For our 2011 NSCA National Sporting Clays Championship coverage we talk with event Runner Up Zach Kienbaum from California.  It proved a good time to talk with Zach as the year is winding down and I’ve wanted to hear his story for a while.  It also turned out that event champion Bill McGuire is like some kind of phantom, we just could not get a hold of him.  What you may not know about Zach is, he is probably the winningest sporting shot this year.  He has a knack for getting a podium spot almost every time he picks up his gun and it’s just a matter of time before the center spot will be his.

International Sporting Clays:  How had your year been, going into the nationals?
 
Zach Kienbaum:  Heading into Nationals my year was going very well after some early season inconsistency.  Until May of this year, I had been shooting a new High Rib Perazzi MX2000/3 with mixed results.  A few very strong scores coupled with very mediocre scores.  After frustrating myself all the way into the end of April, I decided the Saturday night of the World English Sporting Championship to switch back to my flat rib MX2000/8.  My scores turned around, literally overnight.  After a good Sunday in San Antonio, we started shooting events in Houston for the Triple Classic at Rio Brazos on Tuesday.  I shot well in just about every event all week, making the Super Final in the FITASC and Main.  I finished 3rd Over All just behind Wendell Cherry with George Digweed winning handily. 

The US Open at M&M started just about a week after the Triple Classic and I managed to take Runner Up in the Main Event there.  With my new found confidence I turned in consecutive Podium finishes at the Texas State, California State, Fossil Classic, Diamond Classic, Alaska State, Western Open, Lobster Classic, and Targetline Cup.

While never feeling like I shot my absolute best, I could feel myself getting stronger as a competitor and felt better than ever heading into Nationals.  I knew I had a better shot than just about anyone going in, and my hat’s off to Bill McGuire on some outstanding shooting. I shot good enough to win on most weeks but Bill handled the pressure best and turned in an unbelievable score.  I put myself in position to win on a lot of Sundays in 2011 and know that in the future I’m going to feel even more comfortable there and get my fair share of wins.

ISC:  How did the Nationals targets compare to previous years?

ZK:  I honestly felt that this years Main Event targets were probably the best targets I have ever shot in San Antonio and I’ve been attending since 1991. With a shoot that size it’s impossible for them to please everybody and this year they definitely got as close as possible to that.  Especially in the Main Event.  With last year being quite possibly the hardest ever Nationals targets, this years targets were well thought out, extremely fair, creative and fun with just the right amount of difficult targets that truly tested your entire game and separated the top shooters.

ISC: Any particular target or course stand out in your mind as being a favorite?

ZK:  My favorite course at Nationals would have to be Neil Chadwick’s Orange Course.  This was probably my favorite Chadwick course ever and I’ve been shooting Neil’s targets since the mid 1990′s.  He’s not afraid to throw a lot of faster on edge quartering targets and this year there was none of that.  They were all visible and he threw a great mix of hittable yet demanding presentations.  Mike McAlpine’s Red Course was another standout in my opinion.

ISC:  Tell us about your hardest miss or station.

ZK:  My hardest station would have to have been what I think was Station 4 on Red late Sunday Afternoon.  It was a True Pair off a tower from Left to Right and only one of two stands where I missed more than one target all week.  I wasn’t confident in my plan stepping into the box and missed three. It was a tricky pair with both targets being very different in both speed and line and my eyes and hands went after the wrong bird initially on the very first pair.  This frustrated me as I hadn’t let that happen all week.  Brad Kidd joked later that night at dinner that if he had led that stand off for our squad, we might be back there now shooting off with Bill.  Haha.

ISC:  What about the difficulty of the targets?  There were a few straights, fantastic shooting obviously but was it too soft?

ZK:  As I stated earlier I thought the Main Event was perfect.  The straight in the K-Kup was great shooting.  That course had more than a few targets that were easily missed.  What some people don’t understand is the level of competition in the U.S. is becoming drastically better.  You put all of the countries best, shooting 100 target events over an entire week and some of the scores turned in are going to be quite memorable. 

Weather can also be a factor.  You have to get a little bit lucky in the side events at Nationals and get a start time where the temperature, wind and sun play into your favor.  The only course I thought that needed to test you just a bit more would be the 28 Gauge/.410 Course.  The 5-Stand and FITASC layouts could have been a bit stiffer as well but what are you going to really do on flat Skeet fields?  The 20 Gauge course was another standout as having some great targets that really tested you.

