Quail Creek Country Club has completed a three-court padel complex at 13300 Valewood Drive in North Naples, adding a sport that has been exploding in popularity nationwide to its roster of member amenities. The private, member-owned club says the new courts make it the first private country club in Southwest Florida to offer padel.
According to Gulfshore Business, the complex joins a sports lineup that already included nine Har-Tru tennis courts, six pickleball courts and three bocce ball courts. Naples-based McWard Architects designed the new padel facility, and D. Garrett Construction served as general contractor, the outlet reports. Members and their guests will be able to take part in padel leagues, clinics, lessons and tournaments at the new courts.
A Regional First, By the Club's Own Account
The first-in-Southwest-Florida distinction is the club's own characterization, as reported by Gulfshore Business, and it comes as padel's footprint in the United States has been widening fast. The sport is a doubles racquet game that blends elements of tennis and squash, played on an enclosed court with glass walls that keeps the ball in play and rewards strategy as much as power, according to Florida Weekly. Florida Weekly also reports that padel is played in more than 150 countries and counts more than 35 million active players worldwide.
Quail Creek, founded in 1981, describes itself as a private, member-owned club offering amenities for members and their invited guests, per Florida Weekly's reporting. The club's two Audubon-certified 18-hole championship golf courses are currently undergoing strategic renovations through 2027, and its sports center and spa covers 18,000 square feet, according to the same report. Chris Evans, who has served as Quail Creek's general manager since 2024, credited Director of Court Sports Jose Pastrello with championing the padel project for the sport, the club and the broader Naples community, Florida Weekly reports. Pastrello also serves as the RSPA Florida division president and a master professional, and the club has said it plans to develop youth padel programming going forward, according to Club + Resort Business.
Padel's Rapid Rise Nationally
Padel's Rapid Rise Nationally The timing tracks with a national surge in interest. The U.S. Padel Association reports that 1,073,000 Americans played padel in 2025, with just over 1,000 courts open across 31 states as of April 2026. Club membership in the sport grew 51.5% year over year in 2025, while individual membership climbed 53.5%, the association found. The group projects the U.S. could reach 30,000 courts and more than 10 million players by 2030.
Padel's growth has also caught the attention of the broader sports industry. Participation was up 14.5% in a mid-year report, making it the fastest-growing activity tracked, according to the Sports Business Journal. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association added padel to its annual participation report for the first time this year, bringing the total number of activities it tracks to 126.
Bigger Builds Elsewhere in Florida
Quail Creek's three-court buildout is modest next to some of the investment pouring into padel elsewhere in the state. Boca Paddle by CityPickle, a $20 million facility billed as Florida's largest indoor pickleball and padel complex, was scheduled to open in Boca Raton on Nov. 18 with 25 courts total, including six dedicated to padel, according to The Palm Beach Post. The scale reflects a broader land rush for court space: one Delray Beach community investor told The Athletic that the community planned to double its padel courts from two to four by converting existing tennis courts, calling it the most practical path to expansion.
For now, Quail Creek's three new courts give its members a fresh option layered onto an already packed sports campus, with league play, clinics, professional instruction, social events and tournaments all part of the planned programming. Whether the club's first-in-the-region claim holds up as more private clubs in Southwest Florida weigh their own padel investments remains to be seen.
