Course, Programming & Accommodation News
Good Morning Folks,
The Nationals organizing team took a trip up to Thunder Bay this last weekend to do our course audits, map-out our check-in, player’s meeting & player’s party venues, and meet with the hospitality team at Lakehead University. As we approach just over a month before festivities kick-off, our players can expect weekly updates with information on local amenities, Nationals sponsors, course profiles and programming. We’re going to begin with a general update today, with course details shared this weekend and digital player’s guides being distributed shortly afterward on July 10th.
We're going to kick this update off with a quick introduction to the 2023 Canadian Nationals tournament team. Below you'll find each member of the hosting committee and their role, which should help you direct any questions that may arise leading up to, or during the event. I'll note, there are also many folks behind the scenes working on course maintenance, who may have helped solicit sponsorships, or who have helped build our programming in Thunder Bay over the last 7 years. This absolutely does not happen without your help, the help of the Community Economic Development Commission (John Cameron) & Tourism Thunder Bay, or every single sponsor who's offered their support throughout the years to keep our budgets afloat.
If you have any questions, or would like to get a hold of us please reach out to info@ontariodiscsports.ca and a member of our organizing team will respond.
We were able to meet in-person with the Lakehead hospitality team last weekend and voice our shared concerns over communication/timeline with our players who’d requested accommodations at the University. It appears as though all players who’ve booked single dormitory rooms have now been contacted, with 4-bedroom apartments/townhouses also purportedly contacted by the time you're reading this. We’ve been reassured that all those who’d requested a 4-bedroom accommodation through registration have had their accommodation reserved on Lakehead’s booking system and are simply left with the formality of booking details once University staff reach out.
With all this said, player’s looking for single dormitory accommodations (and potentially a very limited number of 4-Bedroom units) may still request a booking directly through Lakehead University’s online booking request system. Onward, all requests for accommodation will go directly through the University using this form. Remember to reference “Canadian National Disc Golf Championships” when entering your group rate through their online form. Speaking of group rates, your invoice may list a daily rate (rather than the weekly rate we listed) however, it should add up to our discounted weekly rate when you do the math for the duration of your stay.
Before we depart from the topic, we’ll give everyone a quick re-cap regarding our rates and some of the perks of staying at the University this year:
Single Dormitory
Weekly Rate $180 unfurnished, add $5/day for a standard room that includes linens, toiletries & towels.
We stayed in the single dormitories during our visit this weekend and were pleased with the conditions. Each room is equipped with a single bed, large desk, large window (that can open), mini-fridge, dresser/drawers. Fan, lighting, telephone, toiletries, towels, and linens/pillow. The mattress is a bit thin (what you might expect in a university dorm), but didn’t stop us from having a good night’s sleep, and the temperature inside was very comfortable despite it being quite warm/humid outside. We’d recommend player’s upgrade with the $5/day for the included amenities. We were also shown the common rooms (television, microwaves, seating), study rooms and game rooms, complete with pool tables and foosball tables. The Lakehead cafeteria (5 minute walk) will also be open for our guests.
4-Bedroom Apartments
Weekly Rate $750 unfurnished, $850 for a standard apartment furnished with linens & cookware.
We took a tour of university accommodations and were able to swing-by the apartments. Each is complete with 1.5 bathrooms (a full shower/toilet/sink and then another that is just toilet/sink). We’d recommend taking the furnished route for the upgrade cost as it allows folks to utilize the stovetop and includes all necessary dishes and cutlery as well. Players booking the 4-bedroom accommodations are also eligible to sign-up for the university meal plan.
If player’s staying at Lakehead for the championships have any issues or questions, please contact Lakehead hospitality directly at (807) 343-8485. If your issue persists, or you don’t receive the answer you seek, please reach out to our team at info@ontariodiscsports.ca and we’ll be more than happy to assist.
Lakehead Meal Plan
Lakehead will be offering a meal plan to all players staying at the University. Having eaten here during our trip, the cafeteria is large, well-stocked, and has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating overlooking Lake Tamblyn. If the hospitality team hasn't reached out yet, you should be receiving an email with additional details, should you wish to purchase a meal plan for the week.
Player's Party & Amateur Awards @ Lake Tamblyn
Both the Thursday evening Check-In party and Sunday evening amateur awards ceremony will be held at Lake Tamblyn; Lakehead's outdoor conference area. Situated on a large, naturalized reservoir, it's the perfect place to run our check-in, host our fun "field events" and also partake in the beer gardens we'll have set up both Thursday and Sunday evenings. Those who wish to stick to pops and water, we'll be sure to have plenty of options available, as well as on-site catering available for purchase. The best part? If you're staying on campus, your walk is less than 5 minutes!
Lakehead Practice Area
We will have practice baskets set up in front of the Brantley residence main building for the duration of the event.
Below we've added our schedule at a glance to give our player's a rough idea of what to expect from our week-of festivities and tournament programming.