ISC:  As a rule should Championship targets be set really stiff?

ZK:  I don’t necessarily think that Championship targets should be set overly stiff.  Different people consider different targets stiff.  The best setters can beat you close and beat you far.  I just feel targets need to be fair to everyone.  Visible yet challenging.  We saw some great courses on the circuit in 2011 with my favorites being the US Open, Nationals Main, and Triple Classic.

ISC:  Sounds like there were some big delays on the FITASC parcours.  What’s your take on that?

ZK:  There were some big delays on FITASC this year with it going to New Style for the first time.  What’s funny is that my squad shot it in about two hours on Saturday morning at 8:00 AM.  That was an exception and not the rule though as some flights I heard took over four hours to complete.  This I think can be attributed to people’s first time shooting the different type of layout and some people not knowing exactly where some Parcours started and ended.

ISC:  How important is a Nationals win to you?

ZK:  A National Main Event win is important to me and I firmly believe I’ll get one.  I also feel just as importantly in staying consistent and being a contender to win major events on an annual basis is just as important when judging a career.  I feel the three and four day tournaments like the U.S. Open and Nationals are my strength because of my type of game.  I just try to shoot solid scores on every round and know if I do my part I’ll be right there in the end.

ISC:  You had toyed with using a high-rib gun and went back to the low rib.  Are you going to stick with that next year?

ZK:  My High Rib experiment is definitely over.  What people need to start to think about when trying out these type of ribs is what type of method or style they predominantly shoot.  If you look around at the shooters that are truly excelling with that type of setup, they are all shooters that really let the target come to the gun and make a very minimal move to a break point.  What’s the whole point of a high rib?  To see less muzzle and effectively see the target better.  There is no question that it helps in that regard.

For me this was all true but on the flip side of that I could now see the target well but would lose track of the muzzle in my peripheral vision and miss targets having no clue as to where I was missing.  The style I shoot is to start near the bird in a predetermined spot, match speed, and move away into the lead.  All while keeping a sharp focus on the target.  The flat rib is immensely more visible peripherally therefore allowing my subconscious to never doubt where my muzzle is in relation to the target, effectively allowing me to look that much harder at the bird.  George Digweed and Richard Faulds shoot 32" flat rib Sporters.  Until somebody starts to beat them regularly using a high rib gun, we all need to use what the best are using.

ISC:  What’s your take on the overall state of the sport?

ZK:  My overall take on the sport is one of excitement.  That’s why I’m running for a spot on the NSCA Advisory Council.  We have a chance to hopefully tweak the game a bit in the next decade or so and make the sport more exciting and hopefully draw more people in.  It’s what I’ve done virtually my whole life and what I wholeheartedly plan on doing my next 30 years.  Let’s show the rest of America whats been such a well kept secret for so long. Sporting is the highest echelon of all shooting sports.

ISC:  What’s next for you?

ZK:  Next for me is the Southwest Championship in Tucson, AZ the first weekend in December.  That shoot should solidify my spot as Captain of the Open All American Team for 2012.  I try to never miss one of Tim Miles larger events if I can help it.  He’s a quality target setter with a lot of imagination and never disappoints.  After that I have a nice vacation to Mexico planned with my girlfriend and her family.  Christmas follows that and I’m booked teaching again the week of New Years at a good client’s private range near Santa Barbara, CA.  Life is good.

2011 NSCA National Championship Scores

A while back I had the chance to shoot the 2011 TargetLine Cup sporting clay tournament.  The event was held over the weekend of September 22-25 at Fossil Pointe Sporting Grounds in Slidell, Texas.  This is the second year I have shot in the event and again it did not disappoint.

I had some concerns about shooter numbers in the event as it had already been pushed back from May due to the large number of big events that were scheduled that month and now a late scheduled big money event in Arkansas was up against it.  Looking at registration numbers the weeks before the event it was clear the big money shoot was having an impact.  You know, I always hear out on the course that It ‘ain’t about the money’…yeah right.  Turns out that I need not have worried.  In the end the TargetLine still drew 211 total weekend competitors.  The reason for this is quality and commitment to the sport.  If you’ve been to Fossil Pointe or dealt with any of the TargetLine guys you know it’s going to be a first rate experience.  I can’t stress this enough, don’t miss an opportunity to shoot the TargetLine Cup, you WILL miss out on some of the best sporting anywhere.

