"I’m not sure how it feels, it really hasn’t hit me yet." said Joey Bolton of his U.S. Open championship title. The 2010 NSCA U.S. Open was to be held at The Willow’s Sporting Clays in Tunica, Mississippi June 1-6. As the date approached torrential rains had covered the mid-south and the clubs grounds, being on a Mississippi River flood plane, were swiftly covered. However, the Willows is operated by Harrah’s Tunica Casino so new and dry grounds were quickly found among their huge complex. NSCA director Robert Crow and others vetted the new site with only about 10 days to go before the date.
Through much effort the event took place on time and saw shooters from across the country enjoying good targets and competition. The biggest complaints I have heard were of the hot, humid weather and the chiggers. The chiggers probably couldn’t believe their luck! "The shoot was ran first class for being put on in such short time." said Bolton. Surely it was a huge undertaking and shooters can thank shoot managers Barry Kelly and Paul Porter, Lois Lessing from Wyshotgun.com and target setters Hayward Cunningham, Jamie Peckham, Chuck Frazier and Ed Prechael for pulling it off.
Ladies Champ Ashleigh Hafley summed up the event rather well, "The Open was a good shoot for me. I had a great time. I felt that Barry and the staff at The Willows did an excellent job especially dealing with the time constraints that they had. Honestly, it’s hard enough for a club to hold an event like the Open and handle that many people. Can you imagine having to get everything ready in ten days? Not me. We’re lucky as shooters to have a club that was willing and capable of doing just what they accomplished. No other gun club could have done it"
The 200 target event was thrown over three days on three separate courses, Red, White and Blue. The 66 target White course proved to be the most technical of the three yielding only two scores in the 60′s. White course target setter Heyward Cunningham from Promatic said he set the course for a score of 63. When asked if he had a philosophy on setting targets Cunningham said, "You’ve got people from the age of 10 years old all the way to the age of 80 years old shooting so you have to make sure it’s fair for everybody. Which means, always make sure they can see it, always make sure they have plenty of time to shoot at it. So if you can do those two things everybody will enjoy the targets. So you make sure everybody has plenty of time to shoot at it and it’s not an eye contest to see it."
As to the White course itself Cunningham said, "Every station was very unique on that course. It was a U.S. Open, I didn’t go in there and set fun shoot targets, I went in there and set championship targets. Each station was a championship station. I kept everything about even all the way through. I didn’t throw a few gimme stations in there and a couple of hard stations, I kept it pretty well the same pace all the way through." He added, "That’s what makes a championship shooter, is being consistent and being able to do it station after station and concentrate and focus and put it together for that whole 12 stations. That’s what the U.S. Open is all about, being the best of the best."
"What I did with the White course, I didn’t throw any targets I wouldn’t throw anywhere else, I just pushed your comfort zone. Instead of throwing it at 20 to 25 yards, I threw it at 30 to 35 yards, just outside your comfort zone which made you have to work a little bit harder to read that target…These people paid for championship targets and that’s what I gave them." said Cunningham. By all accounts it was a phenomenal course that the shooter’s enjoyed very much along with the other two courses set by Chuck Frazier and Jamie Peckham, also two excellent setters.
Champ Joey Bolton, who shot one of the two scores in the 60′s on White, a 62 won the event with a 187 ex 200. He was three targets clear of RU Kevin De Michiel and five clear of M1 Gebben Miles. The other 60 on White was by Andy Duffy who crossed the wire in M4 position. When asked about his excellent shooting this year Bolton said, "I guess it’s mostly the fact that I’m having fun, even when under extreme pressure, that has really been keeping me at the top lately."
Next years U.S. Open is scheduled to take place May 17-22 at M&M Hunting Preserve and Sporting Clays in Pennsville, NJ with targets by Anthony Matarese Jr. For the full set of scores see:
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