World Curling Tour
The World Curling Tour is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and mixed doubles curlers in the world.
History
The World Curling Tour was the brainchild of former World Champion Ed Lukowich, who would later be helped out by John Kawaja. Organizing a tour was challenging due to the large geography of Canada and the short curling season.The World Curling Tour was created in 1992, with men's events only at first. It replaced the "Canadian Curling Tour" held the previous season. The first season consisted of 48 events, and was sponsored by Seagram's distillery. Teams earned points in every event with the top 30 qualifying for the season ending "V.O. Cup", today known as the Players' Championship. Its first president and CEO was Lukowich. The first two events were held on the first weekend of October 1992, the Red Carpet Classic in Regina, Saskatchewan and a qualifier for the Coca-Cola Classic in Winnipeg.
In 2001, the WCT introduced a series of Grand Slam events for men which was later followed in 2006 by Grand Slam events for women. These became known as the Grand Slam of Curling and featured large payouts. Originally, curlers who participated in Grand Slam events were obliged to not participate in their respective Brier playdowns, however this was quickly rescinded.
Most WCT events are held in the Fall, and early Winter to avoid competing with the Brier and Scotties playdowns.
The WCT is experimenting with length of games in two interesting ways. The first is that the games are only eight ends long with a 4th end break. The second is that the time clocks only count "thinking time", so the clock goes off when the players throw the rock. The reason is that time clocks, an innovation created to speed up the game, would stop as soon as the stone stopped. With the old system where teams were given 73 minutes of time if a team was losing, they would throw more draw shots which take time. The team that is winning throws more hits and thus ends up with more time if needed. So the WCT moved to "Thinking time" to even out this discrepancy. With this new system, each team is given 40 minutes of “Thinking Time” plus an additional 5 minutes if the game goes to an extra end. The system is now a standard in Curling Canada championship events, though with a 38-minute limit for standard 10-end curling and 22 minutes for mixed doubles. The 2018 Canada Cup experimented with breaking the time down by ends — four minutes per end in the first half of the game, and four minutes, 15 seconds in the second half; if time runs out, the offending team can play no more rocks in the end.
The team with the most winnings at the end of the year wins the Founders Trophy. The winners in 2007 were Kevin Martin's team who won a total of $176,000.
A Women's World Curling Tour also exists, and is now affiliated with the WCT.
As of 2018, the Men's and Women's World Curling Tour begins its debut in early August with the Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic and has events taking place all throughout the curling season until the Champions Cup in late April. Each of the bonspiel events on the World Curling Tour lasts for approximately 3 days with a final payoff ranging in the thousands of dollars for the winners. There are 7 major men’s and women's tournaments that are held throughout the year, each with a final cash prize of at least $100,000 for the winning team. These are the Elite 10, the Masters, the Tour Challenge, the National, the Canadian Open, the Players' Championship, and the Champions Cup. Together, these events are known as Grand Slam events because of the large payoff that is associated with them as well as the number of high-level curlers that play in these tournaments. There also used to be 2 more Grand Slam events for the women called the Sobeys Slam and Wayden Transportation Ladies Classic but these were discontinued in 2010.
On October 2, 2006, the license of rights for the Grand Slam of Curling was sold to Insight Sports Ltd. but was later sold again in August 2012 to Rogers Communications. The WCT naming rights were then sold to Asham, a long time contributor to the sport, until 2014 and because of this, the World Curling Tour was renamed Asham’s World Curling Tour. The Grand Slam was originally simply called the Grand Slam of Curling until 2008 when the rights were sold by the CBC to Capital One bank which renamed the Grand Slam the Capital One Grand Slam of Curling. Unlike the other World Curling Tour events, these Grand Slams they are played in 8-end games as opposed to the usual 10 end games found in the other WCT events. Another new rule that was first put into practice at the men’s nationals in 2014 is the 5 rock rule which increased the 4 rock rule and free guard zone rule by another rock. This changed the starting strategy of the game as the team with the hammer was able to throw up two guards uncontested instead of the usual 1 allowed with the previously used 4 rock rule. Through the addition of the Grand Slam events and the new rule changes, the WCT is rapidly becoming a well known series to sports fans worldwide.