The TargetLine Cup at Fossil Pointe is all about the fabulous terrain, excellent targets and 1st rate facilities.  The club house is amazing and was sporting a new food service area.  Some lovely ladies were serving up good burgers and fajitas to hungry shooters all weekend.  The terrain and layout of the courses is such that you get what seems like infinite looks.  You can be shooting a course on the same physical piece of  property today as you were yesterday and never know it after they move the stands and machines around.  Target quality is the best part though.  The combined talents of Steve Schultz and Tim Miles means you are never going to be bored.  If you want to challenge the consistency of your game come to this event.  I’m telling you, you cannot let up, you must build your score on these targets.  Even when they throw you something a little easier, you will soon learn what it means to focus.  All of this of course is run by club owner David Niederer and his wife Maryam, some of the nicest folks in the business.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omOFKdsO_Uo

The Super-Sporting and sub-gauge events had some good target variety.  The targets here were set by Jason Menke.  All of these side events were on the same shared course and I felt the Super-Sporting format wasn’t pushed as far as it could be because of this.  A nemesis target appeared here, a rabbit that was below your feet.  Time and again I shoot over these buggers but not this time.  I smacked them all except one where I sent the shot neatly in front.  Whatever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9JvmLrWWqM

The prelim courses had some nice birds on them and served as a nice warm up on what was to come for the weekend main courses.  The main event courses on Saturday and Sunday were very well thought out with lots of variety on offer.  Close stuff, long stuff, high stuff, low stuff, fast stuff, slow stuff they had it all.  I remember a nice low left to right crossing standard about 10 yards away appearing between some trees on the left then back out again on the right.  This was paired with a floppy incomer that came over some trees and dropped about 20-25 yards out.  Easy to get worried about these but if you focus they’re not hard.  Overall I felt the courses were perhaps just a bit easier than the 2010 event.

Another stand out target and maybe my favorite was a left to right crosser that rose out of a draw and flew over some bushes in front with some curl.  It had a sweet spot, it was right there, you just had to commit to it.  The setter was giving you this as a challenge to execute.  If you shot early or late forget it.  This was combined with a low, hot quartering incomer from the right that curled across to the left towards the draw, maybe 15 yards out.  It kind of hugged the land and the speed fooled you as it came in.  You mounted on it coming in expecting to pull easily in front but then it seemed to put on the gas, drop low and leave you looking.  You had to be a killer, a thug, if you wanted to hit it consistently.  I sent an ambush of 3 drams of Improved Mod 8 shot to do my dirty work.  There are four fresh graves on that station.  If you want to kill something, make sure it’s dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRufSI5WDy0

FITASC was fashionable as always.  Some of the layouts were set over familiar ground last being used at the 2009 Texas State FITASC Championship.  This was a mixed blessing for me.  Returning to P1 the scene of my disaster in 2009, I had a bit of dread.  I was right, I still don’t have ‘command’ of that layout if you will.  Returning to P2 was a joy.  This is a nice layout with a hill that juts out on your left and a rise to the back with plenty of trees to work with.  Wonderful targets here.  The standout target to me was a high long crosser off the hill to the left.  Mostly because in the singles I sent a clean miss down range and was able to wait patiently as it crossed behind a tall tree and then score a One on it.  Isn’t FITASC great?

P3 was in an open field with a shallow draw running through it.  It had some nice lazy curling birds, a long incoming teal like shot and a longish quartering out bird.  P4 was my favorite, though I didn’t shoot it well.  It had kind of a little valley that was in front of you, like you were looking at little tree tops.  There was a nice fast L to R crosser that flew the whole length of the thing, a rising going away long trap shot, a going away tower bird and a great floppy flying rabbit out front poking out of the trees.  FITASC officiating was handled ably by Mo Parsons and crew.  It was a unique experience having a different ref at each peg of an old style layout.  Did those guys get unionized?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqDUv6sjYzY

So who won?  Gebben Miles but only after a shoot off with Zach Kienbaum.  They both shot equal 94′s and 95′s on Saturday and Sunday respectively.  Consider that Zach went out after Gebben on Sunday knowing he needed 95 and shot it.  He’s done that a few times this year like it’s no problem or anything.  That guy doesn’t seem to be affected by pressure.  Katie Fox was Lady champ in the Main and the rest of the scores are at the link below.

