The Carlsberg Trophy is the Ladies Day on the Bute curlers’ calendar.
When first presented to the Club in the 1980’s, the Carlsberg Trophy, based on the statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen Harbour, was a very much a ladies only affair with rinks drawn from the ladies of the club. This was during a time when the curling club boasted over 40 playing members. As numbers dwindled this restriction was lifted until rinks had mostly male players, but on February 4, 14 members headed for the Waterfront Ice Rink with four lady skips ready to do battle for this prestigious trophy. In the morning games, Skip Nicola Speirs with Duncan Lyon at third, Colin McFarlane and Nancy Kinnear at lead faced Ann Bryan skipping her rink for the first time with Alex Robertson and Bill Stein. This rink on paper looked to be one of the favourites for the cup and so it proved with Stein and Robertson having three stones each and showing their experience on the ice, skip Bryan led her rink to a comfortable victory. On the other sheet there was a very much closer game with Doreen Hislop, at skip for the first time, Donald Kinnear at third, Peter Martin and Sam Bryan at lead up against a rink of Elizabeth McMillan at skip, Mike Hislop and Duncan McAlister. Both rinks exchanged wins in the first four ends but the Hislop rink eased ahead in the final two ends to win the match.
In the afternoon, the winners of the morning games faced each other while there was a play-off for third and fourth place. In this game the McMillan rink kept up their strong play from the morning and on this occasion came out winners against the Speirs rink. On the other sheet the trophy was at stake and both rinks came out strongly, but Team Bryan had lost their momentum from the morning and with the lead and second setting up good heads for Team Hislop, they went on to win the match and give Skip Hislop a trophy for her first attempt at skip.
On the previous day a rink of Mike Hislop, Duncan Lyon, Peter Martin and Sam Bryan played in the monthly Argyll Province competition. In the morning they beat a Dunoon rink, but their winning margin was not enough to match that of Tighnabruach/Glen Orchy who won the McQuisten Cup. In the afternoon the Bute rink were playing for the Dunoon Argyll Quaich, which they won last year, facing Oban who have been playing strongly all season and Oban carried on their winning ways, adding another trophy to their season’s collection.
March will see the final games of the season, with two province games and the club playing for the Macrae Cup, the jewel in the club crown, in the last match of the season.
