After making their Grand Slam breakthrough in Canada last month, Team Whyte strengthened their claim to be the form team of 2025 when they beat the world’s top ranked team to successfully defend their Hardie Engineering Scottish Curling Championships title in Dumfries.
Never before had Scottish teams gone into their national championships so dominant in the global game, with Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan having won the first three Grand Slams of this season in Canada to establish a massive lead in the world rankings.
When the former world champions and 2022 Olympic finalists did finally lose a knockout match at a Grand Slam it was Ross Whyte, Robin Brydone, Duncan McFadzean and Euan Kyle who capitalised, claiming their first victory on the game’s most lucrative circuit when they beat former Olympic champion Brad Jacobs’ team in the final at the WFG Masters last month. 
Following their win at the Scottish Championships a year ago, when Team Mouat’s run of four wins in four appearances had ended in the semi-finals,that set the scene perfectly for this event.
Their meeting in the round-robin stages earlier in the week then underlined how close things now are between the world number one and number five ranked teams, when it was won by Mouat at an extra end.
It was consequently far from surprising that neither side was prepared to give much away in the first half of the final as, with Mouat starting the match with the hammer and last stone advantage, both teams were forced to score singles at the opening two ends, before the next three were blanked.
The midway interval brought a gear change and Mouat’s men struck the first blow as they registered a two after Whyte’s attempt to hit and roll behind a guard came up just short, leaving his opposite number with a draw to the eight foot to score a two.
That looked like it might be a significant advantage, putting Mouat two up, having scored at an even end, but there was a major momentum shift at the seventh end.
Team Whyte applied pressure throughout the end, before Mouat looked to have got out of trouble with a perfectly judged freeze onto Whyte’s counting stone behind cover.
However, Whyte realised the time had come to attack and he found the perfect angle to raise a wide guard into the house with sufficient pace to squeeze Mouat’s stone out of the four foot rings and claim the three that put his team ahead for the first time at 4-3. 
With the match now in the balance, Mouat looked set to respond when his team set up a strong position at the eighth end, but a stunning triple take-out by Whyte’s vice-skip Robin Brydone removed all of the danger and an uncharacteristic Mouat mistake with his final delivery, glancing off an opposing stone and rolling out, cost his side a two shot steal and at 6-3 down they were in real trouble.
Forced to take risks, they subsequently suffered another steal of two at the ninth and promptly shook hands, seeing no point in playing the final end.
As he reflected on the win, Whyte acknowledged that the match had turned on that shot at the seventh end after the gear change midway through the match.
“After the break it felt like both teams had decided they had to go out and win this game, we couldn’t just coast through it, so we’re very pleased that we could take it on and we managed to get over the line,” he said.
“Neither team was wanting to lose at the start.
“At the first couple ends there were a good number of stones in play and there were a good couple of forces from both teams, but there were a lot less after that and we saw a couple of blanks.
“I don’t think they were too fussed about taking it on too early, but they managed to make their two at the sixth.
“That put us on the back foot, but we really bounced back hard at the seventh end with that three that really changed the game.”
While the memory of last year’s victory, beating Team Craik in the final, remains a special one, then, Whyte recognised that the nature of this triumph had the potential to have even greater impact within the curling community. 
“Your first win is your first win and it’s always amazing,” he said.
“To win it the way we did last year, making the draw to the four foot was a pretty special moment for us, but we knew this year that everyone was talking about this being the final.
“Thankfully it happened, because it wasn’t just in Scotland people were talking about this game, they were talking about it around the world, so we knew we were going to have to come out and play well to beat the number one team in the world and that’s what we did and we felt we deserved it this week.”
He believes his team has grown in the year since they won that first title, ending Team Mouat’s supremacy that had seen then win four titles, offering high praise to the influence of coach Al Scott.
“Al’s given us a lot. He really knows what to say at the right times, gives us exactly what we need,” said Whyte.
“We have very good conversations in pre-game and post-game chats and if something needs to be said we get it done, so it feels like he’s made a big impact.
“We’re a lot more composed when it comes to going down in a game and we really back ourselves to get into any game and win it, no matter what the scoreline is at any moment.
“We’ve started to realise that even if we don’t start with the hammer, you’ll not win the game because of having that or not and that’s what we’ve been doing recently.
“We came out in the Slam and did that in both the semi and the final and now we’ve come out here and changed the hammer again and we’re starting to realise that we have to trust ourselves no matter what’s happening.
“Al always tells us that the way we look on ice you wouldn’t have a clue whether we’re winning or losing and that’s we’re doing. 
“We feel like we can generate loads of scores and that’s thankfully happened.”
Whyte also paid tribute to the beaten finalists, crediting them with changing the landscape for Scottish men’s teams.
“Over the last six, seven, eight years they’ve made every Scottish team believes that they can go out there and be one of the best teams in the world,” he said of Team Mouat.
“That’s what we’re starting to realise ourselves.
“We know we’re a top three, top five team in the world, we really believe in ourselves, the results are starting to come our way and it just feels amazing.
“With us getting results against teams like Team Mouat, people start to realise there is a path for teams.
“Thankfully we’re showing it to everyone and it feels great to get these results.”
Please click here for the draw and results. 