2011 TargetLine Cup Scores at WinscoreOnline

The 2011 World Compak Sporting Championship wrapped up today in Foligno, Italy and was won by Cristobal Jose Jimenez Martinez of Spain.  Martinez edged out Konstantin Lelikov (RUS) in a shoot off for the win.  Current World FITASC Parcours de Chasse Champion Christophe Auvret (FRA) took 3rd after besting young Marco Battisti (ITA) in a shoot off for 3rd.  Also, it was one of the worst finished I can remember for Digweed.  He was T72!  Not sure what happened but he shot a 15 on the Guerini layout.

Other winners were…

Ladies:  1st Cheryl Hall (GBR), 2nd Inna Aleksandrova (RUS), 3rd Beatriz Laparra Cuenca (ESP).

Juniors:  1st Marco Battisti (ITA), 2nd Guillaume Gay (FRA), Javier Gonzalez Lopez (ESP).

Veterans:  1st Tie Franke (NLD), 2nd Giovanni Zamboni (ITA), Jean-Francois Loyen (FRA).

Super-Vets:  1st Alain Reyna (CHE), Eugenio Bruscolini (ITA), Ottorino Rovetta (ITA).

Team placements:

Seniors: GBR, ESP, ITA.

Ladies:  ITA, GBR, FRA.

Juniors:  FRA, ITA, GBR.

Veterans:  FRA, ESP, ITA.

Super-Vets:  FRA, ITA, GBR.

For full results see the FITASC WEBSITE.

In late May I took a little trip out to Dallas and was able to shoot over Labor Day weekend with my Father.  On Saturday we shot the Texas Open at Rock Creek Clays in Grandview, TX about an hour South of Fort Worth.  It’s a beautiful piece of property and they threw some decent targets on the pre-lim and main events with a few exceptions though.  There were a few stands affected by the wind where the targets didn’t quite make it in.  In one case even when the wind didn’t blow there was a silly left to right 50 yard plus looping target that popped out from behind the crown of a tree mid flight and never came in past 40 yards.  Lots of zero’s were scored there, including me and I have not carded a zero on a station in over 10 months.  That being said, it was an enjoyable shoot and I won my class.  Visiting California native Justin Fox took HOA with a 97.  Rock Creek is scheduled to hold the Texas State FITASC Championship in September and it should be an excellent shoot with such nice terrain and facilities to hold it on.

On Sunday we shot the Beretta Blast at Scott Robertson’s Elm Fork Shooting Sports park.  Being called a ‘Blast’ you might have guessed that it was an NSCA big blast with 200+ shooters and you’d be right.  At Elm Fork there are usually two 100 target courses on offer for competitions and you get a bit of a discount if you shoot them both.  It’s more money on shoot day but us Texans can’t get enough of clays crushing so most shot both courses.  The two courses at Elm Fork are the Woods course and the Meadows Course.  The Woods course is usually a little easier than the more open ground of the tougher Meadows course.  We started on the Meadows and the targets were nothing short of epic.  These were the best targets I have shot so far in 2011 bar none.

There was the right to left battue flying among the telephone poles, you had to pick your spot and trust it.  The deep left to right quartering away trap shot combined with a left to right crossing looper into the top of a tree.  The rabbit that would roll over two small dirt mounds…or maybe go behind them.  The elevated shooting position with a dead on eye level incomer from a small platform in front that faded to the right at the end.  That one was combined with a fast right to left crosser on report, great shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ133wFYbE0

?hd=1

I was shooting pretty well but I just couldn’t get a straight on any of the 13 stations dropping one or two the whole way.  In the end I wound up 6th in class after dropping four birds on the last station.  I know it’s up to me to connect with the target no matter what but some shooters need to learn to shut the hell up when others are in the box.  Talking about lead at the top of your lungs after someone calls pull is like talking in the back swing of a golf shot, it’s rude.  Anyway top score on the Meadows course was a 97 by young Zach Charbula.

