There's curling bonspiels. And then there's prestigious bonspiels.
And the biggest and most historic one of all in Prince George is about to hit the house at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club on Thursday.
After a one-year hiatus, the 88th Kelly Cup has returned to the sheets of ice as men's teams will battle over four days for the right to hoist the 42-inch trophy.
"The draw is different than a normal bonspiel," said organizer Bill Lim, who's skipped rinks to win the prestigious cup a few times, including 2013. "It's a bonspiel within a bonspiel. The final-four qualifiers out of the A (draw) and final-four out of B play off for the Kelly Cup in a single knock-out that starts Saturday night. It takes three games to win it. There is no seeding because most of them haven't lost a game."
The names of the top-four A and B qualifiers are put in a hat and drawn to determine who plays each other. The last draw is Sunday at 3 p.m.
So far, 32 rinks have registered, including four from outside Prince George.
They include Tobin Senum of Kamloops, Colin Schpak of Quesnel, Pat Mourad of Vanderhoof and Ben Vanderstar of Smithers.
Teams can still register as late as tonight (pggolfandcurling.com) and the final draw will be done Wednesday.
The first draw is tentatively scheduled for Thursday at 4 p.m. and again at 8:30 p.m. On Friday there will be draws (10-end games) every two hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The A and B events will be completed by Saturday.
"It's a pretty unique event," said Lim. "You always have two chances to qualify for the Kelly Cup. If you lose your first game, you'll drop down to the B and and if you win your second game in the B, you'll stay."
Those who aren't among the top-eight teams will continue to play in the C and D events.
For the first time ever, the Kelly Cup is being run simultaneously with the PGGCC ladies bonspiel.
"That's very unique, that adds a lot of excitement to the event and a lot of curling," said Lim.
Lim said in 2014, the Kelly Cup was cancelled due to not having an organizing committee. Now there are 13 people on the committee.
