Latest News to Thursday 9th May 2013

Braehead Open Competition!

Friday 27th September – Sunday 29th September 2013.

Please go to the event page for further information and an entry form.

Be quick - this is a popular event and places fill up fast!

Rink Closed for Summer

Braehead's eight sheet curling rink is home to over 50 clubs and has over 1200 members of all ages and abilities.
Members and spectators alike have access to the curling bar with views of the curling rink and The River Clyde.
Beginners are always welcome and there are various Try Curling sessions throughout the curling season.
Curling is traditionally a winter sport and our Curling rink is now closed for the season.
The curling rink is due to reopen for the new season towards the end of August 2013.

However, in the meantime if you wish more information about curling, then please get in touch with our Curling Development officer, David Horne;-
On 0141 885 4611 Or e-mail at david.horne@intu.co.uk

2012/13 Summary

The National Virtual Bonspiel 2013 : Braehead

On Saturday the 2nd March, 16 teams from Eight Virtual Curling clubs, from all parts of Scotland met at Braehead to take part in The National Virtual Club Bonspiel. Teams were already arriving by 7.30am and some of the furthest away teams had booked into a hotel the night before.

All teams taking part had to report by 8.15am but this was like no other bonspiel as players met up with opposition players from last year and even at 8am in the morning it was more like an old pal’s reunion. The leisure manager Bruce Harley opened the proceedings by stating how vital the Virtual club concept was to the future of Scottish Curling and he was delighted to have the bonspiel at Braehead for the 1st time. The chief umpire for the Day, Robin Turner, covered the main points of the format and rules and then it was onto the ice. All sixteen teams played two four end games in the morning and the Top 8 then proceeded to a high road section while the bottom 8 went into the low road section. All teams then played a further Two five end games in the afternoon using the Schenkel system. This meant that all teams would play 18 ends of curling and every player would deliver 36 stones and unless you were a skip, there was a lot of sweeping to be done. The quality and standard of curling throughout the day by all teams was excellent and it was hard to belief that everyone on the ice had only taking up curling over the last 2 or 3 years.

Once the dust had settled The top 2 teams in the Low road, with 4 points each and both with 6 ends were The Fife “2” team, which contained 3 youngsters, and The Braehead “3” team. A very close game ended up a draw on 4 shots each but as the Fife team had scored in 3 ends it meant that they won the Low road. However, all teams taking part scored at least one point and even the team in 8th place scored 10 shots through the day.

Only 2 teams, Kinross “1” and Braehead “1” in the high road were unbeaten after 3 games, which meant they would be playing each other in what would be a “Virtual” final. Kinross with 2 more ends were the slight favourites as they would only require a draw to win the competition. Several of the low road teams stayed on to watch the final and along with other Braehead Virtual members, both old and new meant a packed house behind the glass. The final turned out to be a game of incredible high standard by both teams and all the players taking part.

The Braehead team of Samantha Dale, Ian Watson, Robin dale and skip Chris Anderson threw down the gauntlet by picking up a one at the 1st end. Kinross scored a one in the second then stole a one in the 3rd end to go one in front after 3 ends. Spectators behind the glass were amazed at the incredible high standard now being played by all the players in each team with lead stones just short of the house and 2nds drawing in or tapping in their own stones. The 3rds were playing through gaps or coming round guards to lie shot and the Skips kept matching each other stone for stone. However in the 4th end it looked like Kinross was going to steal a two as an early stone just to the back of the 4ft was followed by a guard just short of the 4ft as Braehead tried to find a way round the guard stones at the front of the house. The Kinross skip played a perfect guard stone just clearing the hog line which left Chris with an extremely difficult raised tap on a corner stone. Well who would have believed it as Chris played the shot of the day to tap the stone at just the right weight and angle, and to the cheers of the Braehead supporters, it ended up lying right on the pot lid and against the Kinross stone. Typical of the day was the praise given by the Kinross supporters.