On the Woods course which we shot in the afternoon after lunch we encountered the expected easier targets.  I was fading fast as the max number of targets I can really concentrate on in a day is 150.  I still managed to get three straights on the course and finished two birds up on my Meadows course score.  Wasn’t good enough though and I finished 7th in class.  High gun on the Woods course was posted by Kyler Ford, another 97.

If you’re in the North Texas area and you get a chance to shoot at either Rock Creek or Elm Fork I highly recommend it.  At Elm Fork you’ll experience a busy high volume gun club and at Rock Creek you’ll experience the lower pressure ‘back 40′ feel.  Both are fun.  For complete scores please check the links provided above.

Thought I would share this video produced by the Polish outfit Parcours.PL TV.  It shows the Bronze Medal shoot off action in Orville, France between Anthony Matarese Jr. and Gregg Wolf. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU2oa-olDKA

I wanted to pass along this excellent video round up from the 2011 European FITASC Compak Sporting Championships which were held in Tallinn, Estonia June 17-19.  Newly crowned World FITASC Sporting champ Christophe Auvret was the winner here too.

For full results refer to the FITASC website.  Also check out the Tallinn 2011 website as well as their Facebook page.  Very well done job promoting this event Tallinn.

Frenchman Christophe Auvret has held on to a nearly perfect lead all weekend to win the 33rd World Parcours de Chasse Championship in Orville, France with 198ex200.  Auvret has been on fire since last year when he swept all of the French qualifiers and took the win at the 2010 Euro PCH Championship in Russia.  In 2011 he has claimed a French GP of Compak, French GP of Sporting, narrowly lost his second Euro PCH title in Spain to Marco Batisti and won the World Compak Sporting Championship in Estonia. 

Auvret led the World FITASC with a 100ex100 straight until Saturday where he dropped two birds on the first set of doubles on his first parcour of the day.  He set up on the wrong bird first.   He of course followed this up by straighting his last three parcours for the win.

2011 World FITASC Scores

The 2011 California Sporting Clays Championship got under way on a sunny Thursday morning in June.  The event scheduled for the 23rd through the 26th saw mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures after a week or so of hazy overcast conditions plagued the area around Triple B Clays Shotgun Sports Park the host club.  The club is located right in the greater Los Angeles area.  The event has a general rotation of Northern California one year and Southern California the next due to the geographic spread of the state.  However for the last two years the event had been held at a Northern California club.  This year marked the return of the event to the South and to even up the rotation will be held at a Southern California club (Mike Raahauges in Corona) next year.

Thursday, shooters enjoyed the 50 bird sub-gauges, FITASC prelim and the Thursday 5-stand events.  The FITASC prelim was shot over two days and was won by Chris Stephens and RU was Zach Kienbaum.  Thursday 5-stand was won by Brad Sutton and RU was Darrin Ros Graviet.  Also, Zach Kienbaum swept the sub-gauge events.

On Friday the 5-stand and sporting prelims took place.  The 5-stand was won by Justin Fox on a rather cramped set of fields. RU was Tom Mack.  The sporting prelim took place on the back half of Triple B’s 25 station course.  This is the same course where the monthly registered club shoots are held and it is mostly flat terrain with some vegetation and a few berms.  The targets were just right for a prelim and had lots of variation, nothing was repetitive other than the general theme of a fast target combined with a slow target.  It was about speed change ups and curl really, not distance.  It was easy for shooters to over think targets all weekend if they weren’t careful.  When the shooting was over, current Zone 7 Champion Tom John Jr. was HOA, Zach Kienbaum RU and Tom Mack was M1.  Lady was taken by Vandy Fiedler, Junior by Justin Fox and Sub-Junior by Matt Pandol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRHvNW-zwsA

Saturday brought the weekend and the first 100 targets of the main event.  Triple B Clays sporting course is set up around what is basically a large Oval shape. It extends from one end of the trap/skeet fields and winds out and around and returns on the other end of the trap/skeet fields.  On normal days of operation the course is split into the front, public (easier) half and the back, member (tournament) shooter half.  Saturdays main event was set over the front, public half of the course which is not usually shot on for tournaments and made for a nice change.  The front half of the course is flat but features more vegetation and trees and gives a look not found on any other SoCal clays course. 

