The World Curling Tour will bring some of the best curlers in the world to Penticton this weekend. Matt Tolley (left), who is co-chairing the event, works in Osoyoos and is active in Osoyoos Rotary. Sweeping is Adam Cseke. (Contributed photo)
Osoyoos curling fans might want to make the short trip to Penticton this weekend to catch some of the world’s best curling teams in action.
The World Curling Tour is coming to the Penticton Curling Club starting Friday, Nov. 3 and continuing all weekend, with semi-finals and finals set for Monday morning, said Matt Tolley, a co-chair of the event that will be featuring 24 teams.
Tolley, who lives in Penticton, is employed at the Edward Jones investment office in Osoyoos and is a long-time member of the Osoyoos Rotary Club.
Tolley will be playing on the team skipped by Chris Baier of Victoria. His other teammates include Adam Cseke and Cal Jackson, who are both from Kelowna.
“Being able to compete against some of the best curlers in the world is obviously pretty exciting,” said Tolley. “It’s pretty incredible that we’ve been able to attract some of the very best teams in the world to this event. There’s going to be some great curling and just being able to step on the ice against these guys is something I’m sure none of us is going to forget.
“It’s a really big deal for a lot of the teams from B.C. and I can’t wait to get started.”
Some of the teams that will be competing this weekend include Sweden’s Niklas Edin, currently ranked No. 2 in the World Curling Tour; former world champion Alberta’s Kevin Koe (No. 5); Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers (No. 4); Manitoba’s Mike McEwen (No. 7); Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock (No. 11); former world champion Thomas Ulsrud from Norway (No. 8); Scotland’s Tom Brewster (No. 48); and Netherlands Jaap van Dorp (No. 40).
There will be a purse of $66,000, with the winning team splitting roughly $20,000.
There will be four draws on Friday and another four on Saturday, with the top eight teams qualifying for quarter-final play on Sunday and the final four moving on to the semi-finals Sunday evening.
The semi-finals will take place Monday morning at 8:45 a.m. and the championship final taking place at 11:45 a.m.
The semi-finals and finals will be broadcast on Shaw Cable.
Having so many world-class teams on board has certainly sparked interest in the South Okanaga curling community and Tolley expects the Penticton Curling Club to be filled to capacity all weekend.
“We can fit in a little over 350 people inside to watch and we’re almost sold out … although we will be holding about 100 spots for each draw to allow people to come down and watch,” said Tolley. “It’s very unique to hold a bonspiel of this calibre in a relatively small local club.”
The majority of weekend passes were snapped up by Penticton Curling Club members, but organizers are leaving about 100 tickets per draw open to the regular public so curling fans from places like Osoyoos and Oliver can make the trip down to watch world-class curling, said Tolley.
“If you don’t have a weekend pass and you want to watch, get there early and we’ll have some spaces reserved,” he said.
The first draw takes place at 8:15 a.m. Friday. The second draw begins at 11:45 a.m., the third draw at 3:15 p.m. and fourth draw at 7:15 p.m.
That same schedule will continue on Saturday.
Quarter-finals will take place at 7:15 p.m. Sunday.
For tickets, call the Penticton Curling Club at 1-250-492-5647.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
