Bright, sunny and hot conditions attracted 33 competitors for this year’s Cobar Clay Target Club Christmas Novelty shoot.
Shooters travelled from Bourke, Warren and Tamworth to join locals to vie for the renowned excellent meat tray trophies, the challenge of unusual events, and to experience the club’s hospitality.
The first event was a 10 target Eye Opener that saw competitors, ranging from C grade to AA Grade abilities, shoot for a possible score of 10/10. A total of 11 shooters scored possibles but that was the last of easy targets for the day as the remainder of the program proved to be a challenge for some of the experienced and junior shooters alike.
The second event was 15 Mixed Targets and called for competitors to shoot five Single Barrel off 11 metres, five point score off 15m and five Double Barrel off 20m.
Robert Thompson continued his good form with a perfect result of 43/43 to win AA Grade; Dick Tulloh, also shooting well with 25/25, won A Grade; B Grade was won by Jarrod Barraclough with 36/40; the C Grade winner was Matt Harland with 21/25; while the encouragement award went to Molly Barraclough.
In the 15 Target Graded Handicap event the winners were: AA Grade—Kevin Hatch 16/16; A Grade—Garry Jones 15/16; B Grade—Mike Shields 15/15; and C Grade Todd Polack 24/25. The encouragement award went to Mitchell MacPherson.
The 15 Target Crazy Points event was the first event after lunch. Shooters get three points if they hit the target and a further five points if they can then hit a chip off that same target with a second shot before it lands.
Thompson was the AA Grade winner with a score of 55/75; A Grade—Tony Polack 51/75; B Grade—John Taylor 64/100; and C Grade—Damian Wray 48/75.
Thompson also led the way in the 10 Pair Continental event which has targets fly out two at a time at varied heights and angles.
He won AA Grade with a near perfect score of 19/20; A Grade—Cliff Overton 16/20; B Grade—Brad Kendrick 16/20; C Grade—Mitchell MacPherson 22/30. The Encouragement award went to Dick Deppeler who had to contend with some very low flyers.
Five pairs shot a possible score, which was an excellent effort in 10 Pair Deauville Doubles (drawn out of hat) event. After a shoot-off, the winners were: 1st—Todd Polack and Aaron Marsh 17/17 with Ross Morris and Luke Scales second with 16/17.
The High Gun winners on the day were: Veterans—Ross Morris 112/145; Juniors—Todd Polack 92/145; Ladies—Christie Wheeler 92/145; C Grade—Matt Harland 101/145; B Grade—Jason Mitchell 114/145; A Grade—Tony Polack 114/145; AA Grade—Kevin Hatch 116/145; and the Overall High Gun was Robert Thompson 122/145.
