Social Fixtures

The Club played three games against invited opposition on Friday 20 January.

Penicuik v Partick

This game was played in excellent spirit with Dave Anderson, Liz Anderson, Peter Occleston and Pam Ramsay pitted against the Partick Vice-President Robbie Wishart (Liz’s cousin), Duncan McColl, Heather Parton and May Morris. On Robbie’s suggestion we decided to rotate the rinks after each 2 ends which added much to the enjoyment of the evening. It was clear from the start that this was not going to be an easy game as the Partick front end found their weight from the off and we needed to be on our mettle to keep the score to 1 shot to Partick. The second, third and fourth ends were equally competitive which went with the hammer with singles scored at each end. Following a good hit and roll from Peter we managed a shot against the hammer in the fifth but Partick came back with a single in the sixth. Penicuik managed a few good draws and following an unfortunate last stone from Partick whilst we were lying four shots up we managed through a changing hand to push their stone out to finish with a six, a result (9-3) which did not reflect the game. Many thanks to the members of Partick Curling Club for an excellent evening of good curling and good fun.

Dave Anderson

Penicuik v SIAE

Penicuik Team 3 (Iain Scott, Roger Scott, Dave Carr and Vic Ramage) played against SIAE (Mike Vetch, Maureen McCulloch, Morna Findlay and David Cunningham).
With Vic getting his weight very quickly, Penicuik got off to a good start with a single followed by a 4. On the 3rd end, the SIAE skip was unlucky and took out their stone to give Penicuik a 6. This really ended the contest and the remaining ends were split evenly with Penicuik winning 14-3. All players were ready to play their stones and so play was continuous and we easily managed to play 8 ends. 8 ends used to be common, so it shows that it can still be done.
After the game, we adjourned upstairs for pleasant conversation and refreshments.

Dave Carr

Penicuik v Inverkeithing

Penicuik Team 2 (John Jacobs, Ronnie Hope, Reg Dunbar and Alister McDonald) played against Inverkeithing CC (Robert Smith, Collin Blyth, Phil Slater and Nigel Patterson).

A very good natured and competitive game with Phil and his team ended with a win (10-6) for Inverkeithing CC. From the first end, Inverkeithing played a fairly aggressive hitting game from lead through to skip, missing very little! Penicuik struggled with straight ice over the first couple of ends before fighting back to make a good contest going into last end; where the hitting game from Inverkeithing prevailed again, with some exciting difficult take out shots undoing the excellent play from the front end of Penicuik.

Afterwards we had a really enjoyable discussion about the game and the merits of Murrayfield Curling Rink. They were all extremely happy, and also praised the standard of ice at Kinross where they play majority of their games now. We agreed and shared our experiences of our recent Away Day there.

John Jacobs

Rink Championship

Penicuik met Carrington in the quarter final round of the 2016-17 RCCC Rink Championship on Saturday afternoon. The Carrington team of Trevor Dodds, Mike Dick, Lindsay Scotland, and Katherine Dick had beaten Stray Dogs in the previous round, whilst Penicuik had a bye. The Penicuik team was Ken Hunter, Dave Anderson, Andrew Lambie, and Iain Scott.

In the first end, Carrington managed to edge a shot stone over behind a group of short stones with their last stone, leaving Penicuik with little chance. In the second end Penicuik responded by taking a three. A missed strike with the last stone in the third end gave Carrington the opportunity of a two which they took to level the game at three all. Penicuik went on to take a single in the fourth end before conceding a two in the fifth end. The sixth end proved pivotal, Penicuik worked a good final position in a complicated end to lie two, only to then tap a Carrington stone into shot position. The game ended with a win (8-5) for Carrington.

Afterwards, players from both teams enjoyed a refreshment together upstairs in the bar. The Carrington team, who had played very well, received best wishes for their match in the semi-final.

Merchiston ‘1816’ Match

Penicuik CC first played Mechiston CC in 1816 and in honour of that occasion, last January, we played a commemorative match (Penicuik won).
As we all enjoyed the match it was decided to make it an annual event. So, on 13th January 2017, we met again, with Keith Anderson, David Cunningham, John Wood and Ross Angus representing Merchiston and Tom Alexander, Iain Scott, Dave Carr and Keith Morris representing Penicuik.
Penicuik got off to a good start with a two then a single. Merchiston came back with a two, but Penicuik went on to win the remaining 4 ends to win 8-2. The result was closer than it seems as on a number of ends the Penicuik winning shot only just beat Merchiston’s stone.
The game was followed by the usual post match drinks in good company.

Scottish Mens Curling Tour to USA

Since 1952 Scotland has played the USA for the Herries Maxwell trophy on a 5-year cycle. The last Scottish tour was in 2007, when Scotland brought back the trophy from the USA. Unfortunately, it was recovered by the USA on their return tour to Scotland in 2012.

2017 is the year for Scotland to travel, and most of our club members will already know that past president Jim Ramsay was selected to play in the Scottish team. Jim will join the other twenty players from all over Scotland on Friday, when they ﬂy off to Chicago to begin their monster expedition.

The tour starts in Chicago, with a practice game on Sunday, January 15th, and ﬁnishes off in Boston with the ﬁnal game and closing banquet at Brookline Country Club on Sunday 5th February. From Chicago, the team will travel as far west as Fargo-Muirhead CC in North Dakota; north to Curl Mesabi Curling Club, close to the Canadian border; and south to the Potomac Curling Club in Maryland.

