High temps and a high number of shooters were the highlights of the July match here in Northeast Ohio. We had a record 41 shooters come and join us, along with sunny skies and temps nearing the 90s. The humidity was the real killer though, the air was thick and I am sure many shooters left more than their fair share of sweat on the course.
Thankfully back in the woods, it was a bit cooler and very dark. So dark in fact, many of the darker targets all but disappeared into the background. The ground had dried up considerably since our last match, making things a lot less muddy. All shooters were in squads of 3, with the exception of one 2-person squad. It was a pretty slow moving day, with most of the shooters being on the course for the better part of 4 hours.
Between the longer match time, the heat and the humidity, the course took a toll on most. With 14 shots beyond 40 yards and a few of the closer targets getting reduced, the course was more treacherous than ever, but we still saw a lot of great scores. The troyer factor was a 32.5 for the course once lighting was factored in.
Hunter PCP was pretty tight at the top, with Dennis Himes edging out Jeff Little by just two shots and putting in another impressive score of 57/60. Ray Halt and Tim Baylor weren’t far behind, shooting 51 and 50 respectively. In Hunter Piston, Dan Putz put up a solid 40 to take the title for the day, Eric Jones was just a few behind on 37.
Gary Palinkas from Florida stopped by on his way up north to the Crosman match, he won Open PCP with a fantastic 55. Ray Apelles came down from New York and shot a solid 44 in WFTF Piston. And in WFTF PCP Tyler Patner shot a nearly clean 59/60, dropping just one 55 yard shot for the day.
We had 4 Junior shooters with us, one shooting in Hunter PCP and the rest shooting our Junior division where they take all 4 shots at the close target on each lane. Natalie Putz was the lone Junior shooting in Hunter PCP, and she made it clear that she will be a force to be reckoned with very soon, posting a fantastic 44! Our winner in the Junior Division was Owen Coss, with an awesome 25/60 with a BSA R10. Keep in mind, on some lanes, the close target is as far as 48 yards, so these kids really have their work cut out for them.
Thanks to all who came out and made this our best attended match so far. We are blessed to have such great attendance and such enthusiastic shooters in our area. We hope that everyone enjoyed the day and we look forward to seeing everyone again, at our next match, August 19th.
