Current Pickleball Schedule

You can find a Pickleball game every day of the week (except Sundays) in the Greenville and Greer areas. We have organized play both outdoors and indoors. Players of all skill levels are welcome. Our current schedule is:

Greater Greenville Senior Sports Classic - Pickleball Tournament - April 22 & 23 2015

We had 67 contestants in various matches at Gower Park Estates, Greenville, SC on Wednesday and Thursday - April 22 and 23. The weather was bright and very windy at times. But, that didn't stop the action - in fact, the wind spiced up the games. There were competitors from Fort Mills/Sun City, SC, Henderson, NC, Connestee Falls, NC Keowee Keys, SC, Stillwater, Seneca, SC, GA, and of course the Greenville area.

Kudos to Gary Allen for all of the work he did organizing the event and thanks to Kaye Allen and Jan Armacher for helping out.

Joni Dillworth and her crew and the Walgreen volunteers did a great job. Their combined effort and enthusiasm helped make the tournament a huge success. Thanks also to all of the ball shaggers.

                                                 TOURNAMENT RESULTS - Submitted Gary Allen

Winners Advanced, Advanced/Intermediate Tournament

Men’s Doubles:

1st Place: Larry Formichella and Jim Wilke - Hendersonville, NC

2nd Place: Bob Bringas and Bob Kiener – Ft. Mills/Sun City, SC

3rd Place: Mike Kaplan and Steve Johnson – Upstate Pickleball Group – Greenville, SC

Women’s Doubles:

1st Place: Susan Flynt and Jenny Kemp – Connestee Falls, NC

2nd Place: Sharon Davis and Sharon McKenzie – Ft.Mills/Sun city, SC

3rd Place: Wendy Evans and Tricia Phillips – Stillwater, Seneca, SC

Mixed Doubles:

1st Place: James Wilke and Lora Mason – Hendersonville, NC and Connestee Falls, NC

2nd Place: Walter Straus and Emily Rudow – Athens, GA

3rd Place: tied: Chris Williamson and Susan Flynt – Connestee Falls, NC

Paul Aaron and Jennifer Kemp – Connestee Falls, NC

Winners – GGSSC Intermediate/ ovice Pickleball Tournament

Thursday, April 23, 2015, 10 teams competed

1st Place: Howard and Dianna Poland - Ft. Mills/Sun City, SC

2nd Place: Tom Brophy and Pat Mertes Ft. Mills/Sun City, SC

3rd Place: James Cameron and Mike Saunders - Upstate Pickleball Group – Greenville, SC

4th Place: Geraldine O’Brien and Cathy Zugel – Upstate Pickleball Group – Greenville, SC

Captions refer to the photo above it. Individual photos can be enlarged by right-clicking on them.

Mike Kaplan in fine form.

                                       Mike Kaplan and Steve Johnson                                        

                                             Kaye and Gary Allen tending to the match scores.

                                                         Eric Thomas w/ partner Gary Hayler

                                                                             Gary Hayler

                                                           Much welcomed shady spot.

                                         Kathy Zugel and Geraldine O'Brien battling at the net.

                                                          Backhand with an attitude!

                                                           Kathy Zugel at the baseline.

Gary Hayler

Mike Westfall

                                                       An underhand shot from the baseline.

                                                                   Jerry Schmitt on serve,

                                                 Marion and Mike Westfall guarding their turf.

                                                      Bob Taylor and Jerry Schmitt

                                                       Mike Saunders and Jim Cameron

                                              Jim Cameron: Red Shirted and Suspendered!

                                             Mike Saunders digging one out at the baseline.

                                                                          Walt Jacobs

                                                       Walt Jacobs and Peter Fallon

                                                                       Visitors in red.

                                                    Bob Taylor, Mike and Marion Westfall

Photos, captions and  blurb by yon editor.
Ron Blake
4/25/2015

Seventh "Passing Of The Pickle" and the history of the tradition.

This posting honors Julia Hall as the 7th recipient of the Pickle Award. Yon editor has modified the previous posts (all listed below) to include players' last names. PS. The editorial division of the UPG wonders why the blurb about Don Daniels is in a blue font and why it is underlined. A $100 reward is being considered for an answer to the puzzle. Newer UPGers might want to read the presentations and work your way to Julia's. You'll learn a little more about our group and perhaps you'll get the urge to seek out the 8th award for yourself?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICIAL HISTORY OF "THE PASSING OF THE PICKLE"

The tradition started when Mike and Ann Kaplan acquired the pickle ornament shown above. During our 1st Christmas Party (December 15, 2009) at Corona's Mike awarded the Pickle to Lynn and Ken Corbett in recognition of their introduction of Pickleball to The Upstate (imported, by them from Florida). Below is an actual unretouched photo of Ken's hand holding the Pickle (a Kosher pickle by the way).

                                       --------------------------------------------------------

Soon after, Lynn and Ken left for a 3 month stint in Florida in preparation for their eventual relocation to the Sunshine State. They returned to Greenville for a few days in March 2010 and participated in a Pickleball session on March 16 at Timmons Park. On that occasion they presented the Pickle to Ron and Sharon Blake for taking on the responsibilities of tending to the equipment, scheduling sessions and caring for the BLOG. Ron accepts the award below.

                                     
                                        ------------------------------------------------------

During our 2nd Annual Christmas/Holiday gathering at Jan Amacher's home on December 3, 2010 the award was presented to Steve Johnson (3rd recipient) for taking over the scheduling and equipment transportation duties while Ron and Sharon were traveling. Official, uncut photo below shows Steve graciously accepting the award while friends look on.

                                         -------------------------------------------------------

The 4th Passing of the Pickle (During the 3rd Annual Christmas Party - December 14, at Gary and Muriel Hayler's home) was somewhat unique in that the recipient was not present because he was out of state tending to his father. In true UPG form - the show must go on and all that - the presentation was made by Steve to Gary Hayler who kindly received the Pickle on behalf of Gary Allen. Gary A received the award for the work he did organizing the UPGs participation in the Lake Lure Games this year, for volunteering for the 'Orderer of the Balls' position and for taking on other UPG missions.

But, that's not the end of the story.

Finally, on 12/20/2011 - a rainy day at Gower, with six UPGers present (others having to good sense to stay home) the Pickle was formally presented to Gary Allen by Steve Johnson (presentation pictured below). Sharon Blake was also on hand for the playing session but had adjourned to the car when the rain picked up, just before this photo was snapped.

                                         ------------------------------------------------------

The saga continues:

The Passing Of The Pickle took place for the 5th time. The occasion was the 4th Annual UPG Holiday Party, on December 5, 2012 at the Riverwalk Clubhouse. The much-sought after and Nationally hailed award was presented to Johnny and Carol Gibson during a solemn ceremony that reflected the significance of the event. The Kosher Pickle is awarded to UPGers whose contribution to our group and the promotion of Pickleball in general goes well above and beyond the call of Pickleball duty. The The Passing Of The Pickle is akin a collegiate football player being awarded the Heisman trophy. Johnny and Carol initiated a Pickleball course for beginners under the OLLIE program at Furman University. They rustled up paddles and balls, conducted several classes and trained about a dozen players over a period of several weeks. Some of the newbies continued on and came to Gower where they received more instructions from J and C and other UPGers. Some of those new players are - or, soon will be hard core UPG players. Good show Johnny and Carol and congratulations. PS: The Pickle survives best if it spends at least part of the year on a Christmas Tree.　

Johnny and Carol displaying the Pickle w/ smiling Jan looking on.

                                        -------------------------------------------------------

                                       

On the occasion of the belated UPG Christmas Party held on January 8, 2014 Don Daniels became the 6th recipient of the highest civilian, and most coveted award given to UPG members. The event: THE PASSING OF THE PICKLE. The gathering took place at the Travinia Italian Kitchen and was attended by 26 UPGers and guests. The "Awards Committee" (a division of the UPG) thought long and hard about the recipient - but in the end - Don was deemed the the logical choice for the treasured PICKLE. It is given each year to a UPGer who goes out of his/her way to advance the sport and otherwise contribute to the promotion and enjoyment of the game. Don spends considerable time training new players in the fine art of the game, has repaired the nets several times and eventually convinced the County to replace the nets. He is also an official "ball carrier" and is an all around good guy, unless you are his opponent. As a not-very-interesting side note: Don is the only UPGer to single-handidly construct a very temporary windbrake on the fence at the east end of the courts. It self-distructed after a half hour.

Congratulations Don for earning the award.

                                         -----------------------------------------------------------

The 2014 award recipient (7th recipient) was named at the annual UPG post-Christmas soiree at Travinia's Italian Kitchen.  For her omnipresence at UPG sessions, her morale boosting abilities, her attention to newbies, her ball retrieval skills, and her many other contributions to the game of pickleball, the Order of the Pickle was bestowed upon Julia Hall.  A placard fashioned by Don Daniels with the inscribed names of previous and current inductees accompanied the Pickle.  In the tradition of others who didn't attend their own Pickling, the award was subsequently presented court-side at a UPG session. Photo below: L-R: Don Daniels, Julia Hall and Gary Allen.

Ron Blake (Spike)
February 3, 2015

Newest Group Photo of UPGers

click image to view full-size

Thanks to Don Daniels, Fledgling CEO of the UPGs Digital Imaging Unit, we now have a current group photo to replace the one that's been gracing our Blog for about 3 years. This photo was taken on Monday, January 19th 2015.

The older group photo has been removed. Yon Editor will install the new photo as a permanent fixture on the Blog once the required procedure is determined.

Stay tuned for the latest info regarding the very latest "PICKLE RECIPIENT". Historical info about past recipients will also be included.
                                                    ____________________________

                                                          Basic P'ball Info.

We are playing on our Fall/Winter schedule: Monday, Wednesday and Friday - starting at 1:00PM @ Gower Park.

Yon Editor
012215

New Schedule - Fall/Winter Sessions 2014/15

NEW P'BALL SESSION HOURS

Beginning Monday, October 20, 2014, we will move to our fall/winter schedule.  The sessions will be from 1 - 4 PM, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Gower Park.

See you then.
UPG Session Notification Division, LLC.

UPG SCHEDULE CHANGE

                    SCHEDULE CHANGE NOTICE:

We are changing the sessions schedule from Tuesdays and Fridays to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays beginning next week (Sept. 1), on a trial basis.

The reasons for the change include the following: 
1) Some members have been scheduling extra sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays.  More scheduled weekdays may alleviate the need to add extra playing time.
2) One day last week we had 26 players.  The 5 courts only hold 20 players at a time, and if there are tennis players as well, our group ends up waiting.  This problem will be magnified in the Fall when good weather brings more players out.
3) The Sunday session has been disbanded for lack of players.

Please let me know if this change causes any hardship.

Gary

The sessions are held at Gower Estates Park in Greenville, SC; sessions begin at 9:00AM.

NEW STARTING SCHEDULE - STARTING FRIDAY AUGUST 22, 2014

BEAT THE HEAT and AVOID SCHOOL BUS CONFLICTS - NEW STARTING TIME:

STARTING ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 22nd 2014, WE WILL BE STARTING THE REGULAR P'BALL SESSIONS AT 9:00 AM. THE CHANGE OF THE STARTING TIME IS TOO AVOID CONFLICTS WITH SCHOOL BUSES. OF COURSE, PLAYERS CAN ARRIVE AT ANY TIME DURING THE SESSIONS.

THE REGULAR SESSIONS ARE NOW BEING HELD ON TUESDAYS and FRIDAYS.

IF FOLKS WANT TO PLAY ON OTHER DAYS YOU CAN MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO USE CLUB BALLS.

SOME PLAYERS HAVE NOT CONTRIBUTED TO THE BALL FUND. BESIDES SHAGGING BALLS (HINT, HINT) CHIPPING IN FOR BALLS IS YOUR ONLY OTHER RESPONSIBILITY. CHEAP ENOUGH FOR AN ALL-AROUND GOOD TIME, DON'T YOU THINK? 

OUR MATCHES ARE PLAYED AT GOWER PARK, GREENVILLE, SC

Spike
8/21/2014

BEAT THE HEAT SUMMER SCHEDULE

STARTING ON TUESDAY JUNE 24th 2014 WE WILL BE STARTING THE REGULAR P'BALL SESSIONS AT 8:30AM. OF COURSE, FOLKS CAN ARRIVE AT THEIR CONVENIENCE.

THE REGULAR SESSIONS ARE NOW BEING HELD ON TUESDAYS and FRIDAYS.

IF FOLKS WANT TO PLAY ON OTHER DAYS YOU CAN MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO USE CLUB BALLS.

SOME PLAYERS HAVE NOT CONTRIBUTED TO THE BALL FUND. BESIDES SHAGGING BALLS (HINT, HINT) CHIPPING IN FOR BALLS IS YOUR ONLY OTHER RESPONSIBILITY. CHEAP ENOUGH FOR AN ALL-AROUND GOOD TIME, DON'T YOU THINK? 

