It was nice to see wall-to-wall sunshine taking precedence on 20-21 April over the wintry weather we were rather more used to.
This showed in the entry field, with more than 100 shooters taking part in the UK UT Championship at Beverley Clay Target Centre.
This was the first UT Championship for 2013 after Rugby had been cancelled owing to snow only two weeks ago.
Day one saw Rod Gould and Darren Newton fighting for pole position, both shooting 25 straight.
Darren followed this up with another 25, taking the lead further and eventually finishing day one on 97.
It was good to see David Kirk out and about after a short lay-off as he finished day one in equal second with Rod Gould on 94.
Veteran John Lewis took an early lead in the veteran category on 93, followed closely by Arnie Cliffe on 90.
Super-veteran John Winn led his category on 92, pushed closely by Mike Keyes on 91.
Abbey Burton took a commanding lead in the ladies, shooting 87 – seven points clear of second-placed Anne Phillips on 80.
In the juniors, Owen Hastings led the way with 88, but he was closely followed by Jack Wilkinson on 87. All was to play for on day two.
So close: Chris Tate and Ed Ling fell just short of a winning score
Sunday saw a slight change in the weather: the wind started to pick up and it was not as bright as day one.
Darren kicked off with a 24, but Rod Gould and Ed Ling pushed on with a 25 straight.
Eventually they both pushed ahead of Darren, who had a slight hiccup on round 7, forcing him down the leaderboard.
Super-veteran John Winn shot 50 straight on rounds 6 and 7 was the only man left to chase Rod for the title, but unfortunately it was not to be on John’s last round, so Rod scooped the 2013 title on on 190.
Ladies saw no change at the top: Abbey shot an 89 on Sunday, meaning she won the ladies title by 11 points.
Veteran Raymond ‘Sooty’ Sutton started to forge forward and eventually took the title, shooting 182, followed closely by John Lewis and Ken Grime, who both put up a great challenge but unfortunately lost out to Ray by two points.
The junior title was another closely fought battle, between Owen Hastings and Jack Wilkinson.
It eventually went down to the last round, but Jack’s experience in this discipline finally shone through and he took the title for a second year, shooting 174, two points clear of Owen.
Thanks must go to Ian Patterson and his team at Beverley for a well presented and trouble-free shoot.
Also, thanks must go to the new catering team at Beverley – Jackie and her team in the canteen did a splendid job catering for all with her homemade cakes.
For full results, visit www.beverleyctc.co.uk.
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