▪ Photo contributed
West Wyalong clay target shooter, Matt Patmore, has added a Golden Clay win to his long list of local, regional, national and international shooting achievements.
Patmore finished as the overall winner of the Cobar Clay Target Club’s 48th Annual Golden Clay & NSW Junior Masters Championship and Night Points Score Championship on the weekend. He collected the Overall Highgun Golden Clay Trophy, sponsored by Aurelia Metals/Peak Gold Mines, which was once again a 9ct solid gold miniature clay, and $1,000 prizemoney.
The 48th annual event attracted a great crowd, and it’s plain to see that Cobar club is renowned for its hospitality.
The weekend carnival commenced on Friday night with the Night Points Score Championship, a 30 Target event, which was contested in excellent conditions.
A record 110 shooters took part with some local shooters being successful in their grades.
Jarrod Barraclough was in fine form with 84/90 to place first in B Grade and Arthur Turner won the Overall Night Points Score title with 147/147.
Clear skies, sunny and windy weather provided some challenging shooting conditions for the group of 151 shooters who competed in Saturday and Sunday’s Golden Clay & NSW Junior Masters programmes.
The first event for Saturday was a 30 Target Points Score Championship, with Cobar Clay Target Club shooters featuring including James O’Neill taking out second place in A Grade with 91/96 and Jarrod Barraclough was first in B Grade with 87/90.
In the 45 Target Medley event, Todd Yates shot 70/75 for 2nd place in B Grade, and Will Griffiths had 60/75 to win C Grade.
In the 30 Target Double Barrel Championship, from the Cobar shooters, O’Neill was second in A Grade with 31/32, Tony Polack finished second in B Grade with 37/39 and Griffiths shot 28/31 for second in C Grade.
Aiden Barraclough was the Junior Double Barrel trophy winner with 29/30.
The first event on Sunday morning was a 30 Target Single Barrel Championship.
O’Neill continued his good form to finish second in A Grade with 28/30, Jarrod Barraclough shot 26/30 for second place in B Grade and Griffiths won C Grade with a score of 26/30.
The 30 Target Empire Hotel Cobar Mafeesh Handicap, in memory of Frosty Singleton who was instrumental in commencement of Clay Target Shooting on Mafeesh Station in Cobar, carries a reward of the Mafeesh Cup, along with prizemoney for first to 5th placings.
Additional enthusiasm is generated throughout the weekend with a Calcutta, being held in conjunction with this event.
Four competitors shot a possible score of 30/30 and six shooters recorded 29/30 and so it went to two nail-biting shoot-offs to get the final placements.
Joe Doidge from Pooncaire, with 42/42, finished as the winner with Reece Whipps second, local Aiden Barraclough was third, Glen Viney was 4th and another Cobar shooter, Matt Harland, claimed 5th place with 49/50.
The final event of the weekend was the 15 Pair Double Rise Championship which is a favourite among shooters.
Kyriakos Kassianou, was the Junior Masters Champion of Champions, with a score of 163/175, dropping only 13 points over the three events.
The weekend’s Highgun winners were: Ladies—Tammy Henshall 260/285; Veterans—Glen Castellaro 271/285; Juniors—Kassianou 260/285; C Grade—Chris Mollica 234/285; B Grade—Viney 261/285; A Grade—O’Neill 261/285; AA Grade—Ben De Pedro 296/311 and the Overall Highgun was Patmore, who finished with a score of 276/285.—contributed
