2020 Marlborough Championship results
Marlborough Championship, Labour Weekend 24– 26 October 2020
The forty-eight competitors at the Marlborough Championships had to contend with a weekend of warm nor'westerly crosswinds which at times got quite strong and gusty. On Saturday at 600 yards the range was 4 to 8 minutes. On Sunday and Monday at 900 the range was 6 to 13 minutes. The net result of the conditions was that only 11 possibles were shot over the weekend, and Alan White got three of them.
In A grade Andre Du Toit (Malvern) led from the front for most of the weekend to take out the title with 475.33 from Brian Carter (Te Puke) on 473.30 and Alan White (Malvern) on 472.27.
The Long Range aggregate was decided using the 900 yard scores with three tied on 185.10, with Brian winning from Ross Mason (Trentham) and Bevan Mehrtens (Malvern).
In B grade Les Marshall (Hawkes Bay) had a comfortable 5 point margin with 457.24 from Megan Snowden (Ashburton) with 452.25 and Martin Fleming (Ashburton) 452.23.
In C Grade Shaun Ellis (Cheltenham) had a comfortable win with 435.11 from Brian Hawksby (Ashburton) on 