Congratulations to Gordon Scott, John Mudd and the Inverness club for recovering their piste from the horrendous rains they had over the previous month. We also thank the Inverness club for acquiring the sponsorship deal from the Balblair Whisky Distillers, based on the shores of the Dornoch Firth, who have been producing Single Malt Whisky since 1790. They have supplied the prizes for the 2011 SPA Triples.

In total the SPA Triples attracted a total of 11 teams, with only 4 regular teams in attendance. In an attempt to encourage more players to consider participating in the SPA events and give people the opportunity to experience playing with different people, Ed Strachan and Alison Swiffin had come up with an idea of gathering people from various clubs to create new teams. The idea was circulated by Lynn Jenkins to the SPA clubs and we gathered together 15 players (from the Inverness, Perth & Tweed Valley clubs) which were split into 5 teams with an even balance of player skills throughout the teams. Nord Ecosse also split up into two teams by inviting a couple of other Inverness players to join them.

The teams were split into three leagues (two of four and one of three). The top two from each league went through plus the next best two to form the Main event. This only left three teams for the plate competition.

Considering some of the poor weather we have been experiencing of late it was a pleasant surprise to be greeted by warm sunshine which lasted for almost the full competition. Feedback from the teams that had been formulated on the day was good and hopefully it will encourage those players, who had not participated in an SPA event before, to consider forming teams for future SPA events.

The experience and skill of the Scottish representative teams was enough to get them in to the main event. The two teams created from Nord Ecosse also managed to qualify. The final two teams came from the newly formed teams. One of these teams won their first game in the main event, beating one of the top Scottish teams. This was very encouraging for the new players who had not participated in an SPA event and will hopefully encourage more people to join in.

The third place was claimed by one half of the Nord Ecosse team, much to the delight of the ladies of the team, having beaten their respective husbands in the first round of the main event.

The final was a keenly fought contest with the Sex Pisteols gaining an early lead only to be begged back by Maboule. It was then pretty even as the teams matched each other until the Sex Pisteols managed to edge ahead and claimed a 13-10 win.

The SPA expressed their thanks to Gordon and the Inverness club for getting everything prepared and for laying on the excellent weather. The prizes from Balblair were very welcome and the overall competition was run very well.

SPA Triples Competition Results held at Inverness on 4th September 2011

Champions: Paul Bretenoux, Robbie Stronach & John Wilson

Runners-Up: Dani Cassini, Zandra & Bob Boyle

Third Place: Stewart Thomson, Pat Scott & Chris Mudd

Plate Winners were Pam Mackenzie, Jean Hutcheson & Bob Pollock.