A Kelowna team has won the inaugural of the Barry Amies Men’s Bonspiel at the Vernon Curling Club over the weekend. Grey hair and genetics carried the day as the Rob Koffski team came away with a hard fought 6-5 win over Vernon’s Tyler Orme rink in the 46 team competition.
Anchoring the team on the front end were Koffski, calling the game and throwing lead rocks and Randy Nelson of Kamloops at second. Koffski’s son Russel was at third, and Nelson’s son Darren threw fourth stones. The grey hair represented multiple Brier and World Championship experience, as well as decades of competition in British Columbia cashspiels and men’s and senior’s playdowns.
The Vernon club this year decided to rename this 48th version of its men’s spiel after Barry Amies, the driving force behind the construction of the present facility in 1972. Club manager Dave Merklinger noted at the trophy presentation that sponsors are the lifeblood of competitive curling and that Amies, through his insurance business, could always be counted on as a leading sponsor over the years. Amies passed away last year, and Merklinger said the club board decided that renaming the bonspiel in his honour was a fitting tribute to the role Amies played in the curling community.
The B event was won by a Vernon team skipped by Greg Poggemoeller. The C event was captured by former world champion Gerry Richard of Kelowna, while the D was won by Mark Fillion of Vernon.
— courtesy of Padraig Mac Roibeaird
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