EUREKA, Ill. — The 2019 PDGA Disc Golf World Championship is being held in central Illinois for the first time ever.
The week long event has several activities in Eureka, Pekin, Morton, and Washington.
The World Pros is bringing thousands of people into town, from 38 states and 14 countries.
“This is the big show we call it, pretty much the biggest tournament in our sport,” said Richard Wysocki, two time disc golf world champion.
The sport is growing fast, with 21 disc golf courses in the area.
“We’re really a disc golf mecca, in the country, in terms of the quality and quantity of courses that we have here,” said Nate Heinold, the tournament director.
The annual Ledgestone Insurance Open tournament is helping to make a name for Peoria in the sport.
“The Ledgestone has really kind of paved the way for this,” said Mark Canada, a course assistant.
Now thousands of players and spectators are expected to come into town over the course of the week.
“It will bring over a million dollars of economic impact to the area. People staying in our hotels, using our airport, renting cars,” said Heinold.
Coming from all across the world, some players have been here for weeks to prepare.
“I’ve been here since Monday of last week, so I’ve been here practicing, and I’ll be here for probably two and half almost three weeks,” said Wysocki.
Bringing the tournament to the growing community has a big impact.
“I think its good for all the businesses around, the restaurants should be really happy,” said Canada.
Tournament organizers and volunteers expect the week and all the events to be a huge success.
“I think this is probably the first of many that will be held in this area, once they’ve come here and seen how the courses are, I think the PDGA will probably want to come back again,” said Canada.
