Author Archives: captainken45

Midlothian Province Bonspiel

The annual Province Bonspiel was held on Monday 25 January. Penicuik fielded three teams (a consequence of our Club size). Ken Hunter skipped the first game, against our old friends Merchiston, with Ronnie Hope, John Glidden, and Reg Dunbar. After a keen contest Penicuik ran out winners by 7 shots to 6. The second game was against a strong Oxenfoord team; Jim Ramsay skipped with Jean Lennie, Andrew Lambie and Dave Carr. Penicuik lost the game by a single shot. The evening game against the Bank of Scotland was skipped by Walter Brown, with Dave Anderson, Roger Scott, and John Jacobs. The final score in this game was 9 – 4 in favour of the Bank team.

Overall not so good, Penicuik ended the day being 5 shots down, yielding an aggregate score of -1.67. The bonspiel was won by Carrington who ended the day with an aggregate score of +14.33 for their three rinks.

Rink Championship Exit

Penicuik 1 met Corstorphine in the second round of the Rink Championship on Sunday morning (24 Jan), with Walter Brown at Skip, Ken Hunter, Jean Lennie, and John Jacobs. Corstorphine skipped by Colin Campbell, with Aarhon Forsythe, Dan Arrendale, and Colin Baxter managed a comfortable win by 9 shots to 2, and we wish them well in their semi-final game.

Penicuik 2 met a strong Oxenfoord rink in their first round match on Sunday 13 December. Dave Anderson skipped the Penicuik rink of Jim Ramsay, Andrew Lambie, and Dave Carr. Penicuik stayed in the game until the last couple of ends when Oxenfoord ran out winners by two shots.

Pate Trophy

The annual match between Midlothian Province and Borders Province took place on Saturday 23 January at Murrayfield. Penicuik were one of seven teams representing Midlothian and were drawn to play Duns; Ken Hunter skipped with Dave Anderson, Roger Scott, and Iain Scott.

The game was played on a some what tricky sheet 2; Penicuik took a single in the first end, our Skip was just too heavy with last stone to make it a brace. In the second end Penicuik lay with a shot on either side both reasonably hidden and Duns left a draw to the open centre just inches short of taking shot. However Duns then came back to take a good two at the third end. Penicuik then took a strong grip on the game with a four, a two and a single, to establish a 10 – 2 lead. Duns took a two in the last end to make the final score 10 – 4 in favour of Penicuik. Afterwards we enjoyed the opportunity to socialise with Paul and his team from Duns, a really nice bunch of guys who will no doubt give any Midlothian rink a hard time in the return fixture at Kelso next year.

Overall Midlothian won the match by 55 shots to 43; home advantage is often a big factor in these matches.

1816 Commemorative Match

In February 1816, curlers from the newly formed Penicuik Curling Club ventured into Edinburgh to play the club’s first inter-club game against opponents Merchiston Curling Club. Penicuik emerged as victors on the day however, in a return match played on Penicuik ice at the beginning of March 1816 the Merchiston curlers took the day. To mark the bicentenary of these games, the Merchiston and Penicuik clubs met in a friendly fixture at Murrayfield on Tuesday evening (12 Jan). The Penicuik team was Ken Hunter, Keith Morris, Tom Alexander, and Dave Carr; and the Merchiston team was Jim Cannon, Keith Anderson, David Hume, and Archie Smith.

Merchiston started off on the front foot and took a single in the first end. They pressed hard in the second end and were unfortunate to lose a single. After that the Penicuik team started to get a better grip on the game, and took two shots in each of the next three ends to go 7-1 up after five ends. Merchiston came back with a well worked two at the sixth end. In the final end a fine draw by Keith Morris saw Penicuik lying shot behind a gaggle of front stones. However it was not to be, Jim Cannon with his last stone managed to just avoid a front stone and get an angled raise within the house to take shot. Final score 7-4 to Penicuik.

Afterwards the players gathered to enjoy a sociable refreshment together and discuss the long association of their two clubs. David Hume, President of Merchiston, had drawn up information from the PCC minutes to entertain the party. It was mutually agreed that the fixture should become an annual event if suitable arrangements can be put in place.

First Points Competion

On Thursday evening (17 Dec), ten members turned out for the last fixture before the festive break. The event was played out in a grand atmosphere of mutual support with participants eager to learn from the shots played by colleagues and to garner any information that could be passed on. Time passed quickly as our ranks were marshalled by orders from Ronnie Hope, taking on a sergeant-major’s roll (his next booking is as Goldilocks! at the ECC Christmas Bonspiel).

Eight disciplines were completed, and the contest remained pretty even until the seven discipline (Raising). Ken Hunter took the medal with 44 points, Walter Brown was in second place (37 pts), and Dave Anderson and Ronnie Hope tied for third place (33 pts). There was a good standard of play overall which was reflected in a relatively high average score of 28.5 on the night. David Gillespie made his debut and set a good opening benchmark for the future.

Hamish Tait Trophy

Saturday 12 December 2015

This bonspiel competition is played in memory of Hamish Tait. Hamish, a Penicuik Curling Club member, was a remarkable man who had been involved with three other clubs, namely Chartered Surveyors, Merchiston, and Watsonian. Each club field two rinks which play single ends against each of the rinks from the three other clubs. Regretably this season Chartered Surveyors only had four players so their rinks were augmented by Jim Cowper and Ken Hunter, and by John Jacobs and Jim Ramsay. The Penicuik teams were Walter Brown, Jean Lennie, Tom Alexander and Vic Ramage, and Dave Carr, Reg Dunbar, Andrew Lambie, and Peter Occleston.

At the end of the afternoon’s play Chartered Surveyors emerged as winners, with Penicuik in second place, Watsonian in third place, and Merchiston last.

Knock-out Final

The final of our KO competition was played on Monday 7th December. It turned out to be a very close and exciting game. The teams were Jim Ramsay, Roger Scott, Kirsten Mauchline and Alister McDonald, against Ronnie Hope, John Jacobs, Barbara Gillespie and Margaret Dalgleish.

It was very nice to see some of our newer members playing in the final.

The standard of play was excellent, although both teams had problems with wide, out-turn shots going away from the bar.

Ascendency swapped from side to side, with good strikes and raises to win ends.

Ronnie went into the last end 2 shots up. His first shot (on the difficult out-turn) was slightly over swept and then he was slightly heavy when he tried an in-turn draw onto Jim’s back stone. He hit the stone but rolled away from it, leaving Jim with 3 shots and not having to play his last stone.

Well done to both teams for a great game and congratulations to the new champions, Jim and his team.

Final Score: Team Ramsay 7 Team Hope 6

Dave Carr

Singles Competition

In some respects the 2015-16 Singles may well be remembered more for the weather conditions on the day than the competition itself. Road conditions were extremely bad, resulting in some late arrivals. Modern communications allowed some adjustment of the proposed programme to keep the event on track. After it was all over, participants faced a difficult and tedious journey home.

As to the curling, your web master was amongst the late comers and missed the preliminary round altogether. Those progressing to the quarter finals were David Ballantyne, Walter Brown, Keith Morris, and Ronnie Hope. In that round Keith, Ken Hunter, and Dave Anderson ran out winners. The closest tie was between David Ballantyne and Walter Brown. David took a single followed by a two to lead by 3 shots. Walter played a fine strike with his last stone in the third end, removing two opposition stones to take a four and lead 4 shots to 3. In the final end David’s attempts to tap back or rest on Walter’s stones failed, and Walter took the tie. On to the semi-finals; Walter proved too strong and eliminated Keith, and Ken overcame Dave A.

As you might expect, the final was a fairly tight affair. Ken led in the first end, and ended with a counter at the back right hand side of the house guarded by a biting stone at the front of the house and a shorter stone. Walter could see a fair proportion of the house and took a single with a finely judged draw. After a number of draws and strikes, the second end resulted in a single for Ken after a final strike. Ken then managed to keep two stones in play for most of each of the next two ends, and Walter was only able remove one without staying in the house with his final stones. So 3 shots to 1 for Ken after four ends. In the fifth end Walter’s first stone drew past ken’s stone on the outside, so Ken tried to remove it but only managed a fresh air hit (technically a horrible attempt) . Walter went on to extract the maximum penalty for this miss and took a two. So game even at 3 shots all after five ends. In the final end Walter opted to play just short of the house on the right hand side; Ken replied with a deep draw to the other side. Walter played a second stone just short of the house but nearer the centre, and Ken played a strike on the out turn to remove it. Walter then drew around his short stone into the house for second shot, his stone only gaining marginal cover from his short stone. Ken drove but only removed the guard leaving Walter to attempt a take out on his counting shot. Walter’s final stone only just touched the counter and Ken took the tie by 4 shots to 3.

Province League Update

Penicuik suffered a respectable but comprehensive 9-4 defeat to a very strong Currie and Balerno team, led by former World Junior Champion Kerry Barr, in the latest fixture. The first, and hopefully last, loss of the season.

Without much room for error, Currie and Balerno were quick to punish any stray shots or seek openings in the game. Whilst this was our toughest test in the last two seasons, playing at this level is excellent experience for all of the team and lets us see where we can individually improve. Despite the late evening and facing a 6 shot deficit, we showed great spirit in fighting on for two shots in an eighth end (albeit via a slightly unconventional delivery of a dirty stone!). The PCC team continues to play competitively but with warm friendship – embodying the values of our club and enjoying the respect of all those we play. Of course, it’s even nicer to be on the victorious end of these historic friendly rivalries!

Murray Hope