Pickleball News
National pickleball tournament relocates from Calif. to Dallas-Fort Worth
Pickleball player in action.
A major pickleball event is making its home in Dallas-Fort Worth: The 2023 USA Pickleball National Championships is officially moving from California to Texas.
According to a release, USA Pickleball, the National Governing Body for the sport of pickleball, and the Carvana Professional Pickleball Association (PPA Tour), is relocating the 2023 USA Pickleball National Championships from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California — where they've been held since 2018 — to Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch.
The National Championships is the world’s largest pickleball tournament and facility, and the 2023 event is expected to be double the size of 2022, with more than 3,500 amateur and professional players playing on 65 courts.
The event will take place November 4-12, and will be presented by the PPA Tour.
PPA CEO Connor Pardoe says in a statement that Farmers Branch beat out other cities vying for this honor, which other cities he does not say.
"After a competitive bidding process that encompassed proposals from multiple city governances, Dallas and the Dallas Sports Commission presented the best combination to take the National Championships to the next level," Pardoe says. "Furthermore, Invited’s Brookhaven Country Club, as one of the state’s premier golf and tennis resorts for more than six decades and situated as it is in the City of Farmers Branch, which is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas, was marked as the ideal locale to host an event of this size and prestige."
USA Pickleball Board of Directors chairman Robert Quicksilver chimes in that the move to Dallas, which he calls "one of the great cities in the U.S.," will be more accessible geographically for their membership which exceeds 70,000 members.
They aren't yet revealing how much prize money will be doled out to the professional divisions, other than the fact that it will exceed the 2022 total of $150,000. Total event attendees are estimated to reach 25,000.
Amateur players will have greater opportunity to qualify due to the USA Pickleball’s addition of three new Golden Ticket events leading up to the championship:
- the Selkirk Texas Open, May 31-June 4
- the Baird Seattle Open, July 27-30
- the Kansas City Open, August 24-27
Meanwhile, upgrades planned for the Championships include designating the street outside of Brookhaven Country Club as “Pickleball Boulevard” to make space for a stage, live music, and family-friendly activities with sponsors and local businesses.
Food and beverage vendors from all over Texas will be on-site as part of the “Taste of Pickle” exhibit that will give tournament attendees the chance to experience the local cuisine. Nightly musical performances are planned, plus interactive events they hope will make the fan and player experience unforgettable. A photo wall, maybe.
Cowboys fans were out in full force.Photo by Ashley Gongora
Tailgating is all about the food.Photo by Ashley Gongora
An array of beverages ensured guests had fun all night.Photo by Ashley Gongora
Buffalo shrimp and blue cheese grits from McRae's American Bistro & Cocktails won the best dish of the night.Photo by Ashley Gongora
The silent auction inspired competitive bidding.Photo by Ashley Gongora