Cobar Clay Target Club held their 40th annual Golden Clay Shoot and NSW Junior Masters Championships over the weekend with 150 nominations received from shooters across NSW as well as Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
Shooting conditions over the weekend were varied from cold and slight breezes on Friday night, to overcast dull skies and a breeze on Saturday while Sunday’s events were contested in bright and sunny conditions however a tricky breeze still whistled across the range providing a challenge for the shooters, especially in the Double Rise event.
The Cobar club shooters held their own up against the big field of competitors, and it was good to see some of the club’s newest shooters mixing it with experienced visitors.
Scottie Brydon showed the way in the local field for the first event of the weekend on Friday night taking a second place in the C Grade 30 target Night Point Score Championship with a score of 80/90. Brydon is not only a new shooter, but also overcame the challenge of shooting from a sitting position in his wheelchair.
Bryan Manns took out the overall prize of same event with a possible (perfect) score of 90/90.
The first event on Saturday was the 30 target CSA Mine Point Score event with another new shooter, Marc Anderson, taking 1st place in C Grade with 87/90.
Rob Thompson won overall with 243/243, after a long shoot-off with frequent Cobar visitor Roger Duthie.
In the second event, a 45 target Medley, Sam Nardi, another new shooter, finished 2nd in C Grade (70/75), and Thompson was again the overall winner with 124/125.
The final event on Saturday was the Sandvik 30 target Double Barrel Championship, with Nardi once again lining up to finish second in C Grade with a good score of 31/32.
The Cobar Powerhouse 30 target Single Barrel Championships on Sunday had Nardi again in the finals where he finished in 2nd place with 31/35 in C Grade.
The main attraction on Sunday was the 30 target Marfeesh Handicap on which a Calcutta is run, and attracts a large spectator crowd.
This year they were cheering on the local shooter, Michael McGuire.
McGuire shot a clear round to find himself in the finals with eight other shooters.
He kept his cool, and eventually showed a clean pair of heels, winning the event with an unbeatable score of 57/57.
The last event was the 15 pair Peak Gold Mine Double Rise Championship.
C Grade shooter, Matt Harland showed the way, taking first place with 34/40.
Jim Manns supported him taking 1st in A Grade with 28/30.
The major Highgun winners for the weekend were: Ladies—Kate Edwards 273/285; Veterans—Peter Fitzalan 271/285; Juniors—Mitchell Iles 276/285; B Grade—James Catterall 270/285; A Grade—Beau Brown 270/285; and AA Grade—Steve Haberman 303/311.
The Overall Highgun for the weekend was local shooter Rob Thompson with 279/285.
Thompson has been chasing the title for some time now, and it was a fitting win for him on the club’s 40th event, and a rewarding title for all his hard work and dedication to the sport.—contributed
