The Jiffy Lube Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts sweeps into action today at the St. Albert Curling Club.
The first draw is 9:30 a.m. with four games scheduled.
The 12-team provincials consist of 33 games over 12 draws.
The A qualifier is 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the B qualifier is 6:30 p.m. Friday and the two C qualifiers are 1 p.m. Saturday.
The playoffs start at 6:30 p.m. Saturday with A versus B for a berth in the final and the game between the two C teams.
Sunday the semifinal between the C winner and the A-B loser is 11 a.m. and the final is 5 p.m. Both games will be shown on Sportsnet.
The winner advances to the 2017 Canadian Scotties, Feb. 18 to 26 at St. Catharines, Ont.
Visit www.2017jiffylubealbertascotties.com for draw times and results.
The last Alberta Scotties in St. Albert was 1984 and the winner was the Connie Bennet rink of Mavis Roland, Judy Carr and Betty Clarke from the North Hill Curling Club of Calgary in a playoff against the Della Thorpe rink of Karen Gould, Heather Moore and Janet Gummer from Grande Prairie after both teams finished 4-1 in the round robin.
At the Canadian Scotties, Bennet was 4-6 at Charlottetown, PEI.
Today's opening ceremonies begin at 5:45 p.m. and admission is a ticket to the 6:30 p.m. draw.
The doors open at 4:45 p.m.
The ceremonial first rock features Ruby Shanley, 87, of the St. Albert 50-plus mixed league holding the broom for shooter Emily Clark, skip for the St. Albert finalists at the 2016 provincial U18 juvenile championships.
The sweepers are Addison Hafso and Aubrey Kennedy of the St. Albert Little Rocks program.
The $100 full event ticket packages for the Alberta Scotties are available until Friday through www.stalbertcurling.com or at the door.
Single draw tickets for any draw can be purchased at the door about one hour prior to the draw. Cash, debit, Visa or MasterCard accepted.
Prices are $10 for draws one to eight and $20 for draws nine to 12.
Youths under the age of 12 get in free with an adult ticketholder.
Admission is also free for the Friday and Saturday night entertainment supplied by RAVE ON in the Owl's Nest in the Friendly Giant Lounge from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., as well as Sunday's SUNCO pancake breakfast at 10 a.m. with a semifinal ticket.
