The PPC Featured Member: Kurt Noonan

Meet Kurt Noonan:

Greetings! I am so honored to be the featured member of the month. Just saying that is

crazy to me.  

I recently turned 57( thank you Marie and everyone who “surprised” me at my b-day

party) and have been very blessed in life so that I was able to retire 2 years ago. I was the

nephew and son of Golf Course Superintendents so that is where I spent 34 years, on the

wrong end of a shovel! I have worked at several golf courses in the Northwest. My last

Superintendent job was here in Redmond at Juniper Golf Course. When I left Juniper I got the

opportunity to go to Pronghorn Resort (Juniper Preserve is what it is called now I believe) to

work on the landscape crew. Little did I know that I would eventually be running that

department. I loved working there very much and enjoyed the property owners, work, and crew

members but the physical and mental demands eventually led me into retirement. It was a

memorable 4 years regardless.

I have been married to my bride Erin for 30 years. She is beautiful, amazing, kind and

very smart with tech stuff. I often forget what I am doing when I see her walk into a room. We

have 2 wonderful boys, Brennan (27) and Dalen (23). Brennan is a Doctor of Chiropractic

Medicine in Salem. He and his wife Shelby have given us two beautiful grandsons aged 1 & 4.

Dalen is in Olympia, WA currently working as a pickleball teaching pro and instructor at 23

Kitchens in Lacey. If you are ever in Olympia please look him up. He loves it when PPC folks

stop in and say “Hi.”

I recently changed my diet to gluten free, sugar free, and have eliminated all processed

foods and oils other than coconut, olive and avocado. I feel amazing and am enjoying this new

hobby of food exploration. I enjoy cooking and creating my own stuff at home like almond milk,

almond flour, butter, cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, almond butter, yogurt, gluten

free breads etc…

I dabbled in many sports growing up but ultimately was best at golf. I played varsity golf

during high school and kept playing until a few years ago. I wish I had known about pickleball

back in the 70’s and 80’s but that never came up where I lived.

I graduated from Washington State University in 1991 with a BS in Agronomy with an

emphasis in Turfgrass Management.

We moved to Central Oregon in 2011 after a 4 year stay in Northeast Washington taking

care of my wife’s parents. I never want to leave here!

We currently have 2 cats but we sometimes go as high as 3 on occasion. They mostly

belong to my cat-whisperer wife and enjoy my company at feeding times!

I first dabbled in pickleball in 2019 when my son Dalen said we should play. I didn’t know

anything about it but thought why not. We played singles at first since we couldn’t figure out

scoring for doubles. We entered our first tournament at Pine Nursery in July 2019. We medaled

in doubles (thank goodness there were refs!) and Dalen won singles in his bracket. When Covid

hit we outlined a court in our driveway, got a net and hit it around. Dalen left for college and we

didn’t play again until the summer of 2022. We only played singles down at Sam Johnson.

Everytime we went down there we were greeted nicely and alway looked forward to a nice lady

(the amazing Janet Stahl) saying “Hello, Men”! Dalen eventually headed to Japan and at the

end of September 2022 I had to make a decision about continuing to play pickleball. With

encouragement from my wife I headed down to the courts. Thankfully Janet was there and

pulled me onto the courts and started introducing me to other players. I don’t know where I

would be without Janet. I was addicted from then on and a sponge for whoever wanted to play

with me and teach me.

Just after the PPC opened I was able to get my 4.0 rating which at one time seemed like

a pipe dream! I love pickleball with all my soul and the people have been a lifesaver. The

relationships, camaraderie, and kindness of pickleball people never ceases to amaze and

inspire me.

My pickleball game improvement is easy to pinpoint. When the PPC opened, my game

began its uptick through the ability to play inside and develop with others of similar ability. I am

so thankful that Mack and Jamie had a vision to bring this to Redmond. I don’t want to think

about not having this wonderful, welcoming facility in Redmond. Thank you PPC family. Thank

you Eagle Crest, Prineville, LaPine, Widgi, Crooked River and Bend friends for being in my life. I

appreciate each one of you!

My game, without a doubt, has improved due to several instructors at the PPC. Thank

you to David Kempster, Mike Gardner, Rich Taylor, Mack Carlson, Dean Guyer, Brooksie,

Marty, Aaron, and of course my son Dalen. There are no agendas. They just want you to get

better and enjoy the game that fits you best. Thank you Will, Marie, Janet, Eric, Greg, Joanne,

Cris and Karen Farina for being there at the beginning and supporting me at every step.

My goals are to stay upright, keep chasing every ball, keep calm (work in progress!),

keep learning, smile and do what I can to make someone else smile.

I love the PPC and despite the footprint of the building not being designed for pickleball I

think it has evolved into an amazing place to play. All year there were visible signs of the

amazing PPC folks tinkering and doing many things in front and behind the scenes to make

members and guests feel welcome and appreciated!

My perfect day would be waking up next to my amazing wife for many, many more

years, going for a walk or an adventure with her, answering a shout out from Marie to come play

pickleball all day and then enjoying making dinner and quiet time with my bride.