OUR MATCHES ARE PLAYED AT GOWER PARK, GREENVILLE, SC

Spike
6/22/2014

SUMMER SCHEDULE and BALL FUND

SUMMER SCHEDULE

Okay, the votes are in. Starting Monday 5/5/2014 we will go to the
Summer schedule - 9:30 AM on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

BALL FUND 
Anyone who didn't contribute to the ball fund in Jan/Feb (our last
collection) please bring $10.

 

Pickleball Tournament - Gower Park. April 23, 2014.

GGSSC Pickleball Winners:
Men’s Doubles:
1^st Place: Mike Kaplan and Steve Johnson – Upstate Pickleball Group

2^nd Place: Frank Kinder and Greg Harabin – Sun City/Ft. Mills

3^rd Place: Brad Miness and Jim Mayer - Sun City/Ft. Mills


Women’s Doubles:
1^st Place: Sherry Bruton and Virginia Burgh - Sun City/Ft. Mills

2^nd Place: Lin Kolb and Karen Wolf – Connestee Falls

3^rd Place: Deb Richter and Lora Mason – Connestee Falls

Mixed Doubles:
1^st Place: Frank Kinder and Sharon McKenzie - Sun City/Ft. Mills

2^nd Place: Steve Johnson and Ann Savoca - Upstate Pickleball Group

3^rd Place: Brad Miness and Sharon Davis - Sun City/Ft. Mills

Many thanks to everyone who helped, to those that travelled, and especially to Joni Dilworth for making the tournament a success. 58 players registered and all showed up for the nine hours of matches. Congratulations to Sun City/Ft. Mills for their great showing in the tournament - 2nd and 3rd in Men's, 1st in women's and 1st and 3rd in mixed, to UPG for their victory in men's doubles and 2nd in mixed, and to Connestee Falls for their strong women's showing.

The tournament results above were provided by Gary Allen. UPG

Photos and blurb below by Spike.

This was an exceptional tournament, thanks to the very hard work of Gary and Kaye Allen. Joni and her crew from the Greenville County Rec Dept, the Walgreen reps and all of the ball shaggers did a great job. P'ballers came from all over the place; they played hard and still had plenty of time to socialize. A beautiful day to boot.

Spike
April 24, 2014

UPG - WINTER SCHEDULE CONTINUES

               WINTER SCHEDULE CONTINUES
 

UPG schedule:
Monday, Tuesday, Friday at 1 PM. Gower Park

The Greenville City Parks and Recreation Saturday session begins at 9:00AM.  Gower Park

Greenville, SC
Spike
2/19/2014 

The 6th PASSING THE PICKLE - 1/08/2014 and its HISTORY

OFFICIAL HISTORY OF "THE PASSING OF THE PICKLE"

The tradition started when Mike and Ann acquired the pickle ornament shown above. During our 1st Christmas Party (December 15, 2009) at Corona's Mike awarded the Pickle to Lynn and Ken in recognition of their introduction of Pickleball to The Upstate (imported, by them from Florida). Below is an actual unretouched photo of Ken's hand holding the Pickle (a Kosher pickle by the way).

Soon after, Lynn and Ken left for a 3 month stint in Florida in preparation for their eventual relocation to the Sunshine State. They returned to Greenville for a few days in March 2010 and participated in a Pickleball session on March 16 at Timmons Park. On that occasion they presented the Pickle to Ron and Sharon for taking on the responsibilities of tending to the equipment, scheduling sessions and caring for the BLOG. Ron accepts the award below.

During our 2nd Annual Christmas/Holiday gathering at Jan's home on December 3, 2010 the award was presented to Steve (3rd recipient) for taking over the scheduling and equipment transportation duties while Ron and Sharon were traveling. Official, uncut photo below shows Steve graciously accepting the award while friends look on.

The 4th Passing of the Pickle (During the 3rd Annual Christmas Party - December 14, at Gary's and Murial's home) was somewhat unique in that the recipient was not present because he was out of state tending to his father. In true UPG form - the show must go on and all that - the presentation was made by Steve to Gary H who kindly received the Pickle on behalf of Gary A. Gary A received the award for the work he did organizing the UPGs participation in the Lake Lure Games this year, for volunteering for the 'Orderer of the Balls' position and for taking on other UPG missions.

But, that's not the end of the story.

Finally, on 12/20/2011 - a rainy day at Gower, with six UPGers present (others having to good sense to stay home) the Pickle was formally presented to Gary A by Steve (presentation pictured below). Sharon was also on hand for the playing session but had adjourned to the car when the rain picked up, just before this photo was snapped.

The saga continues:

The Passing Of The Pickle took place for the 5th time. The occasion was the 4th Annual UPG Holiday Party, on December 5, 2012 at the Riverwalk Clubhouse. The much-sought after and Nationally hailed award was presented to Johnny and Carol during a solemn ceremony that reflected the significance of the event. The Kosher Pickle is awarded to UPGers whose contribution to our group and the promotion of Pickleball in general goes well above and beyond the call of Pickleball duty. The The Passing Of The Pickle is akin a collegiate football player being awarded the Heisman trophy. Johnny and Carol initiated a Pickleball course for beginners under the OLLIE program at Furman University. They rustled up paddles and balls, conducted several classes and trained about a dozen players over a period of several weeks. Some of the newbies continued on and came to Gower where they received more instructions from J and C and other UPGers. Some of those new players are - or, soon will be hard core UPG players. Good show Johnny and Carol and congratulations. PS: The Pickle survives best if it spends at least part of the year on a Christmas Tree.

　

Johnny and Carol displaying the Pickle w/ smiling Jan looking on.

On the occasion of the belated UPG Christmas Party held on January 8, 2014 Don Daniels became the 6th recipient of the highest civilian, and most coveted award given to UPG members. The event: THE PASSING OF THE PICKLE. The gathering took place at the Travinia Italian Kitchen and was attended by 26 UPGers and guests. The "Awards Committee" (a division of the UPG) thought long and hard about the recipient - but in the end - Don was deemed the the logical choice for the treasured PICKLE. It is given each year to a UPGer who goes out of his/her way to advance the sport and otherwise contribute to the promotion and enjoyment of the game. Don spends considerable time training new players in the fine art of the game, has repaired the nets several times and eventually convinced the County to replace the nets. He is also an official "ball carrier" and is an all around good guy, unless you are his opponent. As a not-very-interesting side note: Don is the only UPGer to single-handidly construct a very temporary windbrake on the fence at the east end of the courts. It self-distructed after a half hour. 

Congratulations Don for earning the award.

That's it for now folks.

Spike
January 14, 2014

WINTER SCHEDULE STARTS FRIDAY, OCT. 25, 2013

WINTER SCHEDULE

Starting Friday, 10/25/2013, we will change to our winter session times - 1 PM. The Greenville City Parks and Recreation Saturday session will remain at 9:00AM. The first Monday session, yesterday, had 7 players.

UPG schedule:
Monday, Tuesday, Friday at 1 PM, Gower Park

Rec Dept schedule:
Saturday 9:00 AM, Gower Park

Greenville, SC
 

ANOTHER DAY OF PICKLEBALL!!!

The UPSTATE PICKLEBALL GROUP (UPG) has added another day each week to play Pickleball. We will now have sessions Monday, Tuesday and Friday beginning at 9:00AM. The addition of a Monday session will be on a trial basis until further notice. Players are welcome to attend any or all sessions.

All matches take place at Gower Estates Park in Greenville, SC.

Spike

Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - UPG ACTIVITY REPORT

This is an: ___Occasional, ___ Semi-annual, ____ Quarterly, ____ Bi-Weekly, ____Almost never UPG Activity Report. Check one only. Then, initial and send $10 cash to Spike or his legal representative.
                                                          -------------------------------------------
One reason for this post is to advise UPGers that Peter Fallon has not left the country permanently as has been suggested. He and Margot did travel to Canada, but were allowed to return the the US based on good behavior. Peter had carpal tunnel surgery on his hand then, a little later, had a surgical procedure just above his knee that required stitches. That event immobilized him somewhat, but not enough to prevent he and Margot from going on another trip. Anyway Peter advises that he will be reporting to P'ball in the near future.

The other reason is that I took a bunch of photos and didn't know what else to do with them. And, when one of our players doesn't show up for a while - we should look into it. Spike

INFO: To all interested parties: We are on our Fall Time Schedule. Sessions are held every Tuesday and Friday beginning at 9:00AM. Location: Gower Estates Park, Greenville, SC.