When Huntington Hartford, one of the richest men in the world at the time, began building his fantasy of tropical elegance on Paradise Island in the late 1950s, he did not imagine The Ocean Club as just another nice place near the beach. He imagined it as a social world. A Caribbean answer to the Riviera. A private playground where leisure, glamour and sport blended into a single way of life.
So when it came time to staff the resort, Hartford did not hire just any tennis professional. He hired the best player on the planet.
Pancho Gonzales, the dominant figure in men’s tennis throughout the 1950s, arrived at The Ocean Club as head pro with a reputation that extended well beyond trophies. He was known for playing wealthy guests in private matches, for his larger-than-life personality, and for once even facing off against Charlie Chaplin. Gonzales made much of his career not only in vast stadiums, but also in intimate, rarefied settings like this one. He fit perfectly at The Ocean Club, where tennis unfolded as part of daily resort life and the setting helped.
Framed by European gardens, imported statuary and newly installed medieval cloisters, the courts became another stage for the jet set. Guests played in the morning, lingered over lunch, and returned in the evening before cocktails. The sport was part of a larger social ritual, one that Slim Aarons would later immortalize in his photographs of resort life and how time was spent there.
Over the decades, tennis remained woven into the fabric of the resort, but its character became more personal. After Gonzales, the role of head pro passed to Leo Rolle, a Bahamian player who would go on to define tennis life at The Ocean Club for more than half a century. Rolle became something of an institution himself, teaching generations of guests, correcting technique, building loyalty, and anchoring the sport to the island’s local culture. Among his most famous students was Richard Nixon, whose backhand Rolle reportedly helped fix during the former president’s stays on Paradise Island. Guests returned year after year not just for the setting, but for him.
Today, the legacy continues at The Ocean Club through his son Marvin Rolle, who grew up on the property and now serves as Director of Tennis. A former professional player and bronze medalist at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games, Marvin represents a rare continuity in luxury hospitality: a program shaped by decades of family history.
The Ocean Club’s Director of Tennis, Marvin Rolle
Today, alongside The Ocean Club, Four Seasons Residences, Bahamas — a collection of 67 oceanfront homes currently under development and for sale, scheduled for completion in 2028 — Padel courts are opening at the resort, introducing the faster, more social racket sport that has exploded across the world.
From Gonzales to the Rolles to padel, the story is remarkably consistent. The Ocean Club has never treated racket sports as just amenities. They are part of its mythology. A way of moving through paradise with just enough structure and sweat to justify the cocktails that follow.
