THUNDER BAY -- The City of Thunder Bay has been awarded the 2023 Canadian National Disc Golf Championships.
The Canadian Disc Golf Association made the announcement on Wednesday, stating Thunder Bay beat out the only other bidder, Grande Prairie, Alta.
"Anytime you can host a Canadian or national championship in your community, it's pretty exciting ," said John Cameron, a tourism development officer for the City of Thunder Bay.
"And disc golf is a unique type of event. It's new on the horizon. We had success with hosting the Northern Ontario championships here and kudos to ... the group at the Ontario Disc Golf Association to think of Thunder Bay as the place for the bid coming from Ontario to compete at the national level."
It's a clear sign, said Cameron, of just how far the sport has come in the community over the past decade.
He estimated the event will have a pretty significant impact on the Thunder Bay economy.
"Judging by the events that have happened, and obviously the pandemic has had an impact over the past several years, it was held in Prince Edward Island the last time it was a full championship and we expect probably between 400 to 500 participants coming to Thunder Bay to compete in those championships," Cameron said.
"So it will have a significant economic impact with hotel rooms and people spending money in our community."
He added the CNDGC will also promote Thunder Bay to a much broader disc golf community across the country.Dates for the event have not yet been set, but Cameron said they're looking at early August 2023.
"We're trying to fit it in so that we have accommodations for everybody, so somewhere in the timeframe from the long weekend to the first couple weeks of August. Not the long weekend, probably," Cameron said.Thunder Bay hosted the Northern Ontario Championship last summer, an event they're hosting again from July 30 to Aug. 1 this year.
