KENTWOOD, MI — A new social club is feeding people’s pickleball addiction even when Michigan winter strikes. Dinks and Dingers Social Club, 5080 Broadmoor Ave SE in Kentwood, opened July 14 and bills itself as Grand Rapids’ premier pickleball and wiffle ball club. The 6-acre site features indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, Wiffle Ball fields, and a restaurant serving what owner Andy Anderson describes as “healthy bar food.”

The concept emerged from Anderson’s own experience with the growing sport. After discovering similar facilities in the South called Chicken N Pickle, he decided Michigan needed one too. “I began playing pickleball during COVID, then I started doing open plays. It just was like an addiction,” Anderson said. “I was playing every day. I was playing all over.”

Anderson, who has a background in engineering and social work, said the process of building the business from scratch was arduous. The social club is the first of its kind to open in Michigan, though another recently opened in Beverly Hills, Anderson said. His focus remains on operations rather than celebrating the achievement of opening the facility. “I try to be a humble guy, so I don’t think about that too much,” he said of the process. “I’m more like, what needs to be done right now?”