Well it was all to play for in the final end but Kinross had the last stone advantage. Once more stones were finishing exactly where the skips wanted and by the time it came to Chris to play his last stone the lead had changed several times. However, Kinross were now lying 2 shots on either side of the 4 foot, with guard stones out in front. There was just enough room for Chris to try a double take out but this was more like an Eve Muirhead or a David Murdoch shot. However, what an attempt by Chris, and as his stone came down the ice Robin Dale at 3rd called on the sweepers who managed to hold the stone on the centre line. It struck the target stone almost perfect but it just missed the other stone by a matter of inches. There was no need to play the last stone so it was handshakes and hugs all round by both teams.

Norman Cathcart, The RCCC local representative gave a short history of the Virtual club and how it all started at Braehead. He explained that One of the main driving forces was Yvonne Chalmers who was supported by Judith MacFarlane, who was the CDO at the time and off course Norman Himself. Norman and his wife Margaret still come along to Braehead to provide regular coaching sessions. Yvonne had accepted the kind invitation of the current committee to come along on the day to present the prizes.

So the winners of this years Bonspiel were Kinross “1”:
Steve Cain : Sue Cain : Jane Drysdale and Stuart Brand.


Winners of the low road were:
Ross Docherty : Katie Rodger : Jack Drummond and Oliver Carson.


Report and photo by David Horne CDO

Broadway Final

The Broadway is a competition run annually on Wednesday mornings from February into March between Lady Curlers. Each team is entered under The “Skips” name and this season we had the following nine teams taking part;-
Val Browning : Fiona Roger : Pauline Kirkpatrick : Karen Cromar : Joan MacVoy : Val Aikman : Pat Paul : Kirstine Cochran and Jane Paterson. There were Two sections and after the first round games it was Team Cromar v Paterson and Team Cochran v Browning in the semi-finals. Jane and Kirstine’s teams emerged to play each other in the final on Wednesday the 6th March.

So it was Jane Paterson : Meta Eccleston : Val Lindsay and Liz Hendry (All from Maxwell Ladies) taking on Kirsty Cochran : Pat MacKenzie : Karen McMillan and Yvonne Malcolm. (All from The 69 Curling club)

The 69 team were in an attacking mood and scored a 2 in the 1st end & followed this up with a steel of 3 in the 2nd end. Maxwell Ladies struck back with Two singles but 69 got a one in the 5th to open up a 4 shot lead going into the 6th end. This turned out to be the most important end of the match as Jane’s team were lying three shots after the 1st eight stones had been played. Pat McKenzie, the 3rd for the 69 club got an excellent hit and rolled on to the pot lid to lie one shot. Meta, the 3rd for Maxwell ladies, tried to remove a guard stone on the other side of the house but just missed the guard but caught the edge of the stone on the pot lid to knock it out off the house and once again Maxwell ladies were lying 2 shots.

An attempted draw by 69 club ended up at the back of the house and an attempted guard by Meta just swung too much at the end. So it was now down to the skips with Jane having the last stone advantage. Kirstine played one of the best stones of the game to lie shot at the front of the 4ft forcing Jane to try a delicate heavy draw to try and tap it back but like Meta’s stone it drew quite a lot from the hog line and caught one of the guard stones. Kirstine played a guard and Jane was slightly too heavy trying to draw in on the other hand leaving another one for the 69 club and a lead of 7 shots to 2. One more end was played and the score finish at 7 shots to 69 club and 3 shots to Maxwell ladies.

The trophy was presented to the team in The Curling Bar and they will receive an invite to attend the BCDG Closing bonspiel and prize giving evening. Winners of the Broadway-
Kirtsine Cochran : Yvonne Malcolm : Karen McMillan and Pat MacKenzie.




Report and photo by
David Horne CDO

Brechin and Allcomers Trophies: Sunday 3rd March

This was a good day with a full house of 16 teams playing first for a split into High and Low Roads for each trophy. The day comprises 4 x 5-end games with Lunch in what is a most enjoyable format of competitive curling in a social format.
Alan Sloan's team defeated Robin Dale's Virtual team to take the Brechin - pictured. More to follow.



