IVINS, Utah — Preparations are underway for next week's PGA Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, but amidst all the excitement, people are talking about... pickleball.
Already home to two professional golf tournaments, the resort is building a professional pickleball hub with a stadium court that will be completed by March. It will host the Greater Zion Cup, which will become the fifth major cup event in the Carvana Professional Pickleball Tour.
"It's a championship court with 1,000-seat grandstands that are permanent, not temporary bleachers, and then 21 courts that are all high technology," explained Black Desert Resort managing partner Patrick Manning. "We can track ball movement, how your body is responding to your swing analysis. During tournaments, the lines will have lasers so that it can be accurate on whether the ball was in or out. And so it'll be probably the most high-tech pickleball facility there is in the country."
Manning said the facility is another step in making southern Utah a professional sports destination. Although some locals have expressed concern about the influx of tourists and traffic, Manning said the lack of traffic tangles in town after two pro golf tournaments might have put some of those fears to rest.
Many pickleball experts claim the St. George area is where pickleball first took root in Utah after it was introduced at the annual Huntsman World Senior Games in 2003.
"The last three, four years, I don't think anybody can explain or understand how [pickleball] mushroomed from where it was," said 2-time Huntsman Senior Games champion Harvey Beckerman, "but I think that it allows so many different types of people. People can play at almost any age, and it's a fun game."
Breygan Holbrook is a pickleball entrepreneur from Logan whose company he started with his brother, sells rackets and other gear. He said the Black Desert Facility and the pro tournament have to potential to become the "Wimbledon of Pickleball."
"Just getting more exposure to the sport as a whole. What a great way to build the sport and grow the sport," Holbrook said.
