PARKSVILLE — When Kevin Folk was eight years old, he attended the 1989 Tim Hortons Brier in Saskatoon as a super fan of his father, Rick. Kevin had “B.C.” shaved on one side of his head and “No. 1” on the other side.

His father finished second at the Brier that year, dropping the final to Pat Ryan from Alberta.

Kevin and Rick Folk will be returning to Saskatoon for the 2012 Brier (March 3-11) as Jim Cotter of Kelowna defeated Brent Pierce of the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster 7-5 on Sunday in the final of the Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Men’s Curling Championship. Cotter also won last year’s championship, beating Neil Dangerfield from Victoria in that final.

Folk plays third for Cotter while the other members of the team are Rick Sawatzky and Tyrel Griffith. Rick Folk, a two-time Brier and world champion, coaches the team.

Kevin was born in Saskatoon before moving with his family to Kelowna.

“It is a dream come true for me to play in the Brier at home,’’ Folk said. “After watching the 1989 Brier, I started curling right after that. If I was given the choice of a place to play the Brier, it would be Saskatoon.’’

The game wasn’t determined until the final shot, when Pierce elected to throw an angle-raise takeout for the win. He just missed his target and Cotter stole a point.

“That was an all-or-nothing shot for Brent,’’ Folk said. “He could have drawn for a point and the tie but he elected to try that shot. He probably makes those a high percentage of the time. I didn’t curl that well in this game but my teammates bailed me out.’’

For the Pierce team of Jeff Richard, Kevin Recksiedler and Grant Dezura, it was their first loss of the competition after five straight wins.

“The two best teams in B.C. were playing in the final and I knew that it would be a great game,’’ said Cotter, who along with Folk and Sawatzky will be playing in their third Brier.

“In the last few ends, we knew that we had to make our shots or go home,’’ said Cotter. “Our team is very resilient as we always seem to have to do it the hard way. We also have a great coach with Rick Folk, who is a very calming influence. Any time you go back to the Brier it is exciting.’’

With the victory, Cotter completes the Brier field. The other champions making their way to Saskatoon are Terry Odishaw (New Brunswick), Michael Gaudet (P.E.I.), Robert Desjardins (Quebec), Scott Manners (Saskatchewan), Brad Gushue (Newfoundland), Brad Jacobs (Northern Ontario), Rob Fowler (Manitoba), Jamie Koe (Northwest Territories), Jamie Murphy (Nova Scotia), Glenn Howard (Ontario) and Kevin Koe (Alberta).

In the Northern Ontario semifinal against Tim Phillips, Jacobs scored an eight-ender.

Some of the top teams losing out at the provincial level were Kevin Martin from Edmonton, Jeff Stoughton and Mike McEwen, both from Winnipeg, and Mark Dacey from Halifax. Stoughton is the defending Brier and world champion.

EXTRA ENDS: After a very successful 2012 championship, chaired by Penny Shantz, Parksville has been awarded next year’s provincials. “This event has exceeded our club’s expectations,’’ said Shantz. “I haven’t heard anything negative about it. We will tweak a few things to make it better next year. B.J. [Gagnon] will be back to do the great ice for us. What made this so good was the work of our volunteers.’’

The format will remain the same next year with 16 teams playing a triple knockout, followed by the Page (four-team) playoffs. … Thie Island was represented by four teams — Jody Epp, Jay Tuson and Dangerfield, all from the Victoria Curling Centre, and Steve Waatainen from Nanaimo. Tuson lost qualifying games to Pierce and Chris Baier.

Victoria’s Baier, playing with some young guns out of Royal City, placed third, losing Saturday’s semifinal 7-6 to Cotter in an extra end. Sean Geall of Delta, with Jason Montgomery of Duncan playing third, was fourth.

rrauch@timescolonist.com