Jim Cotter last won the Vernon Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic in 2012.
The 43-year-old opened this year’s men’s side of the cashspiel in style Friday afternoon by holding off Josh Barry of Vancouver 7-3.
Cotter, who has seven Brier appearances and coaches the South Korea Olympic Team when he finds time, scored a deuce in the opening end and counted four in the fifth. The teams shook hands after six ends of the scheduled eight-ender.
Cotter is supported by newbie Steve Laycock of Saskatchewan and Kelowna products Tyrell Griffith and Rick Sawatsky.
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There are a dozen men’s rinks chasing $18,000 in a triple knockout. The finals go Sunday at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Vernon’s Mark Longworth, who has been to multiple provincial playdowns and now in the seniors category, stopped Adam Cseke of Penticton 6-2 in the same Friday afternoon draw.
Longworth recorded singles in the opening three ends and dialed a deuce in the fifth.
In other men’s play, Matt Dunstone of Regina ambushed Tyler Klymchuk of Kamloops 8-1.
Meanwhile, Vernon’s Kim Slattery scored twice in an extra end to outlast Sarah Daniels of Delta 8-6 in Draw 4 Friday afternoon.
Slattery, who improved to 1-1, rang up deuces in the sixth and seventh ends to force Daniels to register a pair in eight to level the score.
Alyssa Kyllo, Kelsi Jones and Morgayne Eby support Slattery. There are 19 women’s foursomes seeking $23,000. The final is Sunday at 3 p.m.
Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton iced Vernon’s Shaina MaGiverin 7-3, while Kristen Streifel of Regina upended Un-Chi Gim of Korea 9-4, Corry Brown of Kamloops grounded Lindsay Hudyma of Vancouver 7-4 and Alina Kovaleva of Russia shelled Sihia Liu of China.
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