Oct. 6, 2021 • Volume 10, Issue 10 • Complimentary • HiltonHeadSun.com
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Palmetto Dunes set to host top-tier pro pickleball event By Tim Wood CONTRIBUTOR
If you’re late to the pickleball phenomenon, you have a chance to see what all the buzz is about and watch world-class competition on Hilton Head Island this month. The Palmetto Dunes Tennis and Pickleball Center will play host to one of the sport’s biggest events of the year, the Association of Pickleball Professionals Hilton Head Open, taking place Oct. 13-17. Palmetto Dunes hosted the tournament last year as well, as the facility at the epicenter of the island tennis explosion has been equally innovative at the forefront of the growth of pickleball. “We are honored to host a stop on the APP Tour,” said John Kerr, Palmetto Dunes’ Director of Tennis and Pickleball. “As we are working hard to create a world-class pickleball center, attracting such a prestigious event lets us know we are heading in the right direction.” The tournament will be co-hosted by top-ranked pros Sarah Ansboury and Pat Smith. Ansboury, Palmetto Dunes’ director of pickleball instruction, has traveled the country in an RV playing tournaments and teaching others how to teach pickleball to all levels of players. “Like a lot of folks, she got here and found a lot of reasons to stay and she’s been so important to our growth,” Kerr said of
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Ansboury. “We began this buildup of our pickleball facility six years ago and we have seen such amazing growth in the love and passion for playing.” The inclusion as a stop on the 18-tourney tour is just the latest step forward for an ever-growing pickleball obsession in the Lowcountry. It is a sport that many call a mega version of ping pong. The game is played with paddles the size of a racquetball racquet with the hitting surface of a ping pong paddle. The balls have the consistency of a larger, more solid whiffleball with more holes. The Hilton Head Island Pickleball Club, a group run in conjunction with the Island Rec Center, boasts more than 300 members and administers meetups and leagues on 11 courts around the island. The group has been carving out space on pre-existing basketball and tennis courts, including its courts off of Adrianna Lane, a spot that HHIPC president Alex Cruden says attracts some of the higher-ranked amateurs. Cruden said those 11 courts had more than 11,000 hours of use over the past year by both club members and the general public. Town officials have said that the creation of a 24-court pickleball public facility is a priority as part of an ongoing multi-million-dollar parks and recreation renovation plan. Town Council, Parks and Recreation
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PHOTOS COURTESY PALMETTO DUNES PICKLEBALL CENTER
The 2020 Association of Pickleball Professionals Hilton Head Open was held at Palmetto Dunes Pickleball Center, which will host the 2021 event Oct. 13-17.
Board members and Town Manager Marc Orlando are currently assessing how to best use more than $4 million in funds set aside for projects at Crossings Park and Chaplin Community Park. They are simultaneously moving forward with the creation of a mid-island park and trying to assess the best use of each of these spaces.
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While Chaplin seems to be the logical landing spot for the pickleball center, Cruden said his crew will be happy with any location. “We’re just glad that the town has made pickleball a priority. The growth has been
Please see PICKLEBALL on page 10A Last of sea turtle hatchlings due out of nests this month 26A
Sunny Side Up 3A • Editorial 4A • Sun on the Street 6A • Noteworthy 28A • Culture 30A • Legal 33A • Technology 35A • Education 37A • Collecting 38A • Faith 39A • Home 43A • Nature 45A