March 15, 2009

Rink Championship

So what has this fuzzy old pic got to do with anything? Read on, and it should become clear!

Allan MacLennan (lead), Graeme Adam (skip), Ken Horton (3rd) and Stuart Naismith (2nd), representing Reform CC from Greenacres, with the RCCC Rink Championship trophy which they won today at the Galleon Rink, Kilmarnock. All the results are here.

The runners-up, from Keir CC, Stirling, were John Dewar (lead), Judith McFarlane (skip), Barbara McFarlane (3rd) and Andrew McAughtrie (2nd).

Judith, who is the Royal Club's Development Manager, skipped a great game in the final, making a number of fine doubles too. Adam was one up with the hammer playing the last end and had an open hit for the game.

This was the shot in the sixth end which changed the game. Jude had just made a great double takeout and lay beind the corner, with another counter in the house, and last stone advantage. Allan and Stuart are horsing their skip's stone, to make it lie perfectly frozen. And Judith had no choice but to play a straightforward draw for a single. But she was just heavy, gave up one against the head, and the game advantage!

Scott Hamilton

Moray Combe practising a little meditation on the release!

Lois, aka Mrs Copey!

Forfar skip Alan White

'Whoa,' says Alan.

The former Scottish Senior Champions were in good form. Here Ken Horton joins in to help Allan MacLennan and Stuart Naismith on skip Graeme Adam's stone.

Sarah Reid, recovered from her Harbin adventures.

A touch of nostalgia for me. Anyone else have longings after a pair of Spogos?

I'm not sure who calls him this!

Ken Horton and Graeme Adam. Ken was just 14, and Graeme 17 when they won the Rink Championship in the 1970-71 season. It has taken them a few years (you work it out) to come back and try to win it again. Quite a record for the two of them - they are unbeaten in the competition! Now here's a wee competition for you. Who were their teammates in 1971, who were they representing, and where was the championship played? I bet John ML Brown, the Scottish Curler correspondent and sometime quizmaster, will know the answer to this one!

Hair of the day. Craig Gudmundson

Judith doing her traffic warden impersonation.

Trevor Dodds

RCCC Finance and Admin Manager Alastair Hibbert

Lindsay Scotland

David Mundell and Jimmy Waddell

The top photo (courtesy of Leslie Ingram-Brown, from the Scottish Curler archive) shows Ken Horton, Peter Adam (Graeme's dad), Graeme Adam, John Brown, Ian Webster, and 'Mr Horton' (as we all called him, Ken's dad, to whom many young curlers in these early days in Crossmyloof owed so much). See John's comments below.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well you posed the question, Bob!! - Ian Webster and I played with Graeme and Ken back in 1970-71 and we were representing Glasgow Schools. The finals were at Kelso though we had previously played 5 games to get out of Glasgow with a combined winning aggregate of 35 shots!!

In the finals we beat Stuart (?) Nairn from Lockerbie, Peter Halley from Perth, Jim Whiteford from Kirkcaldy and Tom McGregor from Hamilton. The final was 8-7, but we had to hold on by our fingertips as we were leading 7-1 at one point!!

We got our pictures in the centre page of the Sunday Post!!

It was the first of two good competitions we had at Kelso as two years later we won our way out of the Scottish Districts to get the finals at Haymarket (with Brian Alderman replacing Ian Webster by this time).

Anonymous said...

Just another comment, Bob, since I am in trivia mode - from my records which go back to 1959 I can see no other occurence when a woman skipped a team in the RCCC final. So well done Judith.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Bob since I seem to be in full flow tonight - I think you will find that Allan MacLennan was in the Reform team that was stripped of its RCCC title in 1989 as a result of an eligibility dispute over John Deakin. (Unless there are two Allan MacLennans!!) So justice at last 20 years later for one of that team!

And the last anonymous post was of course me as well!!

Anonymous said...

Graeme's Team was KH JML(toothy)Brown and Ian Webster. You didn't ask but they beat Tom McGregor's Lesmahagow team in the final. (Jim Steele, Bill Carruthers and Bobby Bond) I think

LS

Anonymous said...

I think Tom McGregor's lead may have been Jimmy Blake??

Anonymous said...

Scary pictures and lots of memories. Glad to see that my fellow team mates are continuing the winning traditions.
Not much ice out here in LA, but seeing this, gives me impetus to get back in touch.

Note to JMLB: Yes, I do recall being up 7-1, then grinding it out.

My regards to all those from the days at Crossmyloof.

Ian Webster, Los Angeles, California

Anonymous said...

Ian

Great to hear from you - people keep asking me if I had heard from you - and I usually say - not for 35 years!!

Have you got an email address we can use to get in contact.

Anonymous said...

John:

Reach me at iwebster@ProjectNavigator.com

Regards, Ian