Photo: L to R - Steve Laverock, Barbara Brown, Rosemary Claxton, Alan Sloan, Bruce Harley

MacKenzie Crook Final

The MacKenzie Crook competition for Braehead members who are aged 50 years or older, attracted 18 teams for season 2012 - 2013.
All games were played on Monday afternoons in two sections of 9 teams with the winner of each section playing against each other to decide the overall winners.

The Crook was very kindly donated by John and Judy MacKenzie in 1990 and the 1st winners were;- D Horner : S Kerr : B Gourlay and B Rooney (Skip).
The Crook was Originally played for at The Summit centre and then one season at The Lagoon in Paisley, before it moved to Braehead when the Curling Rink opened in season 1999 – 2000. There has been several distinguished names on the trophy since then but the main aim of the competition is still to create a friendly, yet slightly competitive competition for the 50 + age group.

This season was no different with all teams winning at least one or more games throughout the season. However in section “A”, Ian McDonald’s team skipped mostly by Ken McCall scored 13 point with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat and finished 3 points ahead of Alan Sloan’s team on 10 points, having lost 2 games and drawn 2 games.
It was slightly closer in Section “B” but Bill Marshall’s team managed to score 12 points with 6 wins and 2 losses and opened up a 2 point gap over the chasing teams of John Finlay and Jack Steven who both finished on 10 points with 5 wins and 3 losses.

The stage was then set for the final on Monday the 18th of February.
Once again Ken was skipping and lost one against the hammer in the 1st end. However, with the hammer they took a 3 in the second end to open up a 2 shot lead. Bill struck back with a 2 in the 3rd end to go all square. Both teams then exchanged 2 shots in the next 2 ends so it was 5 shots each after 5 ends and all to play for. With the hammer Ian’s team scored 2 in the 6th end and Bill’s team went on the attack to try and score 2 shots to even up the game going into the last end. However they were kept pinned down and unfortunately lost another 2 to go 4 shots behind going into the final end. Bill's team of Ian Hamilton, Bruce Benson, Robin Shand put their opposition under pressure and were lying 3 shots when it came down to the skip stones. However Ken took out one of the stones with his 1st shot and put the pressure back on Bill. As there was nowhere to hide Bill had to try and take out Ken’s lying stone but had to roll out to the wings to prevent another take out shot down the centre. Bill’s 2nd last stone stone stayed slightly wide just missing the target stone and sailing through the house. Bill did score a one with his final stone but the game was lost by 6 shots to 9.

So the winners of this years competition are;-


Ken McCall (Skip) : John Summers : Ronnie McDonald and Ian McDonald.
Judy MacKenzie presented the Crook.

Photo and Report by
David Horne C.D.O.

Updated Braehead Menu

The Braehead catering options and charges have been updated. Use the Braehead Menu to find the link to the latest document which you can download.

The Braehead Pairs

On Saturday 2nd February Ten teams turned up to play for the coveted Braehead Pairs trophy. The teams were split into two sections with each team playing against the other four teams in their section. The format was adapted from The RCCC rules with each player only playing three stones. This allowed each game to be completed within 60 minutes. The winner of each section would then have a play off to decide the overall winner and the team who would then go forward to represent Braehead at The Scottish finals being held in March at North West Castle in Stranraer.

Leslie Ingram-Brown agreed to act as umpire and look after proceedings. The games started at 9.30am and by 3.30pm, father and daughter Robin and Corinne Shand, emerged as winners of one section with 3 wins and 1 draw, just ahead of Graham Allison and Willie Johnstone who were on 3 wins and 2 draws. In the other section it could not be closer with Alan Hannah and Gary Cannell on 3 wins and 1 loss and a total of 6 points. However, Andrew Kerr and Alan Lindsay were also on 6 points with 3 wins and I loss. Several tense moments followed as Leslie worked out the final standings. Both teams had also won 13 ends but with + 20 shots against + 8 shots it was Kerr and Lindsay who won the section.