Saturdays main targets were a good set, again with a fair variety.  There was everything from Sunday fun shoot type of stuff to the technical with a bit of distance.  All the courses over the weekend had a variety of target types.  Each course had a good mix of standard, midi, battue and rabbit targets.  The only thing I don’t recall shooting at was a mini.  A standout presentation Saturday was a 40ish yard right to left slightly quartering away standard followed by a battue on report.  You probably applied too much lead if you were missing the standard.  Also there was a station with a nice quartering away standard to the left of the shooter combined with a right to left crossing edgy midi that was diving toward a small bush right in the kill zone. Nice.  Overall, Saturdays main course was excellent and I think the difficulty was about right.  There were some pretty low scores posted by some big guns though.  I think the more than usual number of true pairs was to blame for that.  Saturday night saw an awesome Make-a-break shoot off between some of the areas finest guns.  There were some very long targets being smashed for the crowds enjoyment.  Ultimately it was won by Sub-Junior Justin Fox shooting his brand new Perazzi.

Sunday dawned to another sunny day a little less warm than Saturday.  A lot of shooters were finishing up 5-stand and FITASC in the morning time slots.  The main 5-stand HOA was Zach Kienbaum, RU Tom Mack and M1/Jr Justin Fox.  Concurrent winners were Ldy Michelle Wampler, SJr Chris Claxton, VT John Sands, SVT Carl Westfall and SSVT Allen Coleman.  The 5-stand layouts were pushed to one end of the trap line and I heard several shooters complain that the fields were cramped.  You could easily see birds from the other layouts while you were shooting. 

The FITASC main event was taken by HOA Zach Kienbaum, RU Tom John and M1/VT Curtis Lessel of eXtreme Chokes.  Concurrent winners were Ldy Michelle Wampler, Jr Jake Jones and SVT Norman Smith.  The FITASC targets were good on the weekend as well.  Parcour 1 was placed up on what is really the only high ground on the sporting course overlooking a clearing below.  The targets were thrown mostly up in the air and high with a few lower quartering and crossing shots.  I enjoyed the long, fast chandelle the most.  Always a great target that keeps you guessing as to the best place to smash it.  Parcour 2 was set over the "Field" which is Triple B’s practice grid.  It featured a longish rabbit that ran behind a dirt mound at one point as well as a nice battue.  It was a good event but I had a problem with it.  It was only 50 targets and quite frankly that just isn’t good enough for a state championship.  It should have been a 100 target event.  California really needs to set some state rules to guide future events.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YQq2jabq7k

1:30pm was the flight where the main event was to be decided.  Saturdays overnight leaders were Tom John on 92,  Zach Kienbaum on 90 with Brad Sutton and Curtis Lessel tied on 88.  Brad Sutton went out on the morning flight Sunday and put up a 99!  That was a potential game ender and put the pressure on the other leaders to perform.  The word flowing through the crowd was that Sundays course had been lightened up considerably and it would be a game of trying not to miss.  Once on the course though competitors soon realized it wasn’t a gimme contest.  It was ‘easier’ than Saturday but it wasn’t skeet in the woods.  He may have had less wind in the morning but considering the targets that were thrown Brad Suttons 99 was a stellar bit of shooting.  Personally, I thought the targets could have been set up a notch keeping the majority of them as report pairs.

Tom John managed a 94 to put up two scores in the 90′s but he was one light of Brad.  I saw Curtis Lessel mid course and asked him how he was shooting, he replied, "A 99 is a tough score to beat."  He could only manage a 92 to slot in behind Tom John.  The only challenger left was Zach Kienbaum who knew going in he needed a 98 to win.  A slim margin of error is that.  Zach recalled later that early in the round he was tempted to shoot a more open choke which he had not done in months.  He switched out and immediately missed two birds with most of the round left to shoot.  The tight chokes went right back in.  Incredibly he only dropped one more on the way in for a 97 to tie with Brad Sutton.  The shoot off was held on the Make-a-break field in front of the club house where spectators could get an easy look.  The extreme targets were made a bit more so for the shoot off.  Zach Kienbaum, with the pressure on and the gloves off, is a true champion.  He has many years of experience shooting targets under pressure just like this.  The experience showed when it counted and he ran over Sutton in the shoot off to take HOA.

