By John Wood
Woods Point Gun Club held its first competition for 2020 coinciding with the club’s AGM which saw John Wood retire after 46 years as president, while welcoming new president Daniel Chinn.
The meeting was followed by the first shot of the year, the Eye Opener, at 10am. Unusually, each competition grade in the EO was won by a single shooter. Robert Bevis won AA Grade, 28/30, Phillip Woods in A Grade, 30/30, Chuck Lay in B Grade, 30/30 and Kirsten Chinn in C. Grade, 30/30.
After blowing out the rust from 2019, the first championship for the year was the 25 target Hector Stewart Memorial. B Grade Veteran shooter Geoff Hill was in fine form to shoot the only perfect 25/25 score to take the first championship sash for 2020 outright.
Mick Ward had his first prize for the year with a win in AA Grade, 26/27 after a shoot off with Daniel Chinn, AA Grade 2nd, 25/27. A good start by Marty McLaughlin saw him take A Grade, 24/25 from Phillip Woods, 19/25.
Geoff Hill’s 25/25 easily won him B Grade followed by Shawn Wood, 30/31, after a keen shoot off against Laurie Poile 29/31. John Desmond’s 24/25 won him C Grade with Kirsten Chinn 2nd, 26/31 after spirited competition from Ron Press, 25/31.
The 25 target Jamieson Double Barrel Points Decision Championship saw another fine win by Geoff Hill, again winning outright, 74/75. Mick Ward again won AA Grade 73/75, Phillip Desmond 2nd, 71/75. In A Grade Phillip Woods and Marty McLaughlin swapped spots with Woods 1st, 68/75, from McLaughlin 2nd, 67/75, while in B Grade, no one could beat Hill’s 74/75, Poile 2nd, 66/75.
Another twist to the tail occurred in C Grade with Kirsten Chinn winning 79/31, from John Desmond 2nd, 78/31.
The 20 target Gaffneys Creek Handicap followed, bringing the abilities of the various shooters closer with the experienced shooters shooting further away from the clay target release point and it came to show in this event.
The overall winner was a relative newcomer to the sport, Justin Broderick who was C Grade 15 metres taking the championship sash, 20/21, from a AA Grade 24 metre shooter, Rob Bevis. 19/21. Ward, Poile, Wood and Hill all went into a shoot off for the 3rd and 4th places with Ward 3rd, 24/28 and Hill 4th 23/28.
Geoff Hill capped of a great day’s shooting by taking the Overall High Gun sash, sponsored by Chuck and Linda Lay, with an excellent score of 116/120
The yearly High Guns for 2019 were presented with Daniel Chinn taking the overall Trophy and the Grade sashes by Phillip Desmond in AA, Allan Kidd in A, Laurie Poile in B and Justin Broderick in C. Well deserved rewards for the club’s top shooters in 2019.
Woods Point Gun Club host shoots on the fourth Sunday of every month and they welcome visitors to come and learn about clay target shooting. The next shoot will take place on Sunday 23 February at 9.30am.