The final kicked off at 4pm but all other teams were also back on the ice to play one more game just for pride but everyone agreed it was great value for money with five games of pairs for only £40.00 per team.

Kerr and Lindsay scored a 3 at the 1st end but Robin and Corinne hit back with a One in the 2nd end. The Shands continued to attack and try and score against the hammer but the 3rd end was blanked and they lost another One in the 4th leaving them having to score a 3 in the 5th end to take the game to an extra end. They just failed by scoring a two and losing the game overall by 4 shots to 3. Andrew and Alan were delighted to win the Competition and especially after losing their 2nd game of the day to Angus and Elaine Storrie but then managing to win their two remaining games and scoring enough ends to win the section. Andrew praised The Ice staff for terrific Ice and the 2 young girls behind the bar. He also thanked Leslie for his umpiring duties and keeping an eye on the scoring and myself, for organising the event.



Report and photo (sorry about the quality of the image)
David Horne CDO

Rink Championship Final

This was won by Alan Hannah's Cadder "1" Rink however both finalists (Cadder "1" and Duntocher) go forward to represent Braehead at The National Rink Championships finals which are being held at Forfar from Friday 1st to Sunday the 3rd of March 2013.

More information re draw and times is on The RCCC Web site.

David Duncan Finals

The Final
Glasgow XX beat Bearsden 7 shots (3 ends) to 6 shots (4 ends).

Semi-Finals

A1 Alan Hannah 3 shots and 3 ends v B2 Bearsden 5 shots and 4 ends.
B1 D McFarlane 3 shots and 3 ends v A3 Glasgow XX 6 shots and 3 ends.

Waterfront Trophy Final

Maxwell Ladies and 69 C.C. (Team 2) ended up as runners up in the group stages of the competition, but both teams came though in the semi-finals against Rolling Stones and Duntocher Ladies to reach the final. Maxwell Ladies were represented by L Ferguson, L Hendry, S Spiers and skipped by Liz Scott.

The 69 team were A Barclay, R Claxton, L McQuilkin and the skip of the team was Yvonne Malcolm.

The final was played to the highest standard, on great quality ice with Christmas music being played over the speakers.
Maxwell ladies opened the game with a two but 69 hit back with a Two in the 2nd end. Another Two by Maxwell Ladies in the Third was then followed by a one for 69 and that meant that Liz Scott’s team were leading by one shot at the half way stage. Another 2 scored by Maxwell Ladies in the 5th was followed by a 2 for 69. This meant that the 69 team were still one shot down going into the 7th and what would be the final end. Yvonne knew they would need to steel at least one shot to stay in the game. However, Maxwell Ladies held their nerve under pressure, and put two early stones into the house and then several guard stones out in front.
Several members of both clubs were supporting the teams from behind the glass and even they admitted that it was going to be almost impossible for Yvonne to find a way through. Despite a valiant effort by Yvonne, it was not to be and Maxwell Ladies scored another Two to win by Eight shots to Five.

Liz Scott and her team were delighted to win the competition but made a special mention of the standard of play and thanked their opposition for not only a great game but played in a very friendly manner.



Report and photo
David Horne CDO

Henderson Bishop Result

Winners are:
Liz Paul L Stevenson S Lemond N Davidson

Runners Up
Karen Cromar A Harvie C Lombardi R Claxton

Final score:- Liz Paul 7 Karen Cromar 6

Ada Provan Result

Winners : Glasgow Ladies
Runners Up: Rolling Stones.

Braehead Ladies Open 2012

Ten teams took part in the competition held on Wednesday 5th December 2012 and was based on Three Five end games.
First round opponents were drawn on the day using Braehead’s unique electronic draw equipment.

First round victories went to teams skipped by S Henderson, L Paul, A Harvie, V Lindsay and A Reekie.
In the 2nd round S Henderon’s team lost to L Brown’s team but L Paul’s team beat A Harvie’s team. A Reekie scraped through by one shot against V Lindsay’s team.
So the results meant that L Paul’s team would be playing against A Reekie’s team in the deciding game for the winner of the competition.
Both teams were on 4 points with 8 ends, although Alison Reekie’s team were ahead on shots scored.
If the game ended up a draw then Liz Paul’s team would need an extra end to pick up the trophy.

