An all round triumph

Posted on August 17, 2019 by towens — No Comments ↓

The English Open and British Open All Round titles at Doveridge offered shooters an exciting and varied challenge, Lloyd Pattison reports

Richard King defended his English Open All Round title in fine style at Doveridge Shooting Ground on 8 June, shooting an impressive 99 ex-100 in pretty awful weather to lift the trophy again.

“You need to beat everybody, but sometimes you need to beat the weather too, and it’s not often you can do that,” commented Richard, whose only miss happened on his second ABT layout. Conditions were cold, wet and windy. Dim light and heavy rain affected visibility, and targets were pushed around by the wind.

“I thought 96 was going to be the winning score, but I just had one of those days,” said Richard, after beating that score by a full three targets. “I shot early-to-mid morning when conditions weren’t too bad, just steady light rain. There were some heavier bursts later – I wouldn’t like to have been out in that!”

Richard added that he shoots mainly Sporting and Sportrap. “But I do dabble with a bit of Trap and Skeet,” he said. “I shoot them all really.”

Second place went to Colin Will with 96 and third was Anthony Dean on 91. A shoot-off decided the Ladies with Charlotte Kitchen beating Julie Burton after they tied on 83. Graham Stirzaker took the Veterans trophy by a narrow margin with 90.

The following day brought the British Open All Round – and a complete change of weather. Doveridge’s swans and peacocks came out of hiding to enjoy the sunshine, adding some colour to the lovely grounds.

Graham Stirzaker set the pace with an early 97, which was at the top of the leader board for almost the whole day until Jack Thompson returned to the clubhouse having recorded a 98, his only misses being a teal on the Sporting and a single ABT bird.

Richard King rounded out the top three with a 96. Jack commented that the light was more consistent on this second day, which he felt made a big difference. First and foremost a Trap shooter, Jack also enjoys a bit of Sporting, leading him to comment, “this discipline is ideal for me.”

The Ladies trophy was taken by Julie Burton on 78, while the second and third spots were settled in a shoot-off on DTL between Liz Shanks and Hazel Denny. After a tense round, Hazel took second place, edging out Liz by two clays.