What a difference a few hours can make! Shooters were greeted with a bitterly cold -3°C start at Melbourne Gun Club on Saturday morning, but those who braved the freezing conditions were rewarded with a magnificent winter’s day. The sun came out, temperatures climbed, and while a light breeze kept competitors thinking throughout the day, conditions became just about perfect for a great day’s shooting.
A total of 43 nominated shooters contested the three-event DTL program, with excellent scores recorded across all grades.
A special welcome back to Ben De Pedro, who returned after spending six weeks travelling throughout Europe. Ben certainly hadn’t lost his touch, taking out both the 30 Target Point Score with a superb 89/90 and the 30 Target Single Barrel with 29/30. It was a fantastic return to competition and great to have Ben back at the club.
The final event of the day belonged to Fergus Connon from Werribee Victorian Clay Target Club, who produced the only perfect score of the day with a flawless 40/40 in the Double Barrel event as the shadows rolled across the trap layouts.
Event Winners
30 Target Point Score
* AA Grade & OA: 1st Ben De Pedro (Melbourne) 89/90, 2nd Fergus Connon (WVCTC) 88/90
* A Grade: 1st Steven Howlett (Woods Point GC) 87/90, 2nd Hayley Carlesso (WVCTC) 86/90
* B Grade: 1st Owen Spencer (Euroa) 82/90, 2nd Steven Ziegler (Mornington CTC) 80/90
* C Grade: 1st Steve Pellegrino (Melbourne) 73/90, 2nd Peter Price (Melbourne) 72/90
30 Target Single Barrel
* AA Grade & OA: 1st Ben De Pedro (Melbourne) 29/30, 2nd Craig Henwood (Melbourne) 28/30
* A Grade: 1st Malcolm Carr (Melbourne) 28/30, 2nd Dallas Ball (Melbourne) 27/30
* B Grade: 1st Billy Woodward (Nepean) 27/30, 2nd Maddi Gilmore (Morwell) 26/30
* C Grade: 1st Steve Pellegrino (Melbourne) 24/30, 2nd Brendon de Schwartz (Melbourne) 22/30
40 Target Double Barrel
* AA Grade & OA: 1st Fergus Connon (WVCTC) 40/40, 2nd Ben De Pedro (Melbourne) 39/40
* A Grade: 1st Greg Powell (WVCTC) 38/40, 2nd Dallas Ball (Melbourne) 38/40 (after shoot-off)
* B Grade: 1st Steven Ziegler (Mornington CTC) 38/40, 2nd Lachlan Devine (Melbourne) 38/40 (after shoot-off)
* C Grade: 1st Brendon de Schwartz (Melbourne) 35/40, 2nd Peter Price (Melbourne) 33/40
Congratulations to Brendon de Schwartz on his first ever win! Well done Brendon!
A huge thank you goes to Brian Tridgell and Glenn Clarke, who looked after our Corporate Day visitors. The group had a fantastic experience, with Brian and Glenn ensuring everyone enjoyed a safe, fun and memorable introduction to clay target shooting. Thank you both for giving up your time to help showcase our great sport.
The clubhouse was the place to be after the shooting had finished. Congratulations to Judith, who was the lucky winner of the meat tray raffle. Unfortunately, she couldn’t uncover the elusive Joker, meaning the jackpot continues for next week’s draw.
As always, the scores only tell part of the story. Once the guns were packed away, many members and visitors stayed around the clubhouse to enjoy a well-earned cold drink, warm up after the freezing start and catch up with friends. There was plenty of discussion about the tricky breeze that kept shooters honest throughout the day, along with plenty of laughs, stories and friendly banter. It’s this great camaraderie that continues to make Melbourne Gun Club one of the friendliest places to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Congratulations to all of our winners and placegetters, and thank you to everyone who attended and helped make it another successful day’s shooting.
Next Saturday at Melbourne Gun Club
Join us again next Saturday for another fantastic day’s shooting featuring:
* 50 Target Double Barrel
* 50 Target Handicap
* 100 Target Universal Trench
The DTL events will provide the perfect warm-up for those heading to the Zone Shoot at Nepean the following weekend.
Universal Trench competitors will also be shooting for an extra prize, with Noel Bienvenu generously donating a slab of shotgun shells for the Highest Scoring Junior in the 100 Target UT event. Thank you Noel for your continued support of our junior shooters.
We look forward to seeing everyone back at Melbourne Gun Club next Saturday for another great day of competition, friendship and plenty of clay target shooting.