NOT'Lanta Open draws 236 pickleball players to Montclair Park
Montclair Park’s 7th NOT’Lanta Open packed eight courts with about 236 players from Georgia and the Carolinas, and it was still near capacity.
About 236 pickleball players filled Montclair Park’s eight outdoor courts for the 7th annual NOT’Lanta Open, turning a neighborhood venue in west Augusta into a regional draw with players coming from Georgia, the Carolinas, Atlanta and Charlotte.
That scale is the point. The tournament’s field closed at 224 on pickleballtournaments.com, and Anne Rheins said the event continues to draw the maximum number of players the weekend can handle. In amateur pickleball, that kind of cap is a sign of demand, not just interest. Montclair is no longer hosting a novelty event. It is hosting one that has outgrown the casual local-calendar label.
The tournament’s backstory explains why it has stuck. NOT’Lanta started in 2020 after the Atlanta Open was canceled because of COVID, and Montclair players decided to build their own event instead. Rheins said at the time, “We just planned to do it that one year,” a line that now reads like the best kind of accidental prophecy. What began as a one-off workaround has become a recurring regional stop with a loyal player base and a clear identity.
The format gave the weekend a steady rhythm. Mixed doubles were played on Saturday, then women’s and men’s doubles on Sunday, a structure that kept the draw moving across multiple divisions while making full use of the site’s eight outdoor courts. That setup matters at a venue like Montclair Pickleball, a private neighborhood facility where court access is part of the story, not just the backdrop.
The turnout also reinforces how far the event reaches beyond Augusta. Earlier coverage noted nearly 200 players in one of the first NOT’Lanta Opens and a jump in Montclair neighborhood memberships from people wanting access to the pickleball courts. That access angle has only sharpened as the tournament has grown. Players are not coming only for a weekend bracket. They are coming to a place that has become a destination for people tired of fighting for court time.
For Augusta, that makes NOT’Lanta more than a friendly tournament name. It is proof that a local answer to a canceled event can become a durable fixture, with a full field, a multi-state draw and a weekend format that keeps pulling more players back to Crane Ferry Rd.
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