Intro

Bayview DGC is a gorgeous 18-hole course located on Bayview Golf Course in Pass Lake Ontario just 20 mins from Thunder Bay’s north side. Pass Lake Ontario is packed full of beauty given its close proximity to Sleeping Giant provincial park. Players looking for a top-rated place to camp with decades of great reviews and history should look into camping at the park for one of the best camping experiences the region has to offer. The very same road that brings players to the course also links players to the park in less than a half hour.

Bayview DGC went from a thought to a reality in a short period of time in 2016. The want and need for a secondary course in Thunder Bay at the time was growing so local players went out in search of a potential new space. Bayview golf course loved the idea and hosted a temporary basket tournament almost immediately. The course was designed by Birch Point DGC designers; Andrew Bopp and Phil Jamieson with a little help from other local players and the baskets were in the ground quickly thanks to very enthusiastic ownership. As of 2022, Bayview has become much less of a shared course. The owner has elected to no longer maintain the greens or tee boxes for the ball golf course and as a result the golf traffic has thinned quite some. This makes disc golf the dominant sport on the property for the moment.

Bayview DGC is a gorgeous 18-hole course located on Bayview Golf Course in Pass Lake Ontario just 20 mins from Thunder Bay’s north side.

Bayview DGC has played host to several A,B and C-Tier events with many more planned in the future. The course received a bit of a design makeover after its first A-Tier event in 2021 and then again in 2022. The course will be getting a new course map made soon. In the future there are also possibilities for alternate pin locations being installed. Stay tuned for more details.

Course notes

Instead of a complete hole by hole dissection type preview, where we might go over how we play the course, we would prefer everyone instead play the course and assess things as they go according to their skill set. What we will try to lend instead is a few tips from a collection of local players in various skill ranges for those looking to play Bayview for the first time with a little more comfort.

The terrain at Bayview can be a bit of a challenge so we advise quality hiking or trail running footwear if possible. Golf courses are traditionally known to be pretty easy terrain-wise but while Bayview is one of the nicest properties anywhere to play disc golf on, the terrain provides more of a rural-golf experience for ball golfers. The average round takes nearly two hours so having snacks, water, drinks etc is recommended. The sun can also be an issue with a lot of wide open areas so packing sunblock and a hat is a good idea. There are outhouse style bathrooms at various points in the course and garbage cans on nearly every hole.

Bayview has a tonne of rolling hills throughout the course that can bring the challenge of throwing at elevation into the picture. Nearly every hole has some form of uphill or downhill angle ranging from subtle to more substantial. Hole #18 throws from what is nearly a clifftop, #13 throws down into a gully of sorts and generally, the terrain is always keeping players thinking about their next shot.

If you have never played Bayview DGC before, playing it with a local or group of locals would be ideal for the first couple times out. The course has a course map on their scorecards but there is no hole signage for the disc golf portion of the course. For a local guide, please do not hesitate to contact us at: superiornorthdiscgolf@gmail.com to arrange for a course walkthrough. Please try to contact us a week or so before your round.

Bayview challenges the long and short games of every player regardless of which set of tees players choose. The course really has no two holes alike, it really forces players to use a wide selection of shots. Big arms will have plenty of opportunities to seriously air it out while accuracy-focused players can play to their strengths through all of Bayview’s tightly wooded areas and well guarded baskets. Professional to beginner, the design is enjoyable from both sets of tees and really allows players with passive or aggressive styles to find enjoyment in the course. Whether you enjoy extremely tight tunnel shots, shots from the top of a cliff or anything in between, Bayview has you covered.

To be very clear, there are two types of rough at Bayview; the fairly standard but still thick inner rough and then the dense evil outer rough. The inner rough is the rough inside the course that divides the holes and so on. For the most part, it’s pretty regular stuff that players will find their way in and out of without a ton of stress but there is a stream that winds through. The outer rough around the outside of the course however is a different thing altogether. The outer stuff is dense, thick, nasty, thorny, grabby, stabby and basically unplayable and that’s if you find your disc at all. Making a conscious effort to stay inside the course is always a good plan but always be sure to watch every foot of every shot if you end up heading for the infamous outer foliage, it might not be easy to find. A main area to note is the rough to the right of hole #3 as it can be a bit blind from the teepad.

As mentioned above, the course is built on a golf course but as of 2022, the golf course’s greens and tee boxes are for the moment no longer being maintained. As a result there are very few golfers playing regularly at Bayview. For now, the course is still a shared space but it is currently disc golf dominant. The ball golfers do still have the traditional right-of-way on the course so please do keep an eye out.

Northern Ontario black flies, mosquitos and other bugs can seriously take at least some of the enjoyment out of a round. We always advise that players playing their rounds on wooded and rural courses ensure that they bring along quality bug spray / bug dope. Ticks have in recent years started to increase in numbers in NWO so pend the money, get the good bug dope so you can enjoy your round unbitten and unbothered.