CENTRE WELLINGTON – Scottish curlers are heading here early in the new year to compete at the Fergus and Elora curling clubs as part of the Strathcona Cup Tour.
“[It’s] the oldest international curling event in the world, dating back to 1902,” said Ken McPherson, a curler involved with both Centre Wellington clubs.
“The Scots were the first to cross the Atlantic and curl in Canada,” said Calum McGeachie, president of the Fergus Curling Club.
“Every five years curlers from Canada and Scotland meet to determine the winner,” with the two countries taking turns hosting, McPherson explained.
There are three divisions in the Strathcona Cup Tour: West, Central and East.
Between the three divisions 60 Scottish curlers will be heading to Canada to compete.
In the Central division, 20 Scots will be playing local curlers at the Fergus and Elora curling clubs on Jan. 13.
“This edition will pit four Scottish teams against four of the Fergus Curling Club’s best teams,” said McGeachie, who is involved in organizing the event at the Fergus club.
“We are hosting the dinner portion of the day. The group of Scots first curl in Elora and then head to Fergus.”
The Elora Curling Club’s portion of the event begins at 9:30am and the Fergus Curling Club continues at 3pm the same day.
“All games are eight ends as the determination of the winner of the cup is total ends and points from all the games in Canada with all counting equally,” said McPherson.
Other hosts for the upcoming Strathcona Cup Tour include curling clubs in Port Elgin and Lindsay.
