Glen Muirhead’s team took the top prize, but the Penticton curling club and B.C. teams also came out as winners after hosting the Ashley Homestore Curling Classic last weekend.
“As a player, my expectation was just to gain experience and have fun. Enjoying the experience was the biggest thing, because it is not every day we get to do this,” said Penticton’s Matt Tolley. “As the co-chair of the event, my expectation was we have a world-class event that people aren’t expecting. Talking to all the teams it’s been a home run again.”
Had some time between draws today, so we climbed a mountain. #curling #penticton #3endGame pic.twitter.com/c0O5lr8bG5
— Team Bottcher (@TeamBottcher) November 25, 2018
While Tolley’s team finished with a 1-4 record, he said it was “absolutely amazing” to play some of the top teams in the biggest non-grand slam event in Canada, right in his home club.
“Watching the way they call the game, the way they play the game, is very different in terms of strategy, the confidence they have because they know they are going to make those shots. It has really forced us to step our game up to be able to compete,” said Tolley. “It is nice to see the B.C. teams have some upsets and have really close games with top-notch teams.”
Tolley’s win was an 8-3 victory over Matthew Blandford (Victoria). Vernon’s Jim Cotter was the top B.C. team in the event, losing 5-4 to Jason Gunnlaugson (Manitoba) in the tiebreaker — pushing them out of the quarter-finals.
“Everything from the sponsors of the event, to the fans — we have had so much support and it has been exciting and surreal to have the fans banging on the glass and cheering on good shots. It is a taste of what these big players do on a monthly basis when they play big events,” said Tolley.
Muirhead ran a perfect tournament with a 5-0 undefeated record and went on to beat fellow Scottish team, Ross Paterson, 4-3 in the finals. For their efforts, the Muirhead team took home $18,000. Matt Dunstone (Saskatchewan) won $7,000 and Gunnlaugson won $6,600.
Glen Muirhead wins Ashley HomeStore Curling Classic! https://t.co/wvDBjuZ9b5 #curling pic.twitter.com/sFNJDRGyW4
— World Curling Tour (@worldcurltour) November 27, 2018
For the B.C. teams, this is the last stop on the provincial curling tour with the men’s regional playdowns in Penticton (Dec. 14 to 16) as the next step to decide who will to go provincials. The winner from the provincial event will move on to the Brier.
“This is a great warm up for all of that. It is a great opportunity to learn the ice and get used to playing here as a team. Hopefully we can come in here and earn a spot to provincials,” said Tolley.
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