Westcott’s fun in sun may be put on ice

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This article was published 23/01/2017 (3368 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To curl or not to curl — that is the question for Ron Westcott.

In other words, will it be Portage la Prairie or Palm Springs, Calif., for a February getaway?

Or, for a guy who’s spent six decades chasing championships in the curling heartland, does it simply come down to this: is he willing to forgo one last chance to curl with the best this province has to offer?

That’s the dilemma facing Westcott, whose plan to head south with his wife for a short reprieve from the cold has, shall we say, nose-hit a major snag.

The Manitoba Hall of Fame skip has done the absolutely unexpected, guiding his Fort Rouge curling team to a berth at the 2017 Viterra Manitoba men’s curling championship, set for the PCU Centre in Portage, Feb. 8 to 12.

The team advanced to the final of one of the Manitoba Open bonspiel’s main events, the Nott Autocorp Event, against David Bohn of Assiniboine Memorial, Monday night at the Heather Curling Club. But Bohn already had a berth wrapped up, so Westcott’s crew is in.

For the record, Bohn posted a 7-0 triumph over Westcott to win the event, finishing up with a 9-1 record since Thursday.

Richard Muntain of Pinawa and Greg Mikolajek of Fort Rouge picked up the other two remaining spots to the 32-team provincial championship by way of the Manitoba Open.

At 72, Westcott just might be the oldest competitor ever to qualify for the provincial men’s championship. His second, Bob Boughey, 70, is in the same select company. (Two years ago, Doug Armour of Souris participated at the championship in Brandon when he was 70.)

Heck, Westcott was playing seniors before some players heading to Portage — such as Braden Calvert, J.T. Ryan and Hayden Forrester — were born.

Whether or not Westcott is actually present and accounted for, however, still hasn’t been hammered out.

“It’s all I’ve been thinking about. I’ve got some decisions to make,” Westcott said Monday, not long after receiving the official word from Curl Manitoba his team of third Howard Restall (65), Boughey, lead Don Shiach (68) and fifth player Dave Hardy (63) had earned a spot.

“To really get this far is pretty amazing,” he said. “It’s something you can’t quite believe happened. Not in my wildest dreams did I think we could do it, so it’s caught us off-guard. We’ve got a lot of things to talk about.”

Westcott and Shiach are booked to be in California during the week of the Manitoba championship. Restall, Boughey and Hardy are available to play, and a fourth could be recruited.

Earning their way into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame clearly didn’t signal the final end of their competitive careers for Westcott and Boughey. (They were inducted into the hallowed hall in 2016.)

Westcott, who started curling when he was just a youngster at the two-sheet club in Douglas, has made a remarkable 42 appearances at Manitoba championships, including men’s, mixed, senior men’s and masters (over-60) play. He won a provincial senior title in 1999, five masters crowns (2010-12, 2014 and 2015) and a national masters title in 2015.

The Manitoba Open, formerly the MCA Bonspiel, remains near and dear to his heart. He’s competed in it more than 40 times, seizing the ’spiel’s grand aggregate title in 1971 as third for Terry Braunstein, and skipping his own team to the ’81 Free Press event title.

Boughey was with Westcott for most of those provincial championship victories, while Restall has a couple of senior crowns, a mixed title and a Canadian masters victory to his name.

None of them have won a men’s championship — and Westcott has no illusions that will change.

“I’ve spent my whole life playing with some great players — Braunstein, Orest Meleschuk, Gary Ross. I’ve really studied the game over the years, so the strategy doesn’t fool us too much,” he said.

“We can read the ice and make shots, and it’s easy to say we can compete with anyone. But at the Viterra, we’d really have no hope.

“We’re realistic. How do you compete against a Mike McEwen or Reid Carruthers? They’re just too good. It’s like a profession for them, the time, the energy, the training.”

Boughey, who went into the hall of fame as a curler and builder, agreed.

“Going into the bonspiel, we wanted to play well but getting a spot was not a priority. The men’s is just a different level,” he said.

“We had a good bonspiel, but at the provincials, it takes your ‘A’ game, or, for us, we’d have to be ‘A-plus’ to even be close to some of these teams.

“It’s the ultimate to just get there again. So many teams strive for years to get there and never do.”

But there’s still a big decision to be made, one the team won’t take lightly, said the skip.

“This is a dream come true. It’s one last thing to put on the mantle… to say you’ve won a spot into a provincial men’s at our age,” Westcott said.

“We’re going to enjoy the moment for now, and then figure out what to do next.”

In a clash of undefeated teams Monday night, Muntain lost to Dennis Bohn of Assiniboine Memorial 6-1 in the Asham Event final at the Heather. Dennis, David’s twin brother, already had a provincial berth, so Muntain punched a ticket to Portage.

Dennis, with third Neil Kitching, second Kennedy Bird and lead Daniel Hunt, swept through the 129th version of the big Winnipeg bonspiel with a perfect 8-0 record.

“It’s huge. We’re pretty excited to go undefeated,” Dennis said. “The team’s gotta feel good about it. Any extra bit of confidence helps and is good for us going to Portage.”

Mikolajek, meanwhile, got in as the highest-finishing eligible team in the Free Press Event still without a spot.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell