might join a tennis club and play tennis. And so you pay $ 30, and send in the paperwork. But then nothing happens. Weeks pass. You visit the courts, but no one is ever at the window. More time goes by. You would call, but the number is incorrect. You would email, but the email address doesn’t work. You track down board members, but they don’t respond. Should you take such a place seriously, or personally? And then you wonder how you could ever get your money back…

These are quite nice courts relative to the other shoddy outdoor courts in the city. Nestled within the greenery of Golden Gate Park they offer a pretty special atmosphere to play a good match of tennis in.
I’m unsure whether they are public or private, but you definitely have to pay at times. Also, during the weekend it’s near impossible to get a court as a walk-​on so be sure to schedule in advance. You can reserve a court for about 90 minutes.

It’s the best because you get the court for 90 minutes without people standing around your court warming up around you waiting for you to finish.
The courts are clean and well maintained.
You’re in the park already and it’s close to a lot of other great places in the Inner sunset and the richmond.

The tennis courts in Golden Gate Park were established in 1901, the year the first automobile permit was issued in San Francisco and five years before the Great Quake and Fire of 1906 reshaped the City of San Francisco.
This is a HISTORIC tennis facility and the courts are in great condition.
The outside bathrooms are pretty sketchy, bu the inside ones are decent and much better.
Parking is limited. Do NOT leave anything visible in your car as breakins are frequent

Clean courts which can be reserved. $ 5

Growing up on public tennis courts, I’ve had my fair share of long waits and near-​fights with other «civilized» tennis players in regards to who’s up on the next available court. WIth SF’s limited number of sunny days and limited number of public courts, you are bound to have an hour long wait wherever you go (I lived 1.5 blocks from Dolores Park and that was impossible). And once you actually get on court, you’re stared at and constantly asked how much time you have left by those left waiting… my favorite at Alice Marble was, «shouldn’t those Chinese people be done by now?»
Thank goodness for the reservations system at GGP Tennis Complex. You can call in advance for weekends and evenings when tennis courts are most popular. It’s totally worth the $ 6 to be able to get to the courts 10 min before your time and know you’ve secured a court for 1.5 hours (non-​res is $ 8 but they don’t seem to check, discounts for seniors, and free for youth under 18). You can also try to walk-​in for $ 5 but make sure to stick to the session times so you can get the full 1.5 hrs (weekends — 9a, 10:30a, 12n, 1:30p, 3p & weeknights April-​Oct — 4:30p, 6p).
The courts were resurfaced a few years ago so they’re better than most of the random courts in parks in the city. They’re not perfect with some cracks but I can’t imagine too many pro’s are looking for public courts. I think the small fee and short distance between courts dissuades beginners from playing there… it’s a definite plus not to constantly chase after your neighbors’ balls flying through your court.

If it wasn’t so far, I would come here more often. There are tons of courts to choose and the court surfaces and conditions seem to be well maintained. However, they do not have lights at night, so playing late isn’t an option here. The courts are also close next to each other, so it’s easy to lose your balls and get distracted by other games next to us. The net poles are no more than 6 inches from the next one.

The old surface of GGP Tennis Complex used to get me extra points on my serve when the balls would bounce off craters in the ground! Well no more! The courts have been resurfaced and they look nice. And the cost of the courts on the weekdays is still $ 4 (same as three years ago!) I found my new love. Now if only you installed lights. I know many tennis players who would pay $ 20 to play at night damnit!

Great quality courts! Not to mention the beautiful park surroundings.
As far as I know this is one of the very few (if not the only) public facility where you can reserve a tennis court, and for a very modest fee of $ 5. If you know of other place, please let me know.
Yes, the place can get a little busy, but you get the joy of being in the mix of things.

Playing tennis (or in my case — attempting to) in sun-​lit Golden Gate Park with the familiar sounds of Hippie Hill cushioning each ball bounce and miss.
Five dollars is all you need.
If you want quieter and roomier courts — go elsewhere.
But if you’re just looking to move and hit around the ball for awhile
Sign up now.
Trust.

Tough time getting courts here. Many times there is a long list. Plus you have to pay for the time on the courts.
People are friendly out here though. I have met some great players and especially great friends, but it can be difficult to play on the weekend without being on a team.
During the weekday’s the courts are usually wide open before 3pm
Tip: on Sunday’s when the streets in the park are closed to traffic, look for parking on Lincoln Way. When all courts are taken, enjoy the practice wall behind court #16 in the practice area.

These courts are amazing by public court standards. $ 6 and a phone call a couple of days ahead gets you your very own court for an hour and a half. There’s tons of courts, and the only real downside is that means stray balls will probably fly into your court.
There’s a tennis club house is basically a time capsule from about 1965. It’s clean, and has a large changing area and bathroom, so no need to deal with GGP’s general bathrooms. Parking is great on the weekdays, but pretty tough on the weekends, especially when there is great weather.

Golden Gate Park Tennis Complex is one of the best things that San Francisco has to offer. This was my second home in high school.
$ 5 here can get you:
very well maintained tennis courts,
great staff members [Greg & Jake — who both manage the courts and leagues here],
other fabulous tennis players [both young & old],
beautiful green scenery [trees surround the complex],
spontaneous passerbys aka your new audience members [fences line the entire complex so don’t worry — they won’t be hurt if you’re hitting the balls out of the ballpark/​tennis complex] and
a bunch of seating and benches for your fans.
A quick tip — don’t drink out of the water fountain. Seriously — homeless people take baths there, dogs drink there, people can get pretty disgusting with a water fountain and unless you want to inherit a new strand of bacteria, don’t drink from the water fountain.
My high school varsity tennis [yep that’s right — I was one of the captains] coach, Greg, works here. He is an amazing man. Let me tell you — putting up with 15 girls groaning and whining, «Coach! I don’t wanna run today! I’m tired!» is not an easy task. My poor coach.
I come to play tennis here [or try to, at least] whenever I can because of Greg — he’s always willing to hit with me or he’s got a poor victim to put me up against. Like today, I was just strolling through Golden Gate Park and I decided to drop by and say hello after a year of not seeing him. He was gracious enough to lend me his racket & pick out a poor guy for me to play tennis with. [There are always people willing to hit — or you can go and play against a wall near the outer part of the tennis complex]. That poor guy didn’t play much tennis with me — except to fetch the tennis balls that I hit — to another court. Sorry! He probably wasn’t sure if I was playing tennis. or baseball.
GG Park is wonderful — it’s close to Haight Street and Irving Street so you can always grab a snack after your tennis workout. It’s too bad the Bloody Academy of Science had to locate itself in GG Park — there is hardly any parking around here, but it is still 100x better than the foo-​foo tennis «clubs» in downtown. People only go to clubs to play tennis because they are 1) there to show off their tennis wardrobe, not their skill, 2) they’re too scared to play a game of «pick up tennis» so they find a sucky tennis partner so they can show off at the club.
Tennis is great! I totally recommend coming here and learning or refining your tennis skills. It’s a great workout AND you can tan at the same time. Life is good.

The other reviews are pretty comprehensive, so I’ll just add a few points:
Court condition — probably resurfaced in the late 1990’s, so they are pretty fast, but are fine overall, and the paint is consistent (no asphalt showing through).
3-​ball rule — I usually have 3 – 6 tennis balls, and have never had a problem. The only people who are allowed to give lessons (and use the big baskets) are the pros associated with the park, and the money they generate is used largely for court maintenance.
Pick-​up games — You can usually show up and find some people to rally. Walk over to where the wall is (northeast of the courts), or just look around for any group of 3 people hitting.
Court-​time — It is great to have a facility with 21 courts, as you can usually just show up and get a court (without an advance reservation). If the courts aren’t too busy (weekdays), they usually don’t require people to pay the $ 5 fee (90 minutes). If things are busy (weekends), then the reservation/​fee policy is more often enforced. If you aren’t sure what that day’s policy is, walk over to the «clubhouse,» which is at the southwest part of the court area, and ask!
Court spacing — I don’t have an issue with the courts being spaced too close.
Wind — sometimes an issue, but that’s life in the city, no?
I like playing here because (i) you get to see so many other bay area people enjoying tennis in one (attractive, tree-​filled) setting, (ii) parking is easy, and (iii) court-​time is reasonably easy to obtain.
So get out there and play some more tennis!

Late Saturday afternoon is the best time to play on these courts. The area is windy and the courts are situated close together –I’d have to agree with the other reviewers. However, the location is good and parking is ample. Other time slots need to be reserved (i.e. Saturday morning /​Sunday morning) and paid for (?). Nothing really special about these courts except their location in the almost-​middle of the park. Facilities (i.e. benches /​netting) needs to be updated, but what can we expect from such a public place? Good location that although it’s not stellar, I’d still come back for continuous play.

I run by these courts every week, and finally Crystal A. and I decide to get our tennis on. I never realized how many courts there are! I couldn’t find her for ten minutes bc I was walking around the whole perimeter of the outside courts.
Its $ 5 for 90 minutes and they have a reservation system. And since we played on the court that was kinda wet (we’re not very good, but we try), we got a discount :)

I never been confronted by the «3-​ball rule» as some other Unilocalers have, so can’t comment on that, but I will say these are gorgeous courts by public standards. They are plenty of them too, plus some fun leagues you can join for all sorts of folks — singles, gay/​lesbian, kids, you name it.
Compared to private clubs, it’s a real bargain too, plus you’re in Golden Gate Park, another bonus when the weather is nice.
I’ve played some recerational tennis here, both doubles and singles, and also watched some exciting matches and tournaments too.

Unbelievable. They don’t let you practice with a ball hopper! What?!? Next to me, I see a teaching pro using a huge cart of balls! Rule is that you need to be a certified instructor at the facility to use more than 3 balls at a time.
Private courts, sure they could make any funky rules they want, but these are public courts in a public park! They were not made for pros to make more money, so tennis pros shouldn’t be the ones making the rules on courts made with tax payer’s money. Sure, they have the right to make a living, but I vote for freedom when it comes to public courts. I’m even paying hourly court usage fee.
On the positive note, the guy who worked there, Greg, was a cool guy and gave us a discount because he felt bad for enforcing the rule which he didn’t make.
Do not confuse this place with Golden Gateway Tennis & Swim Club (
).