Team Korte and Team Holland came away with medals Saturday at the Canadian Senior Curling Championships in Ottawa. Bruce Korte, curling out of Saskatoon’s Nutana Curling Club, defeated Ontario’s Mike Harris 8-4 to claim his second national senior curling title. Amber Holland, representing Saskatoon’s Sutherland Curling Club, dropped a 7-5 decision to Ontario’s Sherry Middaugh in the women’s gold-medal game. Korte’s rink, comprised of Darrell McKee, Kory Kohuch, Rory Golanowski and alternate Arlen Hall, finished the round-robin portion of the event atop Pool A with a 6-0 record. In Saturday’s final, Korte took control of the contest with a steal of three in the fourth end to take a commanding 6-1 lead. For Korte, who won his first national senior championship in 2019, Saturday’s victory was an emotional one. “I don’t want to tear up here, but it’s a long haul. The last win was, I think, six years ago. It’s great to have a chance to go to worlds because we never got the gold the last time we won,” Korte said in a media release. “We believed in ourselves and in our team. We just trusted that we could do it.” Korte was unable to compete at the 2020 world senior championships as the event was cancelled to the COVID-19 pandemic. Korte’s victory marks the second straight year that a Saskatchewan rink captured gold at the event. Regina’s Randy Bryden won the 2024 championship in Moncton, N.B., and followed up with a victory at the ensuing 2025 world championships in Fredericton, N.B. The Harris rink, which curls out of the Brant Curling Club in Brantford, Ont. is comprised of Scott Foster, Chad Allen, Jay Allen and alternate Richard Hart. On the women’s side, Middaugh grabbed a 4-1 lead after two ends only to see Holland battle back to tie the game at 4-4 after four ends. The teams swapped singles in the fifth and sixth ends with Middaugh taking a 7-5 lead with two in the seventh end. She clinched her first Canadian senior title by running Holland out of rocks in the eighth end. Middaugh, who finished the event with a perfect 12-0 mark, was concerned heading into the final that her undefeated run might be in jeopardy. “Relieved. If you’re going to lose on, you want to lose one early. We just felt like we were playing well – not perfect in every way – but we supported each other,” Middaugh said in a media release. “Amber’s team played really well. We had a barn burner of a game against them in the round robin so we knew [the final] was going to be tough.” Middaugh’s rink, which curls out of the Barrie Curling Club in Barrie, Ont. is comprised of Karri-Lee Grant, Melissa Foster and Jane Hooper Perroud. Holland’s rink includes Jill Shumay, Sherri Singler, Trenna Derdall and alternate Danette Tracey. Korte and Middaugh will now represent Canada at the 2026 World Senior Curling Championships in Geneva, Switzerland, from April 25-May 2.
