QLD State Titles 2011

Townsville Clay Target Club has a well earned reputation for being one of the hardest grounds in Australia to shoot on.This is mainly due to the close proximity of the rocky hillside which forms a disruptive backdrop for the targets and also creates swirling eddies of wind which wreak havoc on the targets thrown by the ageing white flyer traps. The conditions made it impossible to predict a clear winner, with the high gun favourite changing with every round. Of the 65 or so shooters across 450 targets (including the sub gauges), only 10 times was the red chalk applied to the score board for any 50 straights.

Despite the extremely challenging conditions there were some truly remarkable shooting achievements that took place during the event and it was a real test of nerves and fortitude for many.

Thursday saw the start of the pre-state multi-gauge event commencing with the 20 gauge which saw Nick Aird off to a great start by posting the first 50 straight on the board (having shot it with a 28 gauge).

20 Gauge Pre-State Multi Gauge

Overall Nick Aird Brisbane 50/50
AA 2nd Glenn Walker Brisbane 57/58
A 1st Paulette Walker Brisbane 49/50
A 2nd Frank Cooper Caboolture 48/50
B 1st Thomas Rhue Caboolture 47/50
B 2nd Joe Davis Charters Towers 44/50
C 1st Rob Peno Charters Towers 48/50
C 2nd Rob Hunter 43/50

Increasingly windy conditions saw the start of the 28 gauge and another 6 squads tackle the variable targets. Three shooters achieved a credible 49/50 and a shoot off between Mark Fanning, Lorraine Hughes and Nigel Hughes saw Mark Fanning as the eventual winner after a doubles shoot off.

28 Gauge Pre State Multi Gauge

Overall Mark Fanning Brisbane 57/58
AA 2nd Nigel Hughes Caboolture 56/58
A 1st Laurie Rodden Pioneer 47/50
A 2nd Mathew Rhue Caboolture 50/56
B 1st Sarah Bennett Dubbo 46/50
B 2nd Henry Haythorpe Townsville 46/54
C 1st Rob Hunter Townsville 47/54
C 2nd Ralph Escriva 46/54

The last event of the day saw the 6 squads of shooters approach the .410 gauge event with the usual trepidation that .410g shooting brings plus the added pressure of the target variability and swirling afternoon breeze. A doubles shoot off with Nick Aird and Glenn Walker ran for four stations before Nick emerged the winner.

410 Gauge Pre State Multi Gauge

Overall Nick Aird Brisbane 54/58
AA 2nd Glenn Walker Brisbane 53/58
A 1st Frank Cooper Caboolture 45/50
A 2nd Paulette Walker Brisbane 43/50
B 1st Adam Bozier Bundaberg 40/50
B 2nd Jim Storch Blackwater 38/50
C 1st Ron Peno Charters Towers 40/54
C 2nd Ray Bourne Blackwater 39/54

Friday 16th September and the final event of the pre state multi gauge with a 50 target 12 gauge event. The squad numbers increased to 12 squads with many people using this event as an ‘eye opener’ for the QCTA State event. Only one perfect score was posted being that of Laurie Sceresini who was the overall winner.

12 gauge pre state

Overall Laurie Sceresini Toowoomba 50/50
AA 2nd Harry Bader Cecil Park 55/56
A 1st Laurie Rodden Pioneer 53/54
A 2nd Frank Cooper Caboolture 52/54
B 1st Sarah Bennett Dubbo 49/50
B 2nd Thomas Rhue Caboolture 50/52
C 1st Jim Davis Charters Towers 49/54
C 2nd Rob Hunter 46/50

The pre state multi gauge event resulted in an overall win for Mark Fanning (Brisbane) with a score of 190/200.

Friday afternoon saw the commencement of the QCTA State Skeet Carnival. The winds had not abated and 13 squads of shooters approached event 1, the 50 target handicap, with high hopes of great scores. At the end of the 50 targets only one perfect score was posted by Lorraine Hughes. 15 shooters were called to the first round of the shoot offs and the local knowledge paid off with the final results being:

1st Errol Reeves Townsville 122/122
2nd Des Barber Townsville121/122
3rd Aaron Knowle Gold Coast 92/93
4th Thomas Rhue Caboolture 90/94
5th Geoff Bryant Roma 90/92

Saturday’s event was the hotly contested 100 target State Title event. This was shot in two waves of 50 targets each. No perfect score was achieved but an extremely credible 99/100 was shot by both Nick Aird and Shane Bennett. Everyone took their positions to watch the shoot off. Station 1 was cleaned by both shooters and station two saw Shane Bennett miss the high two of the pair.A dejected Shane stood back and waited for Nick to take his shots on station two but a surprise result for Shane, when Nick Aird missed both targets of his pair after the unpredictable wind saw his high two target head for low ground at high speed!

