Two events we missed

It has been a busy few weeks and I've been travelling the country, blogging lots of miles. Today is catch up day. Here are a couple of stories that have crossed my desk from last week.

That's Jimmy Waddell above. Jimmy was playing in the 'Grand Masters' at Greenacres, successfully as it turned out.

Here are the competitors. Click on the image for a larger size, and see who you can identify. Sixteen teams played in two sections under the Schenkel System, three six-end games, before the two section winners played off for the high road prizes while the two in second place took part in a low road. A very popular feature of the event is the Grand Masters Dinner, the main speaker this year being David B Smith.

In closely contested finals, Jim Waddell with Jack Muir, Tom Allan and John Veitch defeated Iain Simpson, Willie Scott, Albert Rae and Robert Robertson to take the Bonspiel title.

Photo above L-R: John Veitch (lead), Tom Allan (2nd), Jack Muir (3rd), Jim Waddell (skip) with invited guest Roy Sinclair presenting on behalf of Greenacres.

The Low Road was won by Billy Beattie with Robin Johnstone, John Gillespie and Jim McGregor. Low Road runners-up were John Wilson, Hugh Aitken, Sandie Cronie and Willie Yuille.

Photos and report courtesy of Hugh Stewart.

Lockerbie Wheelchair Curling Club welcomed fellow curlers from Braehead, Kinross, Stirling, South Lanarkshire and Borders for their inaugural 'Pick and Wick' Bonspiel. The brainchild of Marion Murdoch this fun competition was a winner and enjoyed by all. Click on the image above to see a larger photo of the competitors.

With the added twist of two extra stones out front in play before the start of each end, it made for interesting ends, not least the possibility of a nine-ender!

The winners were Jim Sellar, Gill Keith, Keith Thorn and Blair Murray (above). The new salver for this annual competition was presented to the winners by Blair Murray. Runners-up were Ian Donaldson, Arthur Bell, Leslie Barr and Valerie Robertson.

Photos © Jim Thomson. Above L-R: Jim Sellar, Blair Murray, Keith Thorn and Gill Keith.

Grand Masters at Greenacres

Christine Stewart sends this report:

Sixty-four curlers, every one a Grand Master, gathered at Greenacres Curling Club last week for a two day bonspiel. To qualify for this competition all the participants had to have achieved three score years and ten. That gave them a combined minimum age of 4,480 years! And just try to imagine the number of stones these guys have thrown over the years.

The sixteen teams were greeted with coffee and bacon rolls before getting down to the serious business on the ice. Divided into two sections they played two six end games in the first day and one in the second using the Schenkel system for ranking. At the end of day one the curlers sat down to a well deserved dinner complete with guest speaker and plenty of stories.

After three games it came down to four teams battling it out for the high and low road titles. Willie Ralston from Stirling faced Hamilton’s Jim Waddell in the high road final, while David Young from Perth took on Jimmy Johnson from Kinross in the low road. Willie Ralston, Duncan Hamilton, Robert Gallacher and John Sands took the title, Jim Waddell, Jack Muir, Robbie Scott and John Veitch settled for second place.

The low road final was won by David Young, Willie Scott, Ian McDonald and Donald Whyte beating Jimmy Johnson, Ian Nicholson, Jim Paterson and Ian Muirhead.

The third Grand Masters Bonpsiel was voted a great success by all the players. Some questions came up, could numbers be increased? Well it’s up to you out there. If interested contact Greenacres at the email address below, or if you are not a silver surfer, use snail mail, Greenacres Curling Rink, Bowfield Road, Howwood, Renfrewshire, PA9 1DE.

We have Masters and Grand Masters, what about Legends? Just add five years to the three score and ten and contact Greenacres. That’s the gentlemen taken care of, what about the ladies? The ladies may be less willing to admit to being of a certain age but who could resist being a Grand Mistress? Volunteer now at info@curl-greenacres.com!

Top photo (L-R) Robert Gallacher, Willie Ralston, Duncan Hamilton and John Sands from Stirling, is courtesy of Hugh Stewart.