On June 28, 2017, the Canadian based World Curling Tour officially merged with the European and Asian based Curling Champions Tour to create a worldwide entity focused on growing the game on the international stage. The World Curling Tour World rights holder is now the Zurich Switzerland based company CCT Event GmbH. This merger has also led to the growth of a Mixed Doubles tour, along with adding Junior and Wheelchair curling tours to expand the offering.
Men's Events
As of the 2018-2019 curling season| Week | Event | Location | Purse |
| 1 | Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic | Hokkaido, Japan | ¥1,700,000 |
| 2 | Baden Masters | Baden, Switzerland | CHF33,000 |
| 2 | GOLDLINE Icebreaker at the Granite | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$7,680 |
| 3 | Oakville Fall Classic | Oakville, Ontario | CA$15,000 |
| 4 | Stu Sells Oakville Tankard | Oakville, Ontario | CA$25,000 |
| 5 | AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic | Cornwall, Ontario | CA$60,200 |
| 5 | King Cash Spiel | Maple Ridge, British Columbia | CA$12,000 |
| 5 | Morris SunSpiel | Morris, Manitoba | CA$8,400 |
| 6 | College Clean Restoration Curling Classic | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | CA$33,000 |
| 6 | Mother Club Fall Curling Classic | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$10,000 |
| 6 | KW Fall Classic | Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario | |
| 7 | Princess Auto Elite 10 | Chatham, Ontario | CA$100,000 |
| 7 | Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic | Vernon, British Columbia | CA$12,000 |
| 7 | KKP Classic | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$12,000 |
| 7 | Avonair Cash Spiel | Edmonton, Alberta | CA$10,000 |
| 7 | Tallinn Mens International Challenger | Tallinn, Estonia | €3,000 |
| 8 | StuSells Toronto Tankard | Toronto, Ontario | CA$17,500 |
| 8 | Swiss Cup Basel | Basel, Switzerland | CHF40,000 |
| 8 | St. Paul Let's Cure Lupus Cash Spiel | St. Paul, Minnesota | US$12,000 |
| 8 | Bud Light Men's Cash Spiel | Halifax, Nova Scotia | CA$6,400 |
| 8 | Manitoba Curling Tour Classic | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$6,400 |
| 9 | Canad Inns Men's Classic | Portage la Prairie, Manitoba | CA$56,000 |
| 9 | Driving Force Abbotsford Cashspiel | Abbotsford, British Columbia | CA$18,000 |
| 9 | McKee Homes Fall Curling Classic | Airdrie, Alberta | CA$12,800 |
| 9 | Stroud Sleeman Cash Spiel | Stroud, Ontario | CA$12,200 |
| 9 | Atkins Curling Supplies Classic | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$8,800 |
| 9 | Kalamazoo Men's Classic | Kalamazoo, Michigan | US$3,600 |
| 10 | Curling Masters Champery | Champery, Switzerland | CHF50,000 |
| 10 | Challenge de Curling de Gatineau | Gatineau, Quebec | CA$41,000 |
| 10 | Medicine Hat Charity Classic | Medicine Hat, Alberta | CA$35,000 |
| 11 | Masters of Curling | Truro, Nova Scotia | CA$125,000 |