100 Target State Title

Overall Shane Bennett Dubbo 106/108
AA 1st Nick Aird Brisbane 105/108
AA 2nd Laurie Sceresini Toowoomba 103/106
A 1st Errol Reeves Townsville 97/100
A 2nd Wayne Reeves Normanton 96/100
B 1st Joe Davis Charters Towers 100/105
B 2nd Adam Bozier Bundaberg 99/105
C 1st Jim Davis Charters Towers 90/100
C 2nd Ron Peno Charters Towers 87/100
Veterans Pat Duty Townsville 93/100
Ladies Sarah Bennett Dubbo 94/100
Juniors Adam Bozier Bundaberg 99/105

The result of the handicap event plus the 100 target event saw the selection of the top 15 shooters to shoot another 50 targets for selection of the top 5 shooters to represent their state.
Open Team: 1. Nick Aird, 2. ErrolReeves, 3. Laurie Sceresini, 4. Craig O’Neill, 5. Laurie Chelepy.
Ladies Team: 1. Lorraine Hughes, 2. Debbie Young 3. Tracey Ashton.
Veterans Team: 1. Pat Dury 2. Neil Dimmick 3. Doug Killick.

Sunday 18th September and the final day of the event and the inaugural State Title 20 gauge event. Three perfect scores were posted by Lorraine Hughes, Laurie Sceresini and Debbie Young. A short shoot off and an unpredictable high-one saw the end of both Debbie and Lorraine for Laurie to emerge the victor.

20 Gauge State Title

Overall Laurie Sceresini Toowoomba 51/51
AA 1st Lorraine Hughes Caboolture 50/51
AA 2nd Glenn Walker Brisbane 49/50
A 1st Debbie Young Gold Coast 50/51
A 2nd Aaron Knowles Gold Coast 49/51
B 1st Thomas Rhue Caboolture 46/50
B 2nd Adam Bozier Bundaberg 45/50
C 1st Ron Peno Charters Towers 46/50
C 2nd Clarence Davis Charters Towers 53/50
Ladies Sarah Bennett Dubbo 47/50
Veterans Neil Dimmick Gold Coast 48/50
Juniors Thomas Rhue Caboolture 46/50

The final event of the day was the 50 target doubles.With only 1 or 2 targets separating the top 6 or 7 shooters it was anyone’s guess who would emerge the winner of the overall high gun. No perfect scores were posted but Shane Bennett shot the only 49/50 to finish off a very successful weekend of shooting and saw him take home his second silver badge of the weekend. Three shooters shot a 47/50 being Craig O’Neill, Lorraine Hughes and Nigel Hughes who walked to the shoot off layout. It was quickly down to just Lorraine and Nigel and with a fair amount of jeering and comments from the crowd an entertaining shoot off continued.

State Doubles Event

Overall Shane Bennett Dubbo 49/50
AA 1st Mark Fanning Brisbane 48/50
AA 2nd Lorraine Hughes Caboolture 55/58
A 1st Mick McGill Mount Isa 50/54
A 2nd Wayne Reeves Normanton 51/56
B 1st Rob Hunter Townsville 50/58
B 2nd Damien Perreira Wagga Wagga 49/58
C 1st Ron Peno Charters Towers 39/50
C 2nd Ray Bourne Blackwater 38/52
Ladies Vere Storch Blackwater 43/50
Juniors Thomas Rhue Caboolture 40/50
Veterans Neil Dimmick Gold Coast 44/50

The doubles resulted in an equal score of 241/250 for both Nick Aird and Laurie Sceresini, with Mark Fanning, Craig O’Neill, Shane Bennett and Lorraine Hughes all deliberating the one or two separating them from the chance of the shoot off for overall high gun.A quick change of tubes to 20 gauge and a shoot off bracket commenced with Nick Aird being the eventual winner at the end of one bracket.

Overall High Guns

Overall Nick Aird Brisbane 254/264
AA Laurie Sceresini Toowoomba 251/264
A Errol Reeve Townsville 236/250
B Thomas Rhue Caboolture 227/250
C Jim Davis Charters Towers 226/250
Veterans Neil Dimmick Gold Coast 251/278
Juniors Adam Bozier Bundaberg 222/250
Ladies Lorraine Hughes Caboolture 239/250

Click on Thumbnail images:

The 2011 High All Around winner was Mark Fanning of Brisbane Gun Club with a score of 430/450.

Our thanks to the sponsors being Glenn Walker, Paulette Walker, Mike Swale and Pat Dury.

Townsville Gun Club did an excellent job of hosting a great carnival and we look forward to even more inter-state shooters attending the easily accessible State Carnival in Brisbane in September 2012.

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