THE new year went off with a bang in all respects. The attendance for Dunoon and District Clay Target Club traditional opening shoot of the year was exceptional, with 46 senior, two ladies and three junior guns taking part.
Prize-winners: Leighton Reid, Alan Brown, Archie MacBride, Donny MacPhail, Alvaro Pieri, James Milton, Fiona Pieri, Alison Brown and Ian Smith.
The weather was mixed on Monday January 2 for the 50-clay down the line competition, but did not affect the standard of the shooting, which was excellent, with five maximum 75 ex 75 scores in the individual rounds. The difficulty was the shortness of daylight, with the last lines shot in near dark conditions.
The John Jacobson Trophy was presented by an American serving at the Holy Loch base, and is by tradition the first open shoot of the year. It was a period when local shoots had record fields with many keen servicemen joining the local clubs.
The Cowal clay target clubs continue to welcome entrants from a wide area. It is not easy to run successful shoots and the clubs rely on a small band of helpers, too often the same persons. Clearly the quality of targets and the support organisation is appreciated – evident in the high attendance.