Fun in Belhaven: Second annual pickleball tournament brings out competition, excitement

Published 6:06 am Friday, June 27, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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BELHAVEN, N.C. — It was bigger, better and more exciting.

The second annual Belhaven Pickleball Tournament, held last Saturday, brought 25 teams from around the area to compete for the title of best team in a fierce but also fun level.

Last year’s event was so successful that it was expanded from 15 teams to 25. Those teams took part in a round-robin format before the competition got more intense with double-elimination play. From there, a winning team was crowned after the winners’ bracket and losers’ bracket teams squared off.

The Smash Brothers, Andrew Landeen and Ben Ridgewell of Belhaven, beat the Bath Braves to win the overall tournament. Landeen and Ridgewell said they basically just picked up a racket and began playing in the tournament based on their tennis knowledge and athletic skills.

“So, I’ll say it’s surreal,” Landeen said. “It was a long road, like we lost our first two matches. So it was a really good effort all around. Obviously, I could not have done it without my partner here, Ben, my cousin.”

“After the first two, we just really talked it over because we both never played pickleball before, but we knew we had it. I just got out of the Army, so that’s kind of something that I translate to this. And my partner, he was pretty good, consistent, especially after we learned how to bounce the ball.”

Jeanne Snodgrass, one of the people who helped put the tournament together, was very pleased with the event and said with a little work on things like getting teams to and from the different sites and time of play in some matches, things went quite well overall.

“We were like, great pickleball weather, and then it got hotter and hotter and the wind picked up some,” Snodgrass said. “And so we’re loving the breeze, except if you’re playing. That gets a little challenging. But I think everyone had a good time.”

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