Luxury Pickleball Club Opens in East Austin
By Lauren Feldott
Reporting Texas TV
AUSTIN, Texas – An entertainment developer hopes to capitalize on the nationwide pickleball craze with an exclusive new club.
Matt Wolski owns Other Racquet Club on Manor Road. The facility opened in September and features three courts and cabanas, as well as amenities such as a cold plunge pool and food trucks. Other features such as a full-service bar and dining room are still under construction.
The club is currently open exclusively to founding members who paid $2,500 to secure their status through the end of December. Wolski said exclusivity is an important part of the business.
“The model we’ve built is… it doesn’t need to be for everyone,” Wolski said. “It’s for people who are really trying to play three or four times a week and have the social component built in, and be able to bring their friends.”
The entrance to Other Racquet Club on Oct. 27, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Located on Manor Rd., the pickle ball club is open to members only. (Lauren Feldott/Reporting Texas TV)
Other Racquet Club joins a few other pickleball ventures in Austin. Bouldin Acres has been a popular spot since 2020, and Austin Pickle Ranch opened atop a downtown parking garage this year. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department has pickleball facilities, and program manager Delano Brown said he has received requests for more.
“The community feedback has just been more pickleball courts, which it’s great to see, people obviously engaging and utilizing the courts and outdoor space,” Brown said.
He said his team repurposed several existing tennis courts throughout the city to be pickleball-friendly. This included repainting lines and touching up the courts’ surfaces.
“The direction with how far pickleball has expanded within Austin, especially so rapidly, has really allowed us to re-look at some of the services that each one of our parks are offering,” Brown said.
These courts offer a chance for anyone to play for free – as long as they can snag a spot upon arrival – but Wolski wanted his business to go further. In addition to food and drink offerings, Other Racquet Club has two professional-level coaches who offer weekly clinics to members of varying skill levels. Wolski also plans to host tournaments on the courts.
Founding members began to use the space in September, as court construction finished and other memberships finalized.
“It’s a nice space,” said Darryl Labens, a nonmember invited by card-carrying friends to try out the courts.
“They’ve definitely done a good job with it. I think it’ll be a great spot.”
B. Cooper Barbeque and NADC Burger will have trucks on the lot, and members will have access to showers and lockers, and accounts to charge at the bar. Nonmembers will soon be able to come and enjoy the courts for a fee, as well as a few of the amenities. Members will retain exclusive access to the clubhouse and priority reservation access to courts.
“Someone told me a while back, and it’s so true, that pickleball is an easy sport to be good at, and a very challenging sport to be great at,” Wolski said. “I think that kind of makes it the perfect sport.”