Lou Nowlan and his team won five games in a row this weekend, sweeping all three sections of the five-team modified triple knockout draw to capture the PEI Masters Men’s Championship at the Crapaud Community Curling Club, edging out his Silver Fox clubmates the Blair Jay team by a 7-6 score in the “C” qualifier this afternoon and negating the need for a championship round. Nowlan, whose team today included third David MacFadyen, second Earle Proude, and lead Alan Montgomery played with just Proude and Montgomery on Saturday and with alternate Rod MacDonald playing third stone on Friday.
Nowlan and Proude have now been on the winning men’s team at this event for nine years in a row, including four years with skip Ted MacFadyen and four with Mel Bernard as skip. Montgomery has picked up his sixth consecutive Master’s men’s title. Nowlan also won this event in the skip position five times in a row, from 2003 to 2007, for a grand total of 14 Masters wins.
In today’s match, Jay had a 4-2 lead at the 4th end break, but Nowlan took the lead with a four point 5th end. Jay tied the game with singles in ends six and seven, but Nowlan pulled out the win with a single in the final end.
The finalist team in this event is the Clair Sweet team from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, who played in both the A and B finals. The other team members are Bob Matheson, Muncey Harris, and Wayne Arsenault.
Winning team photo (L-R): Craig Mackie, Vice President of Curl PEI, Vivien Sherren, President, Crapaud Community Curling Club, Lou Nowlan, David MacFadyen, Earle Proude, Alan Montgomery.
Finalist team photo not available.
Both the winning Nowlan rink and the finalist Clair Sweet team earn the right to compete in the Maritime Masters, at the Riverside Country Club March 15-17, in Rothesay NB, while the Nowlan rink, or the Sweet team if they are unable to attend, also earn the right to compete in the 2019 College Clean Restoration Canadian Masters Curling Championships, April 1-7 at the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon SK.
Meanwhile, the two-team best of five Masters women’s championship between Cornwall teams skipped by Sandy Hope and Shirley Berry will continue on Monday, with Game Four scheduled for 10 am and Game Five, if needed, going at 2 pm. Hope leads the best of five series 2 games to 1, winning the first two games, while Berry took the third, by an 8-4 score. stealing three ends — a deuce in the first, and single in the fourth, and another 2 in the fifth.
Masters curlers are age 60 and over.