Local curler Linda Barg made an impressive play recently, clinching an ‘eight-ender’ with her team at the Terrace Curling Club.
An eight-ender is an end (or round) where all eight stones score for one team. This a very rare occurrence, similar to a hole-in-one in golf; and on Wednesday, Dec. 14, Barg and her team made it happen.
“To be honest, we were all a little stunned,” said Barg. “You never go into a game thinking you’re going to get one of those. It was just like a perfect storm, I guess.”
The play took place during the club’s Wednesday ladies’ night. During the end, Barg’s team consisted of herself in the fourth position, Lynn Kinney as lead, and Tara Salmon as the third; the team’s second couldn’t make it to the game.
“It’s quite hard to do,” said Roger L’Heureux, current president of the Terrace Curling Association. “The last one we had was 12 years ago in 2010.”
The association celebrates eight-enders with plaques that are hung up at the rink. Barg’s plaque is being made now, and should be up for all to see in the coming weeks.
“It was a big shock, but pretty exciting at the same time. We’re pretty proud of ourselves,” said Barg.
Eight-enders are exceedingly rare in professional play. Recent examples include the Italy vs Nigeria game during the 2022 World Junior-B Curling Championships, and the Switzerland vs Denmark game during the 2021 World Women’s Curling Championship.
The impressive play has never been seen in any Olympic curling event. A ‘seven-ender’ was the closest, scored by Great Britain’s Eve Muirhead in the 2014 Winter Olympics.