The Kathy O’Rourke rink, the PEI Scotties defending champions and Canadian silver medallists, beat the Kim Dolan team 5-3 this afternoon in final for the “Pre-Scotties” cashspiel at the Cornwall Curling Club, a warmup event for the PEI Scotties Tournament Hearts, also taking place at the Cornwall club, from January 19-27. The teams took few chances in the final, keeping rocks in play to a minimum, and blanking five of the ten ends. The O’Rourke rink blanked ends seven through nine to have the last rock advantage coming home, where last rock thrower Erin Carmody, facing one Dolan rock with her final stone, managed to get it out, and bite the edge of the 12 foot for the single point.
Photo (L-R): Kathy O’Rourke, Erin Carmody, Geri-Lynn Ramsay, Tricia Affleck. Click for larger photo.
Besides Carmody, the winning rink includes O’Rourke, who throws second stone but calls the game, third Geri-Lynn Ramsay, and lead stone Tricia Affleck. Playing with Dolan were third Rebecca Jean MacDonald, second Sinead Dolan, along with alternate Michala Robison, substituting for regular lead Nancy Cameron in the final game.
Eight women’s teams took part in the weekend event, with the O’Rourke team finishing round robin play with a 4-0 win-loss record. The Dolan, Suzanne Birt, and Donna Butler teams went 3-1, while the junior champion Sarah Fullerton team finished play at 2-2. Tammy Dewar of Montague and her team were 1-3, while Karen Currie and Shirley Berry from the host club were 0-4. O’Rourke and Dolan also played in the crossovers on Saturday, with O’Rourke taking the game in an extra end.
The winning O’Rourke team took home $320, with the runner-up Dolan rink going home with $210.