For draw #1, the A qualifiers from the Open round will receive last rock advantage AND choice of rock handle color. The two teams not playing an A qualifier will flip prior to practice for the choice of EITHER last rock advantage OR rock handle color. For the remainder of the draws, the team listed on top will receive last rock advantage and throw red handled rocks (eg. In draw 2, Champion, Robinson, Somers, and Likely will have last rock and throw red).
At the conclusion of the 8 team round-robin the top three teams shall participate in playoffs. In the sudden death semi-final, the second place team shall play the third place team with the winner advancing to the final and the loser eliminated. In the sudden death final, the first place team in the round robin shall play the winner of the semi-final.
In
playoff games, last rock advantage AND choice of rock handle
color shall be awarded to the team with a better win-loss record during the
round robin. If the teams had an equal
win-loss record, the team ranked higher shall have choice of last rock
advantage OR choice of rock
handle color. The set of rocks may be
chosen from any sheet for the semi final and final games.
TIE BREAKERS:
Teams that complete the round robin with identical win/loss records are considered to be tied. Teams tied for a playoff position shall only be eliminated from the playoffs by playing a tie-breaker game(s). The only playoff position that shall involve tie-breaker games is the third and final playoff position.
When teams are tied for a playoff position, the round-robin win/loss record of those teams against each other shall be used to determine their ranking and therefore how the teams are positioned in the playoff draw or tie-breaker game(s). When the ranking of teams cannot be determined by comparing round-robin win/loss records against the teams involved in the tie, the ranking shall be determined by the implementation of a skill based team ranking process. When the round-robin win/loss record of the two teams involved in a play-off or tie-breaker game(s)is the same, the team that won the game between the two during the round-robin shall have choice of either last rock OR rock handle color.
At the completion of the first draw, the skill based ranking will take place. All four members of each team shall throw one draw shot to the tee, with sweeping allowed, on the sheet on which they just competed. The winning team (from draw 1) will complete its throws before the losing team begins. Each individual’s rock that can be measured shall be measured to determine its distance from the tee up to a distance of 6 feet, then shall be removed from play. Stones that cannot be measured due to their close proximity to the tee shall be assigned a distance of 0. Stones that are located outside the 6 foot perimeter shall be assigned a distance of 6 feet 1 inch. The team’s accumulated total distance from the tee shall determine their ranking. The least accumulated distance shall receive the highest ranking and so on until ranking is completed. In the case of a three-player team, the first player to deliver a stone for his/her team shall also deliver the final stone for his/her team.