Strong performance from Great Southern shooters at Albany’s annual Australia Day long weekend competition

Albany Clay Target Club hosted its annual open trap carnival shooting competition at the weekend, drawing competitors from across the State for three days of action. The competition was split into seven competitions dictated by the number of targets shot, the type of gun and the distance competitors shoot from, and Great Southern competitors won titles in five out of these seven categories. Competitors are scored out of 385, and shoot roughly 310 targets to score one, two or three points for each shot. If two competitors end up with equal scores, they face a shoot-off to find an ultimate winner for the category. It was a winning weekend for Great Southern shooters, with Albany’s Ray Hawke winning A-grade in the high gun competition with 369 points out of 385 and Denmark shooter Tegan Standley picking up best female shooter with 342 out of 385. Hopetoun’s Bernie Biddulph also clinched the top spot in B-grade. Club president Bryn Westerberg took out the open grade in the 25-target point competition, and Albany father and son team Leon and Ben Whittle followed this up with wins in both the AA and A-grades. A-grade in the 75-target medley was won by Albany member Ollie McPartland, and C-grade in the 30-target single barrel went to new Albany member Steven Jones. Denmark’s Nathan Blake picked up a win in the open division in the Stirling range 50 target double barrel to finish the weekend. Club treasurer Brad Williams said the event was a great success overall, with more than 80 competitors registering across the seven categories. “It was a great weekend, it’s our major event for the year and it’s a big event for a small club but we’re well supported by our membership to get it all running,” he said. “There was an increased turnout from last year, and we’ve been gaining membership down here at the Albany club, so the sport is definitely doing well. “The first day of competition was challenging for competitors because of the heat — it measured 43 degrees at midday out at the club grounds. “It did cool down over the weekend though and we had no issues with wind or anything else. “We received very positive feedback from everyone at the end of the weekend and the standard of competition was very high, which is always great to see.”