Pickleball is thriving on Mercer Island and a host of local amateur players recently paddled their way to smashing success at the Seattle Open.

At the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) tournament at the end of July on the Lower Woodland Park courts, Islander singles and doubles players ages 50 and beyond notched first place in their respective divisions to earn golden tickets to automatically qualify for nationals in November in Dallas, Texas.

“It’s exciting, particularly in light of what we have going on with the Luther Burbank pickleball court project. It’s nice to see both the casual recreational play and now some competitive play really coming to the fore,” said Kirk Dawson, who won at 4.0 men’s singles for ages 65-69 and at 4.0 men’s doubles in the same age group with Seattle’s Bill Rumpf.

Also making their mark in the amateur brackets were first-placers Chris Fahey (men’s singles, 4.0 to 4.5, ages 50-59); Suzanne Randell (women’s singles, 4.0, ages 70-74); Carleen Snyder and Ajay Zachariah (mixed doubles, 3.5, ages 50-54); Jacquie Hartmann and Kim Thunen (women’s senior doubles, 3.0, ages 50-54); and Diane Tien and Kristen Glant (women’s senior doubles, 3.0, ages 55-59).

Hartmann, who is the head coach of the Mercer Island High School girls tennis team, rolled out what makes her doubles team excel on the court: “We are tenacious, have a will to win, minimize mistakes, and had a little bit of luck. Somehow we manage to keep the fun in this sport!”

Dawson is ecstatic that pickleball has experienced monumental growth over the last few years, especially on the Island. Players can get their indoor and outdoor game on at Luther Burbank Park, Mercer Island Community and Event Center, Stroum Jewish Community Center, Lid park and at the Mercer Island Country Club. This summer, TGA Premier Sports is hosting youth pickleball camps at Homestead Park. For information, visit https://tinyurl.com/99736ttj.

According to the USA Pickleball site, the sport — which was invented by a trio of Bainbridge Island dads in 1965 — combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, and players utilize paddles to knock the plastic ball with holes over a slightly modified tennis net on the badminton-sized court.

Over at Luther Burbank Park, two of the three existing courts will be converted to pickleball use and the third court may be converted to shared-use with tennis players, according to a June 20 city report. The project, which is partially funded by a grant from the King County Parks Capital and Open Space Program, sports an estimated budget of $107,000 in 2023 and $438,000 in 2024, the report adds. For more information, visit www.mercerisland.gov/lbpcourts.

To display their passion for the game, pickleball players have weighed in on several layout concepts for the renovation project.

During Dawson’s time on the pickleball scene the last two years, he’s experienced maximum competition, laughter and camaraderie while playing with enthusiasts of all ages.

Dawson comes to pickleball from the tennis world, where he played for 35 years and got in some solid action with United States Tennis Association (USTA) teams at sectionals and nationals.

He’s known Rumpf from their days of swatting the ball in USTA leagues.

“We initially met (again) on the pickleball courts, like, ‘I know you. You know me,’ and so we enjoy playing together. Much like Kim Thunen and Jacquie Hartmann know each other from USTA tennis, and so making the transition from tennis together seemed to work pretty well,” he said.

For more information, visit https://usapickleball.org/

Mercer Islander Kirk Dawson (right) with doubles partner Bill Rumpf of Seattle. The duo won gold in its amateur division at the recent Professional Pickleball Association Seattle Open. Dawson also notched gold in singles in his amateur division. Photo courtesy of Kirk Dawson