When more than 100 curlers gathered for the 39th annual All Ontario Farmer Bonspiel recently in Wallaceburg, few could have suspected they would see one of the rarest sights in curling – an eight-ender.
The Jon Woolhouse rink from Orillia managed to pull off the feat – having all eight of its stones count in one end – during a Friday evening game against the Bill Sharp team from Paris.
Longtime Farmers organizers and participants said the eight-ender was the first ever recorded in the thousands of games played in the event, which stretches back into the 1980s. While no centralized tracking site exists, curling officials estimate the odds of an eight-ender at one in 120,000 games. Curling Canada recognizes teams who score eight-enders with pins and certificates.
Woolhouse said his team was just trying to feed rocks to the middle to score some extra points when a combination of good throwing by his team and a couple of unlucky bounces by the other team put him in position.
“Before we knew it, they were missing their last shot and we had an open hit for the eight-ender. I said to my vice, ‘If they miss this shot, we have a chance,’ but with a quarter inch more on his last shot, he gets in behind and probably takes the end. It was that close. I set my broom down, and my wife said, now slow down, and I made the shot.”
This is the sixth year Woolhouse has competed in the 28-team event, which features more than $4,300 in prizes thanks to well over 100 sponsors.
Longtime organizer and curler Jerry Meyskens said the event is the pinnacle of the curling year for many of those attending.
“The bonspiel is about competition and camaraderie. All of our teams this year are returning teams. You get to see guys and talk about how your crops were, and you get to know their families,” he said. “It’s like a homecoming. You know that the bonspiel is going to be here every year and that is due to the support of the curlers, the sponsors and the volunteers from Sydenham.”
Meyskens said the event is an important fundraiser for the Sydenham Community Curling Club. “There are so many people who donate their time to make this club the success that it is. We like to think we do our share.”
