Pickleball takes over! New state-of-the art, 11-court indoor venue opening in Bluffton

Grab your paddles: it’s time for pickleball.

The Local Pickle , a new 22,000-square-foot indoor pickleball facility, is set to open in Bluffton this winter. Nancy Herbst, founder, owner and level 4.0 pickle pro, said that the space, which will be located at 1204 Fording Island Road near the Tanger Outlets, will be complete between December and January.

The fully open-concept facility will feature 11 tournament-grade courts, which players can book through the CourtReserve app, 24’ ceilings, professional-grade lighting to minimize glare and pro-cushion flooring to reduce back and joint pain. There will also be access to a café and lounge, changing rooms and showers and ample parking for picklers. Glow in the dark pickleball, a range of programs for adults and youth, including a premier academy, and lessons led by certified instructors are also on the docket.

Herbst moved to Hilton Head back in 2018 after selling her insurance company in Connecticut. When her mother came to visit, they took a pickleball lesson together, and they have been playing ever since. Her mother, sister and nephew, all pickleball fanatics, have each moved to Beaufort County since 2018. They quickly discovered that publicly-accessible courts were difficult to come by in the area.

Existing court access can be limited

The problem is, Herbst said, that unless you live within a gated community with court access, the demand often outweighs the publicly available courts on Hilton Head and in Bluffton. Outdoor courts are not always accessible due to inclement weather or players’ work schedules, she said. Once she imagined the possibility of an indoor facility in the community, she couldn’t shake it.

“This just got a hold of me, and it didn’t let me go,” said Herbst.

Herbst hopes to fill a gap for a large demographic in the community who might not have access to public courts, whether they are too young to join the Lowcountry Pickleball League, or they have never stepped foot on a court before.

“The bottom line is that I want everyone to have access,” Herbst said. She said that although she was still working out some of the details, she foresees supporting families who do not have the funds for a membership through community sponsorships. Her hope is to connect people from all walks of life with a shared love of dinking.

Herbst said that there will be a cap of over 1,000 memberships, but that they would consider extending hours, and even making the courts accessible 24-hours, if necessary. Their rates range from $30 to $130 per month for individuals, and $40 to $200 per month for families, depending on the selected membership tier.

Work on the facility started last September. The facility’s interior is currently being demolished. Herbst said that construction of the interior’s open-concept plan will move quickly.

Herbst said within 24 hours of posting about the facility on Facebook, they received 600 subscribers attesting to the runaway popularity of the 59-year-old game.