*Please note, we have contracted a pair of shuttles from Iron Range bussing to run a loop from Lakehead University to all 3 of our courses during competition. This is FREE for ALL Nationals competitors.
Wednesday August 2nd
• Canadian Doubles Championship Flex (9-5pm @ Birch Point)*
• "Discover Thunder Bay" Scavenger Hunt Begins
• Red River Road Nationals Pub Crawl (5pm-midnight)
Thursday August 3rd
• Shuttle Service Begins from Lakehead (schedule TBA)
• Dragon Hills Reserved for Free Practice Day
• Nationals Check-In & Player's Party (5-10pm @ Lake Tamblyn)
Friday August 4th
• Amateur Competition Begins
• Red Pool @ Birch Point
• White Pool @ Dragon Hills
• Player's Meet-Up (4-9pm @ Cascades Conservation Area)
Saturday August 5th
• Pro Competition Begins
• Pro Pool @ Dragon Hills
• Red Pool @ Bayview
• White Pool @ Birch Point
• Player's Party #2 (5-10pm @ Sleeping Giant Brewing Co.)
Sunday August 6th
• Pro Pool @ Birch Point
• Red Pool @ Dragon Hills
• White Pool @ Bayview
• "Discover Thunder Bay" Scavenger Hunt Ends
• Amateur Awards Ceremony (6-10pm @ Lake Tamblyn)
Monday August 7th
• Final Round for Pro Cards @ Dragon Hills (Spectators Welcome | Bleachers on #18, Facility is Licensed)
• Awards & Closing Ceremony @ Dragon Hills (Following Pro Rounds)
Course maps and hole information will be shared this weekend via email with all registered competitors. Our fully-featured digital player's guide, complete with recommendations for local attractions, restaurants, course maps, OB lists, schedule, scavenger hunt and pub crawl details (and more) will launch July 10th.
We have made a few tweaks to the original layouts at Bayview & Dragon Hills for Nationals and will provide full details in our player’s guide release on July 4th. All courses, in full Nationals layouts, will be set-up and playable as of July 29th.
Bayview presented by Discmania
Built on the skeleton of a retired 9-hole ball golf course, Bayview offers players a unique opportunity to experience playing disc golf on the spine of Thunder Bay’s infamous Sleeping Giant. This 6790’ par 62 layout promises to provide our amateur divisions a challenge as they navigate its tree-lined corridors and open vistas, all with a beautiful view of Lake Superior looming in the distance.
Layouts: There will be one set of tees for all divisions playing Bayview during Nationals.
Birch Point presented by Innova Disc Golf
Thunder Bay’s hidden gem and only public 18-hole course, we’re excited for our players to experience why it’s built a reputation as Ontario’s top municipal course. The Birch Point Disc Golf Association, Superior North Disc Golf and City of Thunder Bay have invested extra effort to ensure that Birch Point is in the best condition possible for our players at Nationals and deserve our special thanks. Birch and conifers line the basket-laden peninsula surrounded by the Mackenzie River-fed Boulevard Lake. Players will experience natural and human-made OB challenges with the lake and walking paths, highlighted by signature hole fourteen’s throw around the bay. This is where it all started in Thunder Bay.
Layouts: There will be one set of tees for all divisions playing Birch Point during Nationals.
Dragon Hills presented by DiscRepublic.ca
This beast rears its head, coming in a hair under 10,000’ carrying a par of 66. Dragon Hills traverses across a landscape chalk full of elevation, water hazards and tree stands and while technical at times, will also allow our bigger arms to flex some of their muscle to gain a strategic advantage on upshots across its eight par 4’s and pair of par 5’s. Signature hole 12 offers players a unique experience as they throw from elevation before crossing Dragon Hill’s largest pond to a peninsula green. We will include distance markers at 50’ intervals for the crossing this year, courtesy of Bushnell Canada, to help our players tackle the crossing. We have installed an alternate pin to ease frustration with our amateur divisions playing the hybrid short layout, as the water crossing, despite becoming more manageable as you progress down the fairway, may still offer too great a challenge for some players. Every division will have a shot at taming this dragon.
Layouts: Our Pro and MA1/FA1 pools will play the long tees, all other divisions will play a more accessible hybrid, shortened layout that mitigates water carry distances and removes the pond crossing on hole 12.
Thanks to a large donation from Pound Disc Golf Bags, we were able to triple the number of bags we're giving away for this year's Nationals Fundraiser raffle! With well over $5000 in prizes ($3200 from Pound alone!) you're going to want to pick up a few (more) tickets! BUY TICKETS HERE
Your support for fundraisers like this allows us to scale what we're able to offer back to our competitors at this year's event. If you have a couple extra bucks lying around, why not buy some tickets, support a good cause.... and you just might go home with a new Pound bag!
We will be doing an Early Bird Draw for the Pound Fly Pack (MSRP $400 CAD) on July 10th for all those who buy their tickets beforehand. I have a fly pack and will vouch it's the absolute best travel bag I've owned to-date... it'll look great on your way to Nationals this year!
