South Bay Tennis Clubs

Tennis runs deep here. The Palos Verdes Peninsula produced a generation of junior players out of a single club founded by a Wimbledon champion, the beach cities keep free public courts inside their neighborhood parks, and Torrance has the one pay to play racquet center that serves the whole area. Here is how the South Bay tennis landscape is actually organized.

What are the tennis clubs in the South Bay?

The South Bay’s private tennis clubs sit almost entirely on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, led by the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates and the Peninsula Racquet Club in Rancho Palos Verdes. Manhattan Country Club is the beach cities equivalent. Public play centers on the South Bay Tennis and Pickleball Center in Torrance and on free city courts in every beach city.

Club or facility	City	Access	Notes
Jack Kramer Club	Rolling Hills Estates	Membership	11 Montecillo Drive. 13 courts, fitness center, 25 yard pool, clubhouse. Founded 1963
Peninsula Racquet Club	Rancho Palos Verdes	Membership	30850 Hawthorne Boulevard
Manhattan Country Club	Manhattan Beach	Membership	The beach cities racquet and fitness club
South Bay Tennis and Pickleball Center	Torrance	Pay to play	25924 Rolling Hills Road. Lighted courts, the area’s main public racquet center
Live Oak Park	Manhattan Beach	Free city courts	1901 North Valley Drive, on the greenbelt
Charles H. Wilson Park	Torrance	Free city courts	2200 Crenshaw Boulevard, open 6 am to 10 pm
Alta Vista Park	Redondo Beach	Free city courts	Courts within the larger park complex
Ernie Howlett Park	Rolling Hills Estates	Free city courts	25851 Hawthorne Boulevard, includes two hitting walls open any time
Palos Verdes Tennis Club	Palos Verdes Estates	Membership	3303 Via Campesina. Twelve courts, ten lighted. Non-profit foundation on city land under concession
Community Center Courts	Hermosa Beach	Free play, reservations by resident membership	710 Pier Avenue. Six courts beside the Community Center lot
Recreation Park	El Segundo	Free city courts	401 Sheldon Street. Tennis alongside pickleball, basketball and a pool

What is the Jack Kramer Club?

The Jack Kramer Club at 11 Montecillo Drive in Rolling Hills Estates was founded in 1963 by Jack Kramer, the Wimbledon and US National champion who later drove the professional restructuring of the sport. He built it to develop young players, and it has operated on that premise ever since.

The club runs 13 tennis courts alongside a fitness center, a 25 yard swimming pool with diving boards, a clubhouse, a sport court and a playground, which is why Peninsula families tend to treat it as a membership that covers more than tennis. It remains the single most recognizable name in South Bay tennis and a significant part of why junior tennis on the Peninsula has the reputation it does.

What is the Palos Verdes Tennis Club?

The Palos Verdes Tennis Club sits at 3303 Via Campesina in Palos Verdes Estates, at the end of the east Golf Club driveway nearest Paseo del Campo. It runs twelve courts, ten of them lighted, and it is operated by the non-profit Palos Verdes Tennis Foundation on city land under a concession agreement rather than as a private business.

The club came out of a 1959 residents meeting at the Malaga School cafetorium, signed its first concession agreement with the city in March 1961, and opened with five courts and a small pro shop in July 1963. Courts have been added since. Memberships are structured as family memberships whether held by one person, a couple or a household, and courts run first come, first served with priority to members. The junior program takes children from three to sixteen on a drop-in basis, and the Marine League of the South Bay runs interclub women’s doubles out of the club.

Where can you play tennis without joining a club?

Every beach city and Torrance maintains free public courts inside neighborhood parks, and they are genuinely usable rather than an afterthought.

• Manhattan Beach. Live Oak Park at 1901 North Valley Drive sits directly on the greenbelt, with additional courts at Marine Avenue Park and Manhattan Heights.
• Torrance. Charles H. Wilson Park at 2200 Crenshaw Boulevard, open 6 am to 10 pm, is the largest public complex in the South Bay.
• Redondo Beach. Alta Vista Park carries the city’s main public courts, with others distributed through the neighborhood parks.
• Rolling Hills Estates. Ernie Howlett Park at 25851 Hawthorne Boulevard includes two hitting walls that are open at any hour, which is the closest thing the area has to a practice court you never need to book.
• Hermosa Beach. Six courts sit beside the Community Center parking lot at 710 Pier Avenue and are open for free play. Reservations are a separate matter: the city’s Tennis Membership Program is open only to Hermosa Beach residents and pre-approved private instructors, so a non-resident plays on a walk-on basis or waits. The single tennis court at Kelly Courts on Valley Drive is closed for renovation along with the pickleball courts there.
• El Segundo. Recreation Park at 401 Sheldon Street carries the city’s public courts alongside pickleball, basketball and a pool. The city does not publish a court count or lighting details, so call before planning an evening game.

Several cities run reservation systems on their busier courts, particularly in the evenings and on weekend mornings. Check the parks and recreation page for the city you are playing in before you turn up expecting a walk on.

Is there a public tennis center in the South Bay?

Yes. The South Bay Tennis and Pickleball Center at 25924 Rolling Hills Road in Torrance is the area’s pay to play racquet facility, with lighted courts, instruction and organized play. It is where people go when they want court time they can count on without carrying a club membership, and it now shares its space with the largest concentration of pickleball play in the South Bay.

El Camino College in Torrance also opens court time to the public at points through the year, which is worth knowing when the center is booked out.

Are there public tennis courts in Palos Verdes Estates?

No. Palos Verdes Estates has no free public tennis courts. The city states that recreation within its boundaries consists of self-guided enjoyment of nature and its passive parks, and that it has no recreation department and offers no formal programs. Memorial Garden, Farnham Martin Park, Civic Center Park and Lunada Bay Plaza carry no courts.

Tennis in PVE runs through the Palos Verdes Tennis Club, one of four recreation facilities operating on city land under separate concession agreements alongside the Beach and Athletic Club, the Stables and the Golf Club. The pattern is old. The club exists because there were no public courts on the peninsula in the early 1950s, and seventy years on that has not changed. To hit without a membership, the nearest free courts are Ernie Howlett Park in Rolling Hills Estates and the public complexes in Torrance and the beach cities.

Rancho Palos Verdes is close to the same. The city park amenities list shows one public tennis court, at Frank A. Vanderlip Park, plus two paddle tennis courts, which are a different sport. Between the two cities the Peninsula holds a single public tennis court. That is why tennis up here runs through clubs while the beach cities run on city courts.

Where do juniors play?

Junior tennis in the South Bay runs through three channels: the private clubs, the USTA Southern California junior team tennis program that fields South Bay and Long Beach teams, and high school programs. The Peninsula clubs carry the longest development history, and the public courts and hitting walls carry everyone else. For current junior team tennis divisions and schedules, USTA Southern California publishes the South Bay and Long Beach listings.

Court counts, hours and reservation rules change, and several cities have converted tennis courts to shared or blended pickleball lines. Details were verified against club and city sources in September 2026. Confirm with the club or the city before you plan a match around a specific court.

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