| 11 | Huron ReproGraphics Oil Heritage Classic | Sarnia, Ontario | CA$22,000 |
| 11 | Kamloops Crown of Curling | Kamloops, British Columbia | CA$16,000 |
| 11 | Fort Garry Industries Bonspiel | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$6,400 |
| 11 | Latvia International Challenger | Tukums, Latvia | €3,000 |
| 12 | DEKALB Superspiel | Morris, Manitoba | CA$45,000 |
| 12 | Dave Jones Alexander Keiths Mayflower Cashspiel | Halifax, Nova Scotia | CA$22,000 |
| 12 | Raymond Jones Kelowna Double Cash | Kelowna, British Columbia | CA$18,000 |
| 12 | Prague Classic | Prague, Czech Republic | €15,500 |
| 12 | Grand Prix Bern Inter Curling Challenge | Bern, Switzerland | CHF18,100 |
| 13 | GSOC Tour Challenge Tier 1 | Thunder Bay, Ontario | CA$100,000 |
| 13 | GSOC Tour Challenge Tier 2 | Thunder Bay, Ontario | CA$50,000 |
| 13 | Original 16 WCT Bonspiel | Calgary, Alberta | CA$24,000 |
| 14 | Red Deer Curling Classic | Red Deer, Alberta | CA$35,000 |
| 14 | Stu Sells 1924 Halifax Classic | Halifax, Nova Scotia | CA$25,000 |
| 14 | King Spud Classic Berth Spiel | Carberry, Manitoba | CA$8,640 |
| 14 | Fort Wayne Mad Anthony CashSpiel | Fort Wayne, Indiana | US$4,560 |
| 14 | Secker Ross & Perry Eastern Ontario Championship | Kingston, Ontario | CA$20,000 |
| 15 | Ashley Home Store Curling Classic | Penticton, British Columbia | CA$66,000 |
| 15 | Challenge Casino de Charlevoix | Clermont, Quebec | CA$27,000 |
| 15 | The Sunova Spiel at East St. Paul | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$10,500 |
| 15 | Black Diamond/High River Cash | Black Diamond/High River, Alberta | CA$7,900 |
| 16 | Curl Mesabi Classic | Eveleth, Minnesota | US$18,000 |
| 16 | Brantford Nissan Mens Classic | Brantford, Ontario | CA$16,000 |
| 16 | Thistle Integrity Stakes | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$4,800 |
| 17 | Home Hardware Canada Cup of Curling | Estevan, Saskatchewan | CA$70,000 |
| 17 | WFG Jim Sullivan Curling Classic | Saint John, New Brunswick | CA$15,300 |
| 17 | Farmers Edge SCT | Wadena, Saskatchewan | CA$11,500 |
| 17 | MCT Championships | Dauphin, Manitoba | CA$8,000 |
| 17 | Aland International Challenger | Aland, Finland | €3,000 |
| 18 | Boost National | Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador | CA$125,000 |
| 18 | Dakota Challenger Spiel | Lakeville, Minnesota | US$4,000 |
| 18 | Dumfries Challenger Series | Dumfries, Scotland | |
| 19 | Karuizawa International | Karuizawa, Japan | ¥4,000,000 |
| 20 | ASHAM U.S. Open of Curling | Blaine, Minnesota | US$20,000 |
| 21 | Mercure Perth Masters | Perth, Scotland | €20,950 |
| 22 | Meridian Canadian Open | North Battleford, Saskatchewan | CA$100,000 |
| 22 | Brandon Mens Bonspiel | Brandon, Manitoba | CA$7,200 |
| 24 | Ed Werenich Golden Wrench Classic | Tempe, Arizona | US$16,000 |
| 35 | Players' Championship | Toronto, Ontario | CA$100,000 |
| 37 | Humpty's Champions Cup | Calgary, Alberta | CA$150,000 |
Grand Slam events indicated in bold.
