A Thursday evening game at Fort Rouge in the Seagram’s Whisky Men’s Curling Club Championship finished in true club-game style as former Manitoba junior champion Brett Walter elected to play a double kill for the win rather than a draw to force an extra end.

His opponent was Mark Anderson, the Brandon-Riverview skip who is the only former champion skip in the men’s field this week.

Up one coming home, thanks to a steal on end #7, Anderson buried a rock in the back eight foot leaving Walter a choice of draw for one or ‘go-for-it” (see picture). Walter and his Elmwood team elected to try the cross house double – didn’t make it and shook hands.

A loss by Manitoba Masters champion Randy Neufeld, recent winner of a Senior Men’s berth for this year, to Stonewall’s Andy Stewart in tonight’s first round of play in the Seagram’s Whisky Men’s Curling Club Championship exemplifies the “iffy” nature of the club championships event.

Playing with club teams, which by their nature tend to be somewhat less competitive, skips who might normally be favoured often find themselves on the bottom side of the score.

A confounding factor might also be that for the first time many competitors in the event are experiencing three new rules. They are playing the competitive circuit “no-tick” rule (guard touching centre line cannot be moved off the line within the first five rocks), they are playing with time clocks and they are playing with draw to the button to determine last rock.

None of these are foreign concepts to club curlers and curling fans but none of them are played in their regular club games.

For the record, results of the first round of play were:
Andy Stewart (Stonewall) 7-3 Randy Neufeld (La Salle)
Andrew Irving (Ft Rouge) 7-3 Grant Brown (Burntwood)
Kyle Forsyth (Dauphin) 8-2 Corey Thompson (Deer Lodge)
David Bohn (AMCC) 7-1 Kyle Csversko (Dauphin)
Derrick Anderson (Gimli) 10-5 Ryan Hyde (Portage)
Mark Anderson (Riverview) 5-3 Brett Walter (Elmwood)

The men’s teams all play Friday morning at 9AM.

<><><><>

The Fort Rouge Curling Club and three of its teams are hosting 21 other teams from across Manitoba this week as the Seagram’s Whisky Men’s and Women’s Curling Club Championships become the first provincial championships of the 2023-24 season.

Andrew Irving and Natalie Carrierre and their teams are the host club representatives in the men’s and women’s divisions respectively. Former champion Tracey Andries and her team won a Winnipeg regional berth into the event.

Andries is one of three former Manitoba champion skips in the women’s competition, having won it in 2014, 2016 & 2017. Brandon’s Stacey Fordyce is also a three-time former champion, with wins in 2010, 2013 & 2017. Thistle’s Lori Pelissier skipped the champion team in 2012.

With berths earned last spring, Pelissier and Kara Balshaw will skip teams representing Thistle, the Manitoba curling original seven club which has closed its doors this season.

The rest of the women’s field is made up of Tiffany Armstrong (Dauphin), Tracy Blight (Portage), Lisa Dickson (St. Vital), Jennifer Clark-Rouire (Fort Garry), Kendall Kohinski (Neepawa), Sherri Horning (Burntwood), and Laurie Macdonell (Beausejour).

The 2022 Manitoba Curling Club Provincial Women’s was won by Lisa Birchard (Pembina).

Fordyce and her 2013 & 2017 teams and Andries with her 2016 team join Granite’s Meghan Armit and her 2011 team as Canadian champions in this event.

Riverview Curling Club’s Mark Anderson is the lone former champion skip in the 12-team men’s competition. He skipped the 2017 championship team. Fort Rouge’s Andrew Irving, the 2007 Manitoba Junior champion skip; Brett Walter (Elmwood), 2020 Manitoba Junior champion skip; and Randy Neufeld (La Salle), the reigning Manitoba Masters champion and 3-time Manitoba Seniors champion skip; also all have experience skipping Manitoba teams at Canadian Championships.

The rest of the men’s field includes teams skipped by Derrick Anderson (Gimli), David Bohn (Assiniboine Memorial), Grant Brown (Burntwood), Kyle Csversko (Neepawa), Kyle Forsyth (Dauphin), Ryan Hyde (Portage), Andy Stewart (Stonewall), and Corey Thompson (Deer Lodge).

The 2022 Manitoba Curling Club Provincial Men’s was won by Zacharay Wasylik (Pembina).

Manitoba’s Men’s champions have yet to win the national championship at this level.

The Seagram’s Whisky Curling Club Championships begin Thursday, October 26 with six-games draws at 6PM and 9PM. Competition will continue all day Friday and Saturday. Semi-finals at 10AM and finals at 2:30PM Sunday, October 29 will determine the Manitoba representatives who will compete at the national Everest Club Championships at Assiniboine Memorial in late November.