Summer 2026

Stars on the Court The Colorful Days of the Clint Eastwood Invitational B Y NE A L HOT E L L I NG C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 105 T ennis championships on the Monterey Peninsula started before golf was even played here. In an 1894 championship, Charles Hubbard and Harry N. Stetson defeated brothers Robert and GeorgeWhitney on Hotel Del Monte’s grass court in a hard-fought dou- bles final: 4-6; 5-7; 6-1; 7-5; 6-2. In September 1899, Eastern tennis stars came to Del Monte to chal- lenge the best of the West. National Champion Mac Whitman easily defeated Pacific Coast Champion George Whitney and Dwight Davis defeated Robert Whitney.The backstory is that Davis credits that East vs. West tournament as the inspiration for the next year’s challenge of U.S. against Great Britain—an international championship for which he creat- ed the Davis Cup. Tennis activity at the resort remained focused at Hotel Del Monte until 1938, when Pebble Beach founder Samuel F. B. Morse decided to create the Pebble Beach Raquet Club with courts near The Lodge at Pebble Beach.WorldWar II stunted the early growth of the club but with the hir- ing of John Gardiner in 1949, tennis activity flourished with an expanded tennis facility at today’s Beach andTennis Club. Future champions like Jack Frost emerged under his tutelage. Gardiner built his own tennis ranch in Carmel Valley in 1958, but continued to manage activities at Pebble Beach until 1964. In 1965, Gardiner’s replacement, Don Leary, met with Gwenn Graham, Pebble Beach Company’s head of public relations, and Carla Michaud, the wife of Aime G. “Tim” Michaud, whom Morse hand-picked to become president of Pebble Beach Company in September 1964. Together they launched the Celebrity Tennis Festival in July 1966. The goal was to bring some of the star power of the Crosby golf tournament to tennis at Pebble Beach. Photo: William C. Brooks photo /Pebble Beach Company Lagorio Archive