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The tour life resumed this past weekend with teams hitting the road for the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic in Cornwall, Ont., and the HDF Insurance Shoot-Out in Edmonton.

Both tournaments saw several top rinks in action with valuable World Curling Tour order of merit points on the line. A couple familiar faces returned to their winning ways while other teams that were sitting on the bubble for Masters invites may have locked up their spots for the first major of the Pinty’s GSOC season.

Here’s a rundown of Week 5 on the World Curling Tour.

1st end: Gushue bounces back to victory

Brad Gushue of St. John’s was back in the winner’s circle at the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic after settling for second place the week before during his home-province Pinty’s GSOC event, the Tour Challenge, in Paradise, N.L.

Gushue ran the table posting an undefeated 8-0 record, capped with a 5-4 extra end victory over Glenn Howard, of Penetanguishene, Ont., in the final.

That’s now four finals and two titles through four events for Team Gushue. It’s an impressive start to the season and it’ll be interesting to see how long they can maintain this McEwen-like momentum as the year progresses.

2nd end: Kim wins women’s Shorty Jenkins Classic

The women’s side of the Shorty Jenkins Classic saw EunJung Kim of South Korea earn their second title of the season with a 7-0 run through the tournament.

Kim beat Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., 5-4 in the final and has now cracked the top 10 on the World Curling Tour’s order of merit.

As mentions in this space last week, with the Olympic Winter Games set for PyeongChang in 2018, Team Kim will be making a lot of noise on tour between now and then.

3rd end: 13 the lucky number?

There was some shuffling around in the teens on the men’s side of the World Curling Tour’s order of merit list. Team Howard’s runner-up finish at the Shorty Jenkins Classic earned them enough points to vault from 13th into 11th overall. Scotland’s David Murdoch now sits in 13th, but his team qualified for the playoffs in Cornwall with a 4-1 run through the round robin and that may have given them enough of a cushion to earn a Masters invite with one week left until the deadline.

John Shuster of Duluth, Minn., is roughly 28 points back in 14th but there’s no guarantee 14th will earn a Masters spot as the Pinty’s GSOC may implement their sponsor’s exemption and invite a lower-ranked team. Team Shuster, who were semifinalists at the Tour Challenge, are back in action this week at the Point Optical Curling Classic and with several top teams set to compete in that event (see our “6th end”) a strong showing there could eliminate the gap between themselves and Team Murdoch.

Jim Cotter of Vernon, B.C., already holds the 15th and final spot in the Masters as the Tour Challenge Tier 2 winner.

4th end: Sweeting back on track

That’s more like it for Team Val Sweeting. After missing the playoffs at the Tour Challenge, the Edmonton rink also had a bounce back week with an undefeated 8-0 run through the HDF Insurance Shoot-Out at their home base Saville Centre.

Sweeting defeated Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton 6-4 during the final in a matchup between reigning provincial champions.

5th end: Meachem upsets Bottcher

On the men’s side of things, Edmonton’s Team Brendan Bottcher came up just short of defending their title at the HDF Insurance Shoot-Out. Bottcher fell to Saskatoon’s Shaun Meachem 8-4 in the final.

6th end: Coming up on the World Curling Tour

It’s a busy week approaching on the World Curling Tour with five events each for the men’s and women’s divisions.

Highlighting the men’s side of things is the Point Optical Curling Classic at the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon. Winnipeg’s Team Mike McEwen looks to win the event for the second consecutive season, but they’ll have to go through the likes of reigning Olympic champions Team Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers, Toronto’s Team John Epping, Team Bottcher, and others.

7th end: Where in the world are the women’s teams?

The top women’s team from are on their way to Sweden for the Stockholm Ladies Cup. Canadian rinks like Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan and Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones will be there along with reigning world champions Team Alina Paetz of Switzerland as well as compatriots, and recent Tour Challenge winners, Team Silvana Tirinzoni. Defending Stockholm Ladies Cup champs Team Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden will make their season debut on home ice.

Be sure to keep an eye out on social media as last year’s tourney saw Team Jones visit the ABBA museum while they were in town (and hilarity ensued) while the event itself saw hockey legend Peter Forsberg throw the ceremonial first rock. Who knows who will show up this time around but we’ll be keeping a close eye on Twitter.

8th end: Sherwood Park set to host inaugural Champions Cup

Last week also saw the official announcement for our seventh and final event of the Pinty’s GSOC season, the Champions Cup, running April 26 to May 1, 2016, in Sherwood Park, Alta. The second of two new tournaments on the 2015-16 schedule features all of the winners from the Pinty’s GSOC season plus champions from premiere events such as the Brier, the Scotties, the worlds etc.

Calgary’s Kevin Koe and Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland earned their spots for the Champions Cup by winning the Tour Challenge Tier 1 titles. For a full rundown on who can qualify, click here.

Full event passes are now available for the Champions Cup, visit our tickets page for more details on how you can purchase your pass today for the special early bird price.