The group of kids from nearby Don Bosco Tech High School did a great job of trapping and score keeping.  One young lady was not afraid to clamp down on violators of the three foot rule.  The kids were collecting donations for their high school group and this young lady got mine!  The targets were set by Triple B’s range manager Jun Vergara who is becoming a very savvy target setter.  However, I would suggest to him to think carefully before putting ten targets on the most technical stations of the course.  No need to break balls.

For the complete list of scores check:

Winscore Online

Winning his 18th World Championship earlier this month in New Zealand, George Digweed continues to dominate the world scene and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.  Quite the opposite actually, he seems to be getting better putting up staggering scores in even the toughest events.  Just this week he is 50ex50 and 49ex50 in the Pan African FITASC event.

I don’t think it is a stretch to imagine that he might capture titles 19 and 20 this year too.  It’s an odd year in that we have three world titles on offer but more about that in a minute.  First, all the discussion in New Zealand at the ICTSF World Sporting Championships which took place under the auspices of the New Zealand Clay Target Association at the TVDA club was about the targets.  Digweed only posted an 87ex100 on day one!  No doubt about it, those were tough targets.  Noting that nothing has changed for him this year equipment wise, Digweed had this to say, "There were many angles and speeds, a very technical shoot set up by Graham Brown from the UK.  Long, edge on targets too, which are hard to read against far away backgrounds.  [There were] a lot of targets below your feet, which many shooters find hard to adjust to."

Knowing how tough these targets were, Digweed pulled off an impressive feet going into the Sunday super final 13 targets ahead of the nearest competitor.  Everyone was shooting for second place really with Digweed showing his dominance by shooting the last pair from the hip for the win.  I think it’s true of a lot of shooters that the harder the shooting gets the more they rise to the occasion, Digweed is no exception.  From all accounts it seems like it was an excellent shoot over some very good terrain.  I wish I had the finances to have been there.  A lot of people missed out on something great, I think.  "Very good and beautiful topography, very friendly shoot and fantastic for New Zealand to host the official world championships of 2011."  said Digweed. 

The last part of that statement "…official world championships…" of course, brings up the other big question of the shoot and one that has overshadowed it a bit, the fact that we are now faced with two World English Sporting titles on the calendar.  Personally, I’ve tried to remain neutral on the issue, preferring to wait and see what comes of it.  From my viewpoint I have to say that I can really understand the problem that the NSCA has with this situation.  They have been faithful partners with the CPSA in putting on the World English Championship event since 1994.  The event was set up to rotate between the UK and US every other year.  Suddenly, it seems, the CPSA along with the new organization, the ICTSF, wants to change this arrangement to make the World English a truly world event. 

I can understand that situation too, the desire to spread English Sporting around the globe and I am all for it.  The more sporting clays, the more international competition, the better.  However, the way in which it has been done, may not be right.  The NSCA certainly has a legitimate position and rights in this issue.  So for now this blog, for clarity’s sake, will refer to the non-UK/US World English shoots as the ICTSF World Sporting Championships and the UK/US shoots as the World English Sporting Championship.  As far as I’m concerned the title in NZ won by George is legitimate, only it was the ICTSF World Sporting Championship, not the World English as we’ve known it.  Around the globe a lot of professional, upper echelon, competitors feel that the San Antonio shoot is the "true" championship.  I must say that I agree with this but this blog will not ignore international competition and we’re a bit sad to not see a single U.S. shooter go to New Zealand.  We have shooters that can give the best in the world a run for the money but we can’t do it if we don’t show up for the race.

2011 ICTSF World Sporting Results

George Digweed (GBR) came out on top of the first ICTSF Sporting World Championships to win his 18th world championship event.  The event was held February 4-6 at Thames Valley Derstalker Association in New Zealand.  It was a hard fought win being that he only shot and 87 the first day.  Many others were tripped up too with some very low scores shot by some big guns. 

Digweed still managed to enter the super final 13 targets ahead of the nearest competitor Mark Marshall (GBR).  When the smoke cleared it was Digweed 1st, Marshall 2nd and Chris Childerhouse (GBR) 3rd.  UK shooters also swept all of the team events except Super Vets.  NZCTA.

2011 ICTSF Sporting World Championship leader board scores (.pdf)

2011 ICTSF Sporting World Championship Scores Complete (.xls)