The Islay Team

The Scottish team comprises ﬁve rinks named after Scottish islands, and Jim is down to play as third in the Islay rink (Rink 5). The tour will visit 27 different clubs, and the Islay rink will play 28 matches over 20 days! The Americans are well known for their generous hospitality and, athough difﬁcult, it will be ill-mannered for the Scots not to reciprocate. It is believed that a little alcoholic beveridge will be involved, (for good fellowship only of course!). Jim is travelling in a private capacity, but as a proud past president of one of the oldest curling clubs in the world, he is sure to spread the word about Penicuik Curling Club and pass on our best wishes to our American brother and sister curlers. We can all follow the tour results on their dedicated website https://rccc2017tour.com, where full details of the itinerary and tour photos can also be viewed.

We wish Jim well – just hope he takes plenty embrocation for that dicky knee!

Ronnie Hope

First Points Competion 2016-17

The final club fixture before the Christmas break was the First Points, played last night (Thursday 15 Dec). Seven members contested for the medal on ice that was somewhat challenging for a number of the disciples; despite this there were a number of fine performances. The full ten disciplines were completed on the night, and the eventual winner was Dave Anderson (37 pts), closely followed by Iain Scott (36 pts), with Murray Hope in third position (32 pts).

Singles Competition

The Singles Competition took place on Sunday evening with a restricted field of 8 participants; Reg Dunbar came in as a late replacement for an unwell Tom Alexander. The ice on the night was very slow and heavy, and perhaps in hindsight it would have been better to have run the stones up and down the sheet before commencing. As a consequence the early ends of the first ties featured numerous short stones. After the opening exchanges, Iain Scott, Ken Hunter, Dave Anderson and Keith Morris proceeded to the High Road, whilst Dave Carr, Reg Dunbar, Ronnie Hope, and Craig Brown proceeded to the Low Road (see Singles Page).

In the Low Road, Reg beat Dave and Ronnie beat Craig to reach the final. The final itself was well contested by both players with first one taking the advantage only for the other to come back strongly. Coming into the last end Ronnie was in a strong position being two shots up, but did not have last stone, however after three stones each he was lying two shots. He attempted to remove a front opposition stone with his last stone but only managed to deflect it onto his first shot leaving the initiative with his opponent. (The Gallery clearly thought it was an incorrect option). Reg elected to strike and executed it well to remove one of Ronnie’s stones and get an inside roll for a two – all square and onto an extra end. Ronnie’s opener was an attempted draw to the left hand side of the house which ended up just short. Reg followed this with a draw deep into the house behind Ronnie’s first stone. Ronnie tried to follow it it but although he had adjusted his ice he was still just short. Reg played a guard which came to the inside of Ronnie’s two short stones. Ronnie opted to hit the front, removing his outer stone (covering Reg’s counter) and rolling his played stone into a central position for second shot. Reg’s final draw was not deep enough to change the position, and Ronnie took the medal with a well executed hit and lie for two shots.

In the High Road, Ken beat Iain and Dave came back to beat Keith in the final end of their tie, to reach the final. Ken stole a three in the first end of the final, and the second end was blanked. The third ended featured draws and hits to the outer right hand side of the house and ultimately Ken stole a single to go four up. The fourth end was draw and hit, and at the end Ken had two shots in the front on either side of the outer circle, Dave ignored these and made a fine draw to take a single. Moving into the fifth end, Ken removed Dave’s first drawn shot, but then managed to play three ‘silent’ strikes against Dave’s further draws leaving the game all square. The sixth end was largely draws by Dave followed by strikes from Ken; with an empty house for his last shot, Dave had no where to hide and this time Ken managed a Chap and Lie to take the medal.

Hamish Tait Trophy

This bonspiel competition was introduced eight years ago to mark the contribution made by Hamish to each of the four participating clubs. Two rinks from Chartered Surveyors, Merchiston, Penicuik, and Watsonian, assembled on Saturday afternoon to contest the event, with each club rink playing a single end against each of the six rinks from the opposing clubs. The winning club to be determined on aggregate score. The line-up for Penicuik 1 was Tom Alexander, Dave Carr, Jim Cowper, and Mike Mauchline; the line-up for Penicuik 2 was Ken Hunter, Iain Scott, Reg Dunbar, and Kirsten Mauchline.

The match was played in the customary friendly but competitive fashion. Penicuik 1 scored a total of 8 shots (+5) whilst Penicuik 2 scored 6 shots (+6), with Iain Scott skipping the last three ends. The aggregate score by Watsonian matched Penicuik on a total of 14 shots, but their shot difference of +7 was inferior to that of Penicuik (+11), leaving Penicuik as winners of the trophy. The assembled company enjoyed a refreshment at the bar before partaking in a meal together in the dining room of Edinburgh Curling Club.

A special vote of thanks goes to Margaret Carr, Linda Hunter, Alister McDonald, and Vic Ramage who became ‘Chartered Surveyors’ for the afternoon.

Knockout Final

The 2016-17 Knockout final was contested by Teams Anderson and Ramsay on Monday evening. The outcome was a 6-4 victory for the Anderson team. So congratulations to Dave, Reg Dunbar, Pam Ramsay, and Elaine Lambie on lifting the first silverware of the season.