69th Revelstoke Bonspiel draws curlers from across the province

The annual Revelstoke Open Bonspiel took place from Mar. 3 to 5, 2023 at the Revelstoke Curling Club.

Although the bonspiel has been put on hold for the last three years due to COVID-19 restrictions impacting curling seasons, this year’s event is the 69th of its kind in the community.

On the ice, 64 curlers made up 16 teams, including five from the Shuswap and Okanagan, battling it out for cash prizes donated by eight local sponsors: Downie Timber, Royal Bank of Canada, Revelstoke Credit Union, ReMax Revelstoke Realty, Selkirk Mountain Heli, Tim Hortons Revelstoke, Investors Group Revelstoke, and BDO Canada.

The tournament was split up into three events. Here are the results and a description of how the rocks were sliding, contributed by the Revelstoke Curling Club:

A Event:

• First: The Hogline Honeys: Revelstoke – Skipped by Kody Moncrief, Third Brady Blake, Second Tim Work, Lead Chad Gillespie
• Second: Team Sully: Armstrong – Skipped by Gene Fowler
• Third: Sweeping Beauties: Revelstoke – Skipped by Ed Wozniak

”The A Event finals was a clash of undefeated teams. The hometown fan favourite Hogline Honeys jumped out to an early lead, but the bonspiel veterans on Team Sully shook it off and came back with a well-guarded steal of 3 to have a one-point lead by the halfway mark. At the last end of the tournament, Team Sully was leading by one, but The Hogline Honeys had the hammer advantage. Thanks to the powerful sweeping of The Hogline Honeys’ front-end, Tim Work and Chad Gillespie, the final shot of the bonspiel was made with barely an inch to spare, and the local team was victorious!”

B Event:

• First: Team LaRocque: Salmon Arm – Skipped by Shelley LaRocque, Third Sharron Taylor, Second Tracy Bemister, Lead Leah Barrett
• Second: Team MacRae: Revelstoke – Skipped by Colin MacRae
• Third: Team Resvick: Revelstoke – Skipped by Garry Resvick

”In the B Event it was another local team skipped by Colin MacRae looking to bring the trophy home against the only all-female team in the bonspiel, Team LaRocque curling out of Salmon Arm. Despite being the life of the party in the lounge, Team LaRocque was laser-focused on the ice, winning a lop-sided victory to secure top spot in the B Event.”

C Event:

• First: Team Case: Salmon Arm – Skipped by Brad Case, Third Rob Bemister, Second Jim Jackson, Lead Mary Jane Jackson
• Second: Hogline Bling: Kelowna – Skipped by a three-man rotation, Scott, Trevor, Kelly
• Third: Team Holland: Revelstoke – Skipped by Bob Holland

”The C Event finals came down to two out-of-town teams vying for the final top prize. Despite a gutsy performance by the Kelowna-based team, Hogline Bling, playing the whole bonspiel short-handed and rotating positions, they ran out of steam against Team Case from Salmon Arm. Team Case put together a decisive win to claim the C Event victory.”

The event was made possible through contributions from dedicated volunteers, including Bonspiel Coordinator Tysyn Olynyk.

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