Orange may boast the only venue in the world to offer both lawn bowls, mini golf and now pickleball with eight dedicated pickleball courts installed on a former bowling green at the Orange City Bowling Club. 

The new Love Pickle Club Orange is officially being launched at the Orange Bowlo this weekend, with live demonstrations and free introductory lessons being offered for anyone interested in the wildly popular new sport on Saturday and Sunday, November 2–3.

Orange City Bowling Club general manager Hugh Mawter said he and his team have been looking at new revenue streams taking over management of the club in April.

He said they are excited by this new partnership with Love Pickle Club Orange, and it is just one of the many ways the club is trying to build and grow its membership.

“Traditional bowling clubs, they're on the demise, the sport itself is on the demise… we've lost 51 bowling clubs since the ‘80s in this state,” Hugh said.

“We have a huge amount of space here, and we needed to start utilising it… Coincidentally. Jon from Love Pickle Club was in Orange visiting some friends and visited the facility. We got talking and then worked on how we could get pickleball to the club.”

With the former synthetic green now dedicated to pickleball, the club are currently renovating their disused fourth green for social bowls.

“We're in the process of top pressing that top green and then we'll get that rolled and mowed ready for corporate events, barefoot bowls, and social outdoor activities,” Hugh said.

With the warmer months upon us, Hugh said they are hoping to make the most of the club's extensive grounds.

“Coming into summer with the nice weather, we’re trying to get people outside, get the kids running around… we’ve put in seating and furniture for al fresco dining that wasn’t there before and the mini golf’s had a bit of a facelift and we've redone the gardens there. So bring on the warmer weather,” he said.

In recent months, there have also been a number of changes inside the bowling club itself.

The furniture in the Bowlo Bistro has been replaced, there is now a dedicated pool room, and one of the club’s function rooms has been converted into a health and fitness centre with its own creche.

“Like I said before, the business model of a bowling club doesn't work these days, now you need to diversify,” Hugh said.

“So yeah, we've opened a fitness centre, located opposite the Aquatic Centre, in one of the function rooms that wasn't being used to its full capacity… We have a creche in there as well and we have a big membership base of young mums, young dads and their kids. We think it's really important that parents have access to this kind of thing.” 

As a result of all these changes, Hugh said the club has seen an uptick in membership hoping pickleball will bring another influx of members.

“We've already got over 150 people signed up for our Open Day and once we get that kind of social network happening, then it’s tournaments and all rolling on from there,” Hugh said.

“And fingers crossed, it just keeps growing!”

Visit www.lovepicklecluborange.com.au for more information.