(by Jonathan Brazeau)
Save the dates, the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule is set for the 2019-20 season.
Locations are also locked down for five of the six events in the series featuring the world’s best men’s and women’s teams competing for a $2.1 million total purse.
The 2019-20 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season will begin with its first major, the Canadian Beef Masters, Oct. 22-27, in North Bay, Ont. No need to wait, full-event passes are now available, visit thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets for info.
Pictou County, N.S., will hold the Tour Challenge, Nov. 5-10. Sixty teams hit the ice for the largest event on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling circuit with two tiers including a handful of local Atlantic Canada teams aiming for an opportunity to move up into the elite ranks. Ticket packages go on sale Wednesday at a special early bird rate.
Conception Bay South Arena hosted the Boost National for the first time in December 2018. (Anil Mungal)
The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling then returns to Conception Bay South, N.L., for the Boost National, Dec. 10-15, following a successful event this season. It’ll be another homecoming in the New Year with the Meridian Canadian Open heading back to Yorkton, Sask., Jan. 14-19, 2020. Yorkton held the unique major event featuring a triple knockout preliminary round in 2014 and 2015.
The prestigious Players’ Championship takes centre stage in Toronto once more April 7-12, 2020. Formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens, Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre has now become a curling hotbed as it’ll be the sixth consecutive season and seventh time in eight years the venue hosts the crown jewel of the series featuring the top 12 men’s teams and top 12 women’s teams of the season.
Closing out the year will be the Humpty’s Champions Cup, featuring all of the top event winners of 2019-20 in one final showdown to crown the best of the best. Location and venue for the Humpty’s Champions Cup will be announced in the near future.
The Pinty’s Cup will also be awarded to the overall season champions.
Although the Elite 10 has been dropped from the calendar, the total prize money in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling has not decreased. The purse previously assigned to the Elite 10 has been split up and redistributed to the six events creating more impactful tournaments with higher stakes on the line.
Two events remain on the 2018-19 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule. The season resumes with the Players’ Championship, April 9-14 at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, and concludes with the Humpty’s Championship Cup, April 23-28 at Saskatoon’s Merlis Belsher Place.
Owned and operated by Sportsnet since 2012, the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling is an elite series of men’s and women’s curling events which are part of the World Curling Tour and feature the best teams from across Canada and around the world.