It has been many decades since Bute Curling Club was able to put five full rinks on the ice but on Wednesday November 5, this was the case as 19 curlers headed off to the Waterfront Ice Rink in Greenock to compete for the Caldwell Trophy.
It was not an easy task for the members to arrange a round-robin competition and ensure all teams played each other, using two sheets of ice in the allotted four hours available, but selectors Mike Hislop and Helen Martin organised a three end competition which ran smoothly and on time.
The skips for this event were Peter Martin, Nicola Speirs, Donald Kinnear, Mike Hislop and Bill Stein.
Losing a big end in such a short game format can be fatal and so it proved for several rinks, whose hopes were dashed by a build-up of opponents’ stones which were not removed.
At the end of the afternoon all rinks had won at least two ends, but only one rink had won all of their four matches.
The winning team was skipped by Donald Kinnear with Alex Robertson at third, Doreen Hislop playing second and Patricia Renfrew at lead and to them fell the glory of the Caldwell Trophy.
Although only one rink could win the cup, it was a triumph for all to get so many new players competing in a match.
