Staal Foundation Open boasts a nearly $3 million impact on city: Study

The Staal Foundation Open had a $2.8-million impact on the City of Thunder Bay last year, according to a study led by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance.

Overall the impact of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event province-wide was about $4 million.

“It’s really incredible, the amount of support that this tournament has from the community. Not only the citizens of Thunder Bay coming out to watch and participating in all the events, but also the sponsors and the corporate community that’s really come behind and backed the tournament,” said the Tour’s Scott Pritchard.

In addition to 156 golfers taking part from 15 different countries, the tournament featured 287 pro-am participants and thousands of spectators, about 20 per cent of which arrived from out of town to watch American J.J. Spaun capture the second-annual title.

Overall the tournament also helped raise nearly $200,000 for the Staal Family Foundation, the title sponsor of the week-long event.

“We’re just happy to be associated with them,” said Pritchard, promising organizers always have new tricks up their sleeves and should excite again in 2016, the final year of a three-year commitment the Tour made in Thunder Bay.

Last year hockey hall of famers Bobby Orr and Grant Fuhr were among the imported hockey celebrities that supported the tournament, in addition to Thunder Bay’s own hockey stars, including Jordan, Eric, Marc and Jared Staal, Robert Bortuzzo and Carter Hutton. 

Tournament director Scott Smith said the tournament was always about more than golf itself.

“It was about creating awareness and the end result was it was about raising funds for charity,” Smith said on Friday.

“So our main focus is figuring out ways we can have people coming into the city, staying nights in hotels, buying food, buying gas. That’s really what the tournament is about and we want to make sure people understand that.”

But how long will it continue?

Both Pritchard and Smith stopped short of promising an event in 2017, but each said it’s their belief there will be a tournament in Thunder Bay next year.

“We’re continuing to work on that succession plan as we speak,” Pritchard said. “When we have details to release to everyone we will. But our intention is to continue this event … for a long time. And I think it will happen.”

To measure the impact of the tournament, a sample of 450 participants and spectators were surveyed, asking them about their role with the event, length of stay and amount of spending while in Thunder Bay. The study also looked at investments made by event organizers to stage the tournament.

The 2016 event is scheduled for July at Whitewater Golf Club.

In other Staal Foundation Open news, Gary Woodbeck was brought on as director of operations and Firedog Communications has been hired to handle marketing and communications.