The
first Autumn Gold Curling Classic was held on Thanksgiving
weekend in October 1978 at the Calgary Curling Club.
With total cash prize payout totaling only about $5,000
the ladies of the original organizing committee were
considered Trail Blazers. They had a dream to develop
a competitive curling bonspiel where women could compete
for significant cash prizes. When our original Committee
Chairperson was asked by a news reporter, what prompted
them to take what at that time was considered to be
an unprecedented risk, she replied - "We're
tired of curling for pop-up toasters".
These ambitious ladies ventured out to seek sponsorship
support from the Calgary business community, and
boldly forged ahead with the first Autumn Gold Curling
Classic ignoring the skeptics who doubted that they'd
ever get the event off the ground. Well, those ladies
have proven to be an important part of our long history!
"We've
come a long way, baby!"
Here we are, 31 years later, still at the Calgary
Curling Club every Thanksgiving Weekend, with many
of the sponsors and advertisers who pledged their support
in our inaugural year, and we're going stronger than
ever. We are currently one of the prestigious GRAND
SLAM EVENTS on the Women's World Curling Tour.
This and our current total prize payout of $56,000
attracts high performance teams from the around the
world, most of whom make this event an annual stop
on their Women's Curling Tour season.
In 2006, the players voted our event to be the #1
Women's Cash Bonspiel in Canada making
it clear, this is where they want to be to kick off
their competitive season.
Check out the Past Champions
