Skins time

Inverness is the place to be this weekend for the 6th annual Skins competition. The format is four sections of six teams playing each other once for a first round six end skin total of £54. The section winners and runners-up carry their money forward to seven end quarterfinals where the pot is £100, the semis £160 and the finalists will play eight ends for a pot of £300.

Scottish Curler stalwart Robin Wilson forwards the following info about the Inverness event:

'Alan Smith's team went home with the lion's share of last year pot, and is back again. Smith faces a plethora of Scottish names from all ranks of curling. Seniors Alan Durno, Bob Kelly, Graeme Adam, and Ronnie Peat are looking to top up their pension funds and out to stop them are Graeme Shaw, Brian Binnie, John Hamilton, Keith MacLennan, Peter Loudon and Dave Edwards.

North support will go to Alan Campbell (Buckie) Graeme Govan (Elgin) Ali Asher (Nairn) and home based Stewart Sturrock. There are three female skips in the line up, Shona Watt, Edith Loudon and Jennifer Morrison. Local junior and EYOF squad member Blair Fraser was called upon only this week to raise a team of juniors to replace a late withdrawal.'

Looking further afield, the GB squads are still out in Canada. David Murdoch, Warwick Smith, Peter Smith and Euan Byers compete in the Best Western Wayside Inn Curling Classic in Lloydminster, Alberta. The draw for the twenty-eight team triple knockout event is here.

Kelly Wood, Jackie Lockhart, Eve Muirhead and Lynn Cameron are the four GB squad members competing in the Royal Lepage OVCA Womens Fall Classic in North Grenville, Ontario. This is a twenty-four team double knockout with consolation event. Also in the draw (here) is the RCCC National Academy team Gillian Howard, Kay Adams, Linsey Spence and Megan Priestley, the last substituting for her sister Jennifer.

Last but not least, Glen Muirhead, Greg Drummond, Scott Macleod and Scott Andrews are in the draw for the Oak Island Junior Cashspiel in Nova Scotia. Check for results here.