Women's events
As of 2018-2019 curling season| Week | Event | Location | Purse |
| 1 | Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic | Hokkaido, Japan | ¥1,700,000 |
| 2 | GOLDLINE Icebreaker at the Granite | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$6,020 |
| 3 | Oakville Fall Classic | Oakville, Ontario | CA$9,000 |
| 4 | HDF Insurance Shoot-Out | Edmonton, Alberta | CA$32,000 |
| 4 | Stu Sells Oakville Tankard | Oakville, Ontario | CA$25,000 |
| 5 | AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic | Cornwall, Ontario | CA$29,500 |
| 5 | Colonial Square Ladies Classic | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | CA$27,000 |
| 5 | Morris SunSpiel | Morris, Manitoba | CA$8,400 |
| 5 | King Cash Spiel | Maple Ridge, British Columbia | CA$8,000 |
| 6 | Mother Club Fall Curling Classic | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$8,000 |
| 6 | Riga International Curling Challenge | Riga, Latvia | €2,000 |
| 6 | KW Fall Classic | Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario | |
| 7 | Princess Auto Elite 10 | Chatham, Ontario | CA$100,000 |
| 7 | Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic | Vernon, British Columbia | CA$41,000 |
| 7 | Avonair Cash Spiel | Edmonton, Alberta | CA$8,000 |
| 7 | Manitoba Curling Tour Classic | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$5,200 |
| 7 | Tallinn Ladies International Challenge | Tallinn, Estonia | €3,000 |
| 8 | Stockholm Ladies Cup | Stockholm, Sweden | 331,000 kr |
| 8 | Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic | Calgary, Alberta | CA$50,000 |
| 8 | StuSells Toronto Tankard | Toronto, Ontario | CA$17,500 |
| 8 | New Scotland Clothing Ladies Cashspiel | Halifax, Nova Scotia | CA$6,400 |
| 8 | St. Paul Let's Cure Lupus Cash Spiel | St. Paul, Minnesota | US$6,000 |
| 9 | Womens Masters Basel | Basel, Switzerland | CHF32,000 |
| 9 | Driving Force Abbotsford Cashspiel | Abbotsford, British Columbia | CA$10,000 |
| 9 | Stroud Sleeman Cash Spiel | Stroud, Ontario | CA$7,200 |
| 10 | China Open | Beijing, China | US$100,000 |
| 10 | Canad Inns Women's Classic | Portage la Prairie, Manitoba | CA$60,000 |
| 10 | Paf Masters Tour | Aland, Finland | €18,000 |
| 10 | Medicine Hat Charity Classic | Medicine Hat, Alberta | CA$11,600 |
| 11 | Masters of Curling | Truro, Nova Scotia | CA$125,000 |
| 11 | Kamloops Crown of Curling | Kamloops, British Columbia | CA$16,000 |
| 11 | Gord Carroll Curling Classic | Whitby, Ontario | CA$15,000 |
| 11 | Fort Garry Industries Bonspiel | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$6,400 |
| 11 | Latvia International Challenger | Tukums, Latvia | €3,000 |
| 12 | DEKALB Superspiel | Morris, Manitoba | CA$45,000 |
| 12 | Royal LePage Women's Fall Classic | Kemptville, Ontario | CA$21,000 |
| 12 | Dave Jones Stanhope Simpson Insurance Mayflower Cashspiel | Halifax, Nova Scotia | CA$10,000 |
| 12 | Raymond Jones Kelowna Double Cash | Kelowna, British Columbia | CA$9,000 |
| 13 | GSOC Tour Challenge Tier 1 | Thunder Bay, Ontario | CA$100,000 |
| 13 | GSOC Tour Challenge Tier 2 | Thunder Bay, Ontario | CA$50,000 |
| 13 | Crestwood Ladies Fall Classic | Edmonton, Alberta | CA$11,000 |
| 14 | Red Deer Curling Classic | Red Deer, Alberta | CA$35,000 |
| 15 | Boundary Ford Curling Classic | Lloydminster, Alberta | CA$24,000 |
| 15 | Spitfire Arms Cash Spiel | Windsor, Nova Scotia | CA$12,000 |
| 15 | The Sunova Spiel at East St. Paul | Winnipeg, Manitoba | CA$10,500 |
| 16 | Curl Mesabi Classic | Eveleth, Minnesota | US$15,000 |
| 17 | Home Hardware Canada Cup of Curling | Estevan, Saskatchewan | CA$70,000 |
| 17 | CCT City of Perth Ladies International | Perth, Scotland | £15,800 |
| 17 | MCT Championships | Dauphin, Manitoba | CA$8,000 |
| 17 | WFG Jim Sullivan Curling Classic | Saint John, New Brunswick | CA$5,500 |
| 18 | Boost National | Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador | CA$100,000 |
| 18 | Dakota Challenger Spiel | Lakeville, Minnesota | US$4,000 |
| 19 | Karuizawa International | Karuizawa, Japan | ¥4,000,000 |
| 20 | ASHAM U.S. Open of Curling | Blaine, Minnesota | US$20,000 |
| 22 | Meridian Canadian Open | North Battleford, Saskatchewan | CA$100,000 |
| 22 | International Bernese Ladies Cup | Bern, Switzerland | CHF21,500 |
| 23 | Glynhill Ladies International | Glasgow, Scotland | £11,000 |
| 35 | Players' Championship | Toronto, Ontario | CA$100,000 |
| 37 | Humpty's Champions Cup | Calgary, Alberta | CA$150,000 |
Grand Slam events indicated in bold.
Mixed doubles events
As of 2018-2019 curling season| Week | Event | Location | Purse |
| 3 | Audi Quattro Winter Games NZ Mixed Doubles | Naseby, New Zealand | |
| 3 | Battleford Mixed Doubles Fall Curling Classic | North Battleford, Saskatchewan | CA$13,500 |
| 4 | Oberstdorf International Mixed Doubles Cup | Oberstdorf, Germany | €3,200 |
| 6 | WCT Tallinn Mixed Doubles International | Tallinn, Estonia | €1,200 |
| 9 | Sherwood Park Mixed Doubles Classic | Edmonton, Alberta | CA$4,000 |
| 10 | WCT Austrian Mixed Doubles Cup | Kitzbuehel, Austria | €3,500 |
| 11 | WCT Mixed Doubles Cup Geising | Geising, Germany | €3,500 |
| 12 | MadTown DoubleDown | Madison, Wisconsin | US$24,000 |
| 12 | Palmerston Mixed Doubles Spiel | Palmerston, Ontario | CA$1,200 |
| 13 | International Mixed Doubles Sochi | Sochi, Russia | |
| 14 | Mixed Doubles Bern | Bern, Switzerland | CHF10,000 |
| 14 | Canad Inns Mixed Doubles Championship | Portage la Prairie, Manitoba | CA$36,000 |
| 15 | Ilderton Mixed Doubles Spiel | Ilderton, Ontario | CA$3,500 |
| 16 | WCT Mixed Doubles Lodz | Lodz, Poland | €2,800 |
| 17 | PrimeLending Mixed Doubles Championship | Midland, Michigan | US$7,500 |
| 17 | Sutherland Mixed Doubles Curling Classic | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | CA$13,500 |
| 19 | Italian Mixed Doubles Cup | Pinerolo, Italy | €3,000 |
| 20 | Southern Mixed Doubles | Charlotte, North Carolina | US$3,400 |
| 21 | Qualico Communities Mixed Doubles Classic | Canmore/Banff, Alberta | CA$30,000 |
| 22 | WCT Dutch Masters Mixed Doubles | Zoetermeer, Netherlands | €1,250 |
| 22 | Callie Mixed Doubles Classic | Regina, Saskatchewan | CA$13,500 |
| 23 | Toronto Cricket Mixed Doubles Cashspiel | Toronto, Ontario | |
| 24 | Gefle Mixed Doubles Cup | Gavle, Sweden | 3,600 kr |
| 26 | Listowel Mixed Doubles Cashspiel | Listowel, Ontario | CA$9,000 |
| 26 | International Mixed Doubles Trophy Aarau | Aarau, Switzerland | CHF7,000 |
| 27 | WCT Tallinn Masters Mixed Doubles | Tallinn, Estonia | €1,250 |
| 27 | Nutana Mixed Doubles Classic | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | CA$13,500 |
| 28 | Slovakia Mixed Doubles Curling Cup | Bratislava, Slovakia | €2,800 |
| 29 | International Mixed Doubles Sochi 2 | Sochi, Russia | |
| 31 | Westbay Hungarian Mixed Doubles Cup | Budapest, Hungary | €3,100 |
| 32 | International Mixed Doubles Dumfries | Dumfries, Scotland | £5,200 |
| 34 | LODE Latvian Mixed Doubles Curling Cup 1 | Riga, Latvia | €1,000 |
| 35 | LODE Latvian Mixed Doubles Curling Cup 2 | Riga, Latvia | €1,000 |