West Wyalong shooter Matt Patmore created history on Sunday when he claimed back-to-back Golden Clay titles at the 49th Annual Golden Clay & NSW Junior Masters Championship & NSW State Night Points Score Championship.
Patmore won Cobar Clay Target Club’s Overall Highgun Golden Clay Trophy, a 9ct solid gold miniature clay sponsored by Aurelia Metals/Peak Gold Mines, for the second year running.
It’s believed Patmore is the first shooter in the event’s 49 year history to claim consecutive titles.
The big weekend of shooting began on Friday afternoon with a fundraising event to support Western Zone Juniors to participate in events.
This was eagerly competed by 73 shooters with Lucas Young the winner.
The NSW State Night Points Score Championship, 50 Target event, commenced on Friday night and was contested in excellent shooting conditions with 92 shooters taking part. Among the successful local shooters were: Dick Tulloh, who was in fine form with a score of 135/150 to place first in B Grade and Darcy Manns, who shot 133/150 to finish second in B Grade.
Matt Schiller won the Overall NSW State Night Points Score title with a perfect score of 150/150.
The skies were clear and sunny over the weekend for the 142 shooters who took part in Saturday’s and Sunday’s program.
In the first event for Saturday, a 30 Target Points Score Championship, local shooters Bryan Manns won AA Grade with an excellent score of 113/114 and Will Griffiths took out the C Grade title with 83/90.
In the 45 Target Medley, Matthew Stokes with 122/125, won AA Grade and Tony Polack, with 87/100, was second in B Grade.
Stokes also finished as the overall winner in Saturday’s final event, the 30 Target Double Barrel Championship, with a score of 218/218. Will Griffiths was first in C Grade with 45/46, and Aaron Wyllie, with 30/31, finished second in C Grade.
In Sunday’s 30 Target Single Barrel Championship, local shooters Matt Harland won AA Grade with 33/34, Jarrod Barraclough was first in A Grade with 32/33, and Aaron Wyllie with 28/33, finished second in C Grade.
The 30 Target Harmony Mafeesh Handicap, in memory of Frosty Singleton who was instrumental in the commencement of clay target shooting on Mafeesh Station in Cobar, carries a reward of the Mafeesh Cup along with prizes for first to 5th placings.
Additional enthusiasm is generated throughout the weekend with a Calcutta, being held in conjunction with this event.
A total of four competitors shot a possible (perfect) score and then went into a shoot-off with David McMillan (from Warren) finishing as the winner over Kevin Hatch, Glen Castellaro and Matt Patmore.
The final event of the weekend was the 15 Pair Double Rise Championship.
The Overall winner was Matt Schiller with 30/30 while local Brad Kendrick, with 35/40, finished second in B Grade.
Harrison Young, was the Junior Masters Champion of Champions, with a score of 144/150 dropping only six points over the three events contested.
The weekend’s Highgun winners were: Helen Overton was the Ladies champion with a score of 272/285; the Veterans title went to Phillip Headon with 273/285; in the Juniors Kyriakos Kassianou finished with 260/285; the C Grade sash went to Will Griffiths, who shot 254/285; B Grade was won by David Polsen with a score of 251/285; in A Grade Chloe Evans won with 268/285; Matthew Stokes claimed the AA Grade title with a score of 276/285; and the Overall Highgun was Matt Patmore with the best score of 278/285.—contributed
