Fort Garry’s Carlene Strand team and 2023 champion Derrick Anderson’s Gimli team have won the 2025 Seagram’s Whisky CurlManitoba Curling Club Championships. The event wrapped up Sunday afternoon at St. Vital.
In the Seagram’s Whisky Women’s Club Championship, Strand (Lindsay Warkentin-4th, Susan Baleja, Tricia McLeod) scored a four-ender on the third end to lead 4-1 enroute to a 9-2 final game victory over former champion Kara Balshaw. The Strand foursome had finished 3W-2L in the round robin. They defeated past champion Stacey Irwin 6-4 in the semi-final after defeating clubmate Jennifer Clark-Rouire 8-4 in their playoff qualifier game.
Kara Balshaw and her Fort Rouge team (Heather Carson, Sandra Carson, Kimberley Merasty) had finished 4W-1L in their pool, tied with Clark-Rouire but awarded first place thanks to a round-robin win over the Fort Garry team. In their semi-final, the Strand foursome had beaten Lisa Dickson (St. Vital) 9-4 after DIckson had been a 9-5 winner over clubmate Patti Ulrich in the qualifier.
In the Seagram’s Whisky Men’s Club Championship the Anderson team earned their second trip to the club nationals with a 7-2 win over Daniel Birchard and his Pembina team.
The Birchard foursome had finished the round-robin with a 4W-1L record, a win ahead of Anderson and his Gimli team’s 3W-2L record.
Anderson (Justin Hoplock, Mitch Einarson, Chris SIgurdson) earned a 6-2 win over Jesse McCullough (Fort Garry) before beating Ryan Hyde (Portage) 7-3 in the semi-final.
To reach the final, Birchard (Kelly Fordyce, Ian Fordyce, Paolo Aquila, Brody Moore) defeated former champion Andrew Wickman (Fort Rouge) in the semi-final after WIckman had beaten Ryan Lowdon (LaSalle) 8-6 in the qualifier.
The champion Anderson and Strand teams will represent Manitoba in the national club champions event to played at the Winnipeg’s Granite Curling Club, November 18-23, 2025.
