Poynette Curling Club

About Poynette Curling Club

Poynette Curling Club: 150 Years on Columbia County Ice

Poynette Curling Club is one of the oldest curling clubs in America. Scottish families began settling in Dekorra Township around 1840, and curling was likely played on Poynette’s lower mill pond as early as the 1850s. The club was formally incorporated in 1875 with 61 members, and in 2026 it celebrated 150 years of curling.

Today the club plays on two sheets of dedicated curling ice on East Hudson Street, near Highway 51 about 30 minutes north of Madison. It is one of five clubs in Columbia County, alongside Lodi, Pardeeville, Portage and Arlington, giving the county more curling clubs than any other in the United States. World champion Debbie McCormick, who represented Team USA at four Olympic Games, trained at Poynette.

The club’s culture is built on the game’s traditions: matches start and end with a handshake, followed by conversation in the clubroom, as members like Dean Teeter, who began curling in 1957, have done for decades. The fall season opens with the Poynette Classic, an open bonspiel, and open houses introduce newcomers to the sport.