The Claremont Club began with the vision of Stanley Clark. Stan, who was a lawyer by trade, wanted a tennis club and he felt strongly that he could make it a reality. In 1972, Stan purchased 100 acres, moved into the old stone house and started building his tennis courts.

The land was surrounded by cacti, rock, lemon trees and rabbits. On July 13, 1973 the club, that Stan named the Claremont Tennis Club, opened with two courts and Tracey Austin playing an exhibition match against Bobby Riggs. Martha and Larry Hamilton were CTC’s first members. They said, “Our first matches were played while the first eight courts were still under construction. But we didn’t mind the noise or the dust from the bulldozers. We had a new club and it was wonderful!” Jim and Margie Sullivan are also charter members. Margie remembers Stan as a very happy man. He was always laughing and his shoulders would bounce up and down as he laughed and as he walked around the tennis courts.

During the 1980’s, the club built a total of 29 tennis courts, a childcare center, racquetball courts, a recreational pool, an Olympic pool, a conditioning room and an aerobics room. Because the club began incorporating conditioning and aerobic programs, Stan changed the Claremont Tennis Club name to The Claremont Club. The club itself, surrounded by club condos built in 1980/1981, now sits on 19 acres.

By the 1990’s the Ambiance Day Spa and Salon became a welcome addition, along with a wading pool and courts for basketball, sand volleyball, and squash. In 1997, a new President/CEO, Mike Alpert, was hired. Since his arrival, TCC’s south parking lot was expanded and an Infant Care was built. In 2003/2004 the club took on one of its largest endeavors and had a 23,000 square foot remodel, expansion, and physical therapy center built.

We were all saddened to lose Stan to cancer in 2000. All of us at The Claremont Club are honored to be part of Stan’s vision and we thank all the charter members that helped make Stan’s dream come true.