Myrtle Beach Players take pickleball to Jekyll Island

My wife gave me a 68th birthday party on August 16 with a pickleball cake and covered dish. 20 friends gathered at our clubhouse to eat and play pickleball. We had delicious food and played pickleball under the lights. We had a great time!

My wife and I are frequent visitors to Jekyll Island State park in Ga. While there in June, we met the tennis pro at the local tennis center. We had stopped by to see if they had courts for pickleball. Of course they did not know about pickleball. After conversations we all went outside and Pete, the pro, measured off one of the courts and we began to play. Some of the tennis players came over and we taught them the game. We made plans to go back to the center in September and teach some pickleball to whoever wanted to learn. 

Ten Myrtlle Beach players left for Jekyll Island and stayed in a beach cottage for 4 days. We showed up on Friday morning to very warm conditions. We taught only a few. The weather was intense and no one showed up.  However, on Saturday morning, we taught a few more people AND  a group of kids stopped by. They had a great time learning the game. We have been ask to come back again to show the seniors who stay for the winter months. 

Some of our group got to play a little tennis also and we all played pickleball. Unfortunately the tennis courts are clay.  While playing on clay courts is not my most favorite, it is however nice to know when I visit the island, they will mark off the courts for me or anyone who would like to play some pickleball.  Its certainly better than no pickleball at all. The ball does not bounce as well of course, as playing on basketball courts, or tennis courts with blacktop.


We all had a great time visiting the historical district, as many of the players had never been to the island before. We had some really good food, played some cards and just enjoyed the beach. To any one visiting the island in the future,stop by the tennis center and meet Pete Poole the tennis pro. He will be more than happy to mark a court for you. Jekyll Island now knows about Pickleball! 

On September 16, I gathered about 16 pickleball players at the Carolina Ridge community, where I live, and had an early morning play. We had a great time. We ended up playing almost 4 hours. We had doughnuts and drinks and a few gathered stayed for lunch. Everyone is wanting to do this again. I will try and have a play every other Sunday. 

That's all for now from Rich Skovran in Myrtle Beach. See you next month!