The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club hosted District 5’s annual Any Doubles Shuffleboard Tournament at their facility in Cathedral City. There were 48 doubles teams that competed January 31 – February 3. There was an abundance of volunteers that made this tournament a great success. Thelma Linquist, the new Royal Palms Shuffleboard President, did a fantastic job of organizing the board men, head scorekeeper and head referees, along with the fantastic kitchen crew that prepared and served lunch throughout the tournament.

The 2023 Any Doubles Champions were: 1^st: Mick Guyette & Bill Kuhn, The Canyon; 2^nd: Dawn & Gene Carriere, Indian Wells; 3^rd: Lloyd Ross & Jack Kirkpatrick, Safari; and 4^th: Linda & Ken May, Tri Palms.

Since the Official Tournament Rules of the California Shuffleboard Association, state that “no substitutions allowed in finals of championship or consolation rounds” unfortunately one of the doubles teams had to forfeit their games due to a medical emergency of one of the players family members so they automatically placed 4th. The 2023 Consolation winners were: 1^st: Gary Stephens & Caleb Mills, Tri Palms; 2^nd: Lois & Don Krell, Tramview; 3^rd: Nancy & Jerry Grieve, Indian Wells; and 4^th: Ken Bodmer & Bruce Kiefert, The Canyon.

This tournament is one of District 5’s three tournaments for qualification to compete in the prestigious Tournament of Champions in March. Congratulations to those new qualifiers.

– By Shirley Eager