Hot conditions attracted 37 competitors for this year’s Cobar Clay Target Club Christmas Novelty shoot on Sunday.
The event attracted shooters from Bourke, Hermidale, Brewarrina and Tamworth to vie for the renowned excellent meat tray trophies, the challenge of unusual events, and to experience the club’s hospitality.
The club also welcomed novice shooters on the day, who displayed great skill on the tricky targets thrown.
The Overall Highgun of the day was Bryan Manns with a score of 121/145; AA Grade, Rob Thompson 117/145; A Grade, Tony Polack 111/145; B Grade, Brad Kendrick 113/145; C Grade, Jason Mitchell 105/145; Ladies, Christie Wheeler 97/145; Veterans, Ross Morriss 113/145; and Juniors, James Mitchell 108/145.
The first event, a 10 target Eye Opener had competitors, ranging from C Grade to AA Grade, shoot for a possible score of 10/10.
That was the last of easy targets for the day, with nine shooters scoring a possible with the remainder of the program proving to be a challenge for both experienced and novice shooters alike.
In the 15 Mixed Targets event in AA Grade Rob Thompson was the winner with 25/25 and second was Button Powell 25/25; A Grade—Cliff Overton 25/25 and second Jim Manns 24/25; B Grade—Brad Kendrick 24/25 and second was John Martin 23/25; C Grade—Christie Wheeler 23/25 and second Jason Mitchell 40/45; the encouragement award went to Molly Barraclough; and novice award was earned by Marley Jones.
In the 15 Target Graded Handicap event, the winners and runners-up were: AA Grade—Baden Powell 15/15 and Rob Thompson 14/15; A Grade—Blake Dunne 15/15 and Tony Polack 18/19; B Grade—Sam Nardi 15/15 and James Mitchell 27/29; C Grade—Nicola Harbison 15/15 and Jason Mitchell 14/15; Novice—Marley Jones; Encouragement award—Todd Polack.
The winners of the 15 Targets Crazy Points event were: AA Grade—Bryan Manns 56/75, second Rob Thompson 53/75; A Grade—Tony Polack 51/75 and second Max Singleton 49/75; B Grade—John Martin 54/75 and second Brad Kendrick 53/75; C Grade—Jason Mitchell 48/75 and second Christie Wheeler 40/75; Novice—Marley Jones; Encouragement Molly Barraclough.
The 10 Pair Continental event, where targets fly out two at a time at varied heights and angles tested shooter with Bryan Manns winning AA Grade with the best score of 18/20 and Ross Morriss was second with 16/20; A Grade—Max Ingleton 17/20 and Blake Dunne 16/20; B Grade—James Mitchell 30/40 and John Martin 27/40; C Grade, Jason Mitchell 13/15 and Christie Wheeler 12/15; Novice—Todd Polack; Encouragement—Nicola Harbison (with some very low flyers).
The 10 Pair Deauville Doubles partners were drawn out of hat with nine pairs shooting a possible score. After a shoot-off Tony Polack and James Mitchell, with 19/20, were the winners. Blake Dunne, Ben Tranter, Sam Nardi, Hank Pritchard and Christie Wheeler, were contenders for this event.
A delicious lunch and a visit from Santa topped off the day.—contributed
