Curling
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Curling Report : October 2011
The 2011/2012 curling season is well under way as we move towards the end of October.
The premier annual Rotary curling event in Scotland is the Scottish Ramshead competition. The initial South West Scotland qualifying round took place in Ayr on 16th October with 8 teams competing for 4 places in the Round Robin event to be held in December and January. The teams involved on 16th October were Ardrossan & Saltcoats; Ayr (2 teams); East Kilbride; Hamilton; Kirkcudbright; Stranraer; and Rutherglen.
The Ayr 1 team comprising Euan Lawrence (skip), Neil Beattie, Geoff Barber, Ronnie Wilson and Alistair Tyre qualified for the Round Robin with wins over Kircudbright (15-1); Ardrossan & Saltcoats (6-4) and Hamilton (8-5). The Ayr 2 team comprising Bob Cherry (skip), Jimmy Begg, Alex Thomson and Jim Nelson narrowly missed out on qualification coming up just short (2-8) in their third and deciding game against East Kilbride where the winner went through. The two other games played by Ayr 2 resulted in a win over Hamilton (8-5) and a peel with Stranraer (4-4). The 4 teams who will play in the South West Scotland Round Robin are Ardrossan & Saltcoats, Ayr 1, East Kilbride, and Stranraer. The winners of that competition will go forward to the Scottish finals of the Ramshead Trophy in Perth in March.
It is the Ayr 1 team who will be competing in the Rotary World Curling Championship in Washington, USA in the first week of April 2012. Three Scottish, three Canadian, three American and one English team have qualified for the Championship which will comprise a full Round Robin competition of 9 games per team prior to the semi-finals and final. There will also be a lot of Rotary socialising during the week.
As part of their preparation for that event the team are playing in this year’s Super League competition at Ayr Ice Rink where the standard of curling is appreciably higher than usually experienced by the members of the team. This is the premier team competition run throughout the curling season and comprises 12 teams. After three games the Ayr 1 team have recorded one win and two losses. It is proving an excellent learning curve for the team whose play is already improving with the experience of playing at a higher level.
In terms of the Ayrshire Curling League, only three Clubs have entered teams this year – Alloway, Ardrossan & Saltcoats, and Ayr (2 teams). In season 2010/2011 we had 7 teams in the League. The drop in numbers is a serious situation for the future of the League and is a reflection of the difficulty faced by many Clubs of not having sufficient curling members to enter a team. In order to increase the number of teams for the current season it has been agreed that Jim Wilson of Cumnock will skip a composite team of curlers drawn from different Clubs. This will ensure that individual curlers in different Clubs will have the opportunity of competing in the League. It may well be that Jim will call on members of the Ayr Club to make up numbers on occasion. Given the reduced number of teams in the League an effort will be made to have the games played off within a relatively short time frame.
In terms of upcoming events, the Annual Scottish Rotary Charity Bonspiel will take place at Perth on Wednesday 2nd November. This is a very enjoyable fun day of curling which raises money for good causes. Ayr Rotary Club will have a team at this event.
Finally, it is worth reporting that two members of the Rotary Club of Ayr reached the semi-final stage of the Eglinton Jug Competition which took place during the week beginning Monday 17th October. Playing for the Gangrels Curling Club alongwith Jim Henry and Ken Ross, Euan Lawrence (skip) and Bob Cherry exceeded the expectations of all concerned and played in the semi-final on Friday 21st October where the team lost to Stewarton Heather. Reaching the semi-finals of The Jug is a major achievement and Euan and Bob are still getting over the shock – based on previous experiences they had only set aside one morning at the beginning of the week in their diaries for The Jug and had to make quick adjustments as the week went by! Other members of the Rotary Club of Ayr who participated in The Jug were Neil Beattie, Alistair Tyre, Alex Thomson and Jim Nelson.
Finally, it is worth reporting that two members of the Rotary Club of Ayr reached the semi-final stage of the Eglinton Jug Competition which took place during the week beginning Monday 17th October. Playing for the Gangrels Curling Club alongwith Jim Henry and Ken Ross, Euan Lawrence (skip) and Bob Cherry exceeded the expectations of all concerned and played in the semi-final on Friday 21st October where the team lost to Stewarton Heather. Reaching the semi-finals of The Jug is a major achievement and Euan and Bob are still getting over the shock – based on previous experiences they had only set aside one morning at the beginning of the week in their diaries for The Jug and had to make quick adjustments as the week went by! Other members of the Rotary Club of Ayr who participated in The Jug were Neil Beattie, Alistair Tyre, Alex Thomson and Jim Nelson.
Euan Lawrence
22nd October 2011