By Trisha Buchanan
After a weekend of hard work, pay day finally arrived for three curling teams who cashed in big at the Rideau Curling Club in the finals of the Welton Beauchamp Classic.
The finals took place Nov. 10 and marked the end of the four day bonspiel, which was held at five local Ottawa curling clubs. The total purse of $116,500 made the Welton one of the richest tournaments in Canadian curling.
In the men’s final, the local Rideau Club team of skip Rich Moffatt, Howard Rajala, Chris Fulton and Paul Madden defeated Jim Redston’s team from Beaconsfield, Que.
The final ended 4-2 with Moffatt and his team taking home a $14,000 cheque for their efforts. It was Moffatt’s first win in nine tries at the Welton.
After accepting the cheque for his team, Moffatt praised the Welton and its volunteers and sponsors. He called it “the event to be at in Canada.”
For the loss, Redston and his team took home $8,000.
On the women’s side, Rideau Club curler and local favorite Anne Merklinger failed to make it to the final after losing in the first round of the playoffs.
The final instead saw North York’s Alison Goring skip her team to victory over Karen Porritt’s team from Winnipeg.
Porritt had a chance to score five in the eighth end to take a large lead over Goring, but ended up only scoring two, allowing Goring to keep the match close.
Goring took advantage of the opportunity, eventually winning the game 7-6 and taking home $9,000. Porritt’s team collected $5,000 for their efforts.
The win gives Goring and her team some confidence heading into the Canadian Olympic Trials scheduled for Brandon, Man. at the end of the month. Goring is optimistic about her team’s chances of making it to the finals of the trials.
“We’re playing pretty well right now,” said Goring. “As long as we keep playing consistently we’ll be there, maybe, at the end of the week.”
In the third final of the evening, the men’s senior match saw Bob Turcotte from Ajax win his third straight Welton Beauchamp Championship, defeating Axel Larsen from Guelph 7-3. Turcotte is becoming a mainstay at the tournament, being the only winner of the senior’s title since its inception three years ago.
The win netted Turcotte and his team $5,000 while Larsen’s team won $2,500.
The tournament went up against some tough competition with the Flexi-coil Classic also taking place the same weekend in Saskatoon. With a total purse of $180,000, many of the big names in curling, including Ed Werenich, opted for the Flexi-coil over the Welton.
However, Danny Lamoureux, organizer of the Welton Beauchamp Classic, was still pleased with this year’s event.
“I think it went fabulously. We missed a few of the top names but we still had a waiting list for all three events. I think it was great.”
Lamoureux admits fan attendance was down from last year, although the final numbers have yet to be tallied.
“Turnout was average,” said Lamoureux. “We had at least half of what we had last year, but last year was exceptional.”
Next year’s Welton has been scheduled for Nov. 13-16. This will eliminate any conflict with the Flexi-coil Classic, which is being held Nov. 4-8.