In the 1st end Alison, with the last stone advantage, pick up a one.
Alison, missed a strike in the 2nd end and this allowed Liz to draw in for a three. The favour was returned in the 3rd end, when Liz missed an attempt on a double, to allow Alison to draw in for Three to lead by Four shots to three but Alison now led by two ends to one end.
This now meant that unless Liz won the 4th end, she would require an outright victory.
Both teams played a hit and roll game and it turned out there were no stones in play when Liz came to play her last stone. After consulting her team it was decided to play the stone through the house, so the team could keep the hammer and go for a “Two” in the last end to try and win the game. Alison’s team got early guards on to protect a stone in the house and despite valiant effort’s from the opposition they held onto win another end and the final score was 5 shots to 3.



Winning Team (flanking Bruce Harley) J Howard : A Reekie : M Robertson : A Kane

Report and photo
David Horne
CDO Braehead

New Glasgow Trophy Result

Winners of the New Glasgow Trophy are:
Liz Paul Kirstine Cochrane Sheila Black & Nanette Davidson

Runners Up
Anne Airey Margaret Gibb Margaret Withycombe Judith Jackson

Final score:- Liz Paul 10 Anne Airey 5 (7 ends)

An all Glasgow Ladies final in which both teams pulled out some excellent shot play to make for a really thrilling game.
A closer encounter than the scoreline implies and a great match to watch.

Ladies October Bonspiel Result

Winners:

Anne Macdougall
Carol Anderson
Angela Shannon
Joan McVoy

Runners Up:
Christine Kerr
Mary Lang
Ann Traill
Barbara Boyter

Ladies Tour to Sweden

Applications are requested for the outgoing tour to Sweden, and you can find details of this on the RCCC webpages here.

Braehead Open Result

This well-established competition continues to grow and now thrives under the continuing sponsorship of the Cardwell Garden Centre.
The event was held from 5th to 7th October and featured a field of 32 teams comprising an impressive array of winners at national and international level together with some aspiring teams pitching in against these more illustrious names in the game.

A high standard of competition was observed throughout and the final game featured Hannah Fleming's rink against that of Murray Young. An 8-4 final score does not reflect a close game that went the distance to decide the outcome.

Eric Gallagher, Director of Cardwell Garden Centre presented the winning trophy to Hannah and her team of Abi Brown, Lauren Gray and Jennifer Dodds.

Braehead Junior International 2012

The Braehead Junior International sponsored by Campanile Hotels is held in conjunction with the European Junior Curling Tour.

The event took place on 14th -16th September 2012 however you can still look at results, video highlights and a picture gallery here .

Virtual Club

New home page for information about this valuable way to get started in Curling! Find it under the Braehead Menu option or go directly using this link .

Available Ice Booking

Braehead have arranged to maintain a facility to show available ice bookings for the next two weeks at Braehead.
This is a useful facility that will be of interest to all and especially club secretaries who may wish to identify free ice for forthcoming fixtures.
A new menu option appears under the Braehead Menu option however you can use this direct link instead.

Bob wraps up Skip Cottage

Curlers 'in the know' are familiar with the institution that is Skip Cottage or simply Bob's Blog.
The author - the irrepressable (and often charming) Bob Cowan, has now retired his curling blog and the world will be less informed and entertained as a result.
We would like to record our thanks and appreciation for this magnum opus and acknowledge how the insightful commentary, wit and cheeky banter about the game livened up our lives and provided an essential backdrop to our own curling activities.
Bob has no doubt inspired many of us to commit to writing about and reporting the game we all love and enjoy. The problem is that he has set a standard to which all of us may aspire but will most likely never reach.

Thank you Bob for your contribution and support of curling throughout Scotland and beyond.