The Sandy Hope team beat their Cornwall clubmates the Shirley Berry team by an 8-3 score on Monday morning to win the PEI Masters Women’s best of five championship 3 games to 1. Just like last year’s event, Hope won the first two games, with Berry taking the third and Hope winning game four.

Winning team photo (L-R): Debbie Rhodenhizer, Sandy Hope, Shelley Ebbett, Arleen Harris

The teams were tied 2-all after three ends in today’s game, with Hope stealing a single in the fourth and a double in the fifth end to take a 5-2 lead. Berry was kept to a single in the sixth, with a Hope triple in the seventh putting the game out of reach for the Berry foursome. Playing with the winning Hope team were third Shelley Ebbett, second Debbie Rhodenhizer, and lead Arleen Harris, while 3rd Linda Fairhurst, second Gloria Turner, and lead Marjorie Matthews round out the Shirley Berry team.

Finalist team photo (L-R): Marjorie Matthews, Gloria Turner, Linda Fairhurst, Shirley Berry

Both the winning Sandy Hope rink and the finalist Shirley Berry team earn the right to compete in the Maritime Masters, at the Riverside Country Club March 15-17, in Rothesay NB, while the Hope rink, or the Berry 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.

The Lou Nowlan team from the Silver Fox in Summerside completed their run of the Masters men’s table on Sunday, repeating as champs by going undefeated and winning all three sections of the five-team men’s modified triple knockout round, eliminating the need for the Monday championship round, and handing Nowlan his 14th championship in this age 60+ event. Nowlan edged clubmate Blair Jay 7-6 in the final game.

Winning Masters Men’s 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.

Like the women’s event, both the winning  Nowlan rink and the finalist team, skipped by Clair Sweet, 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.

Lou Nowlan and his team from the Silver Fox curling club in Summerside need a win in any of their next three games in the five-team men’s section at the PEI Masters Curling Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, being played at the Crapaud Community Curling Club, in order to be declared this year’s men’s champs.

Photo: Earle Proude (left) sweeps a rock while Alan Montgomery (centre) and Lou Nowlan keep an eye on the weight and line during draw 5 practice

Team Nowlan, which includes three members of the winning team the previous two years, won their second modified triple knockout section qualifier on Saturday afternoon, and have earned a berth in the “C” Qualifier at 2 pm Sunday. A win in that game or either of the two championship games slated for Monday at 10 am and 2 pm would give the team the title, while their opponent, the winner of the C semi-final at 10 am Sunday between Clair Sweet and his team from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, and the Blair Jay foursome from the Silver Fox, would have to win all three of those games to take the championship.

Clair Sweet

In Saturday morning play, Sweet beat Jay 8-2 to advance to the afternoon “B” Qualifier game against Nowlan. Sweet was in control in the first half of the game, following a stolen first-end deuce with steals of 1, 3, and 2 to lead 7-0 at the fourth end break. Jay was kept to singles in the next two ends, with Sweet taking one in the 7th for an 8-2 lead and handshakes. 

The Nowlan team, playing the game without their third, took deuces in the first two ends of the afternoon “B” qualifier against Sweet, with Sweet taking singles in the next two ends to trail 4-2 at the break. Nowlan took the next three ends, with a single in five, a stolen deuce in end six and a single steal in seven for an 8-2 win.

Blair Jay

The other afternoon men’s game saw Jay recovering from a 6-3 deficit after five ends, with a single in six, a stolen deuce in seven, and another steal in the 8th end for a 7-6 win over Bill Hope and his Cornwall and Silver Fox rink to advance to Sunday’s “C” semi. Team Hope stole the extra end to eliminate Cornwall’s Paul Arsenault rink 6-5 in the Saturday morning draw.

(L-R): Shirley Berry, and Team Hope members Arleen Harris, Sandy Hope, Debbie Rhodenhizer

Meanwhile, the two-team best of five Masters women’s championship between two Cornwall teams got underway at 2 pm on Saturday, with the defending champion Sandy Hope team coming from behind to take game one with an 11-9 win over the Shirley Berry rink. Berry was up 7-2 at the break, following steals in the first two ends and a five-point fourth end, but the second half was a different story, with Hope taking four points in the fifth, and stealing a triple in six and a deuce in end seven to lead  11-7 coming home. Barry came up with a deuce in the final end, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a win. Games 2 and 3 in the best of 5 go Sunday at 10 am and 2 pm. If needed, games 4 and 5 go Monday at 10 am and, if needed, 2 pm.

The winning and finalist men’s teams and both women’s rinks earn the right to compete in the Maritime Masters, at the Riverside Country Club March 15-17, in Rothesay NB, while the men’s and women’s winning teams, or the finalist teams 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.

The Lou Nowlan rink from the Silver Fox curling club in Summerside beat the Clair Sweet foursome from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary by a 6-2 score Friday evening to capture the first of three section qualifiers in the five-team men’s division of the PEI Masters Curling Championships, for curlers age 60 and over, being played at the Crapaud Community Curling Club. The Nowlan squad, which includes three members of last year’s winning team, will face the winner of a 10 am Saturday game between Sweet and Summerside’s Blair Jay in the 2 pm Saturday “B” Qualifier game (with the modified triple knockout format, section winners drop down to compete in the next section, and can win more than one section). 

Lou Nowlan

In the “A” Qualifier, Nowlan had a 3-1 lead after four ends, but stole a deuce in the fifth and a single in the sixth for a big 6-1 lead. Sweet was kept to a single in seven and ran out of rocks in the eighth for a 6-2 final score. The Bill Hope rink from Cornwall and the Silver Fox and the Paul Arsenault squad from Cornwall are now in the “last chance” C event, and play in the 10 am Saturday draw with the loser being eliminated.

The “C Qualifying game goes Sunday at 2, with the two-game championship round going Monday at 10 am and, if necessary, 2 pm. If Nowlan were to win all three sections, the championship round would not be played. If a team wins 2 sections, they would advance to both championship games and win the title if they took either game, while their opponent, the other section winner, would have to win both,

The two team best of five women’s event between two Cornwall rinks, skipped by defending champion Sandy Hope, and by Shirley Berry, gets underway Saturday at 2 pm.

The winning and finalist men’s teams and both women’s rinks earn the right to compete in the Maritime Masters, at the Riverside Country Club March 15-17, in Rothesay NB, while the men’s and women’s winning teams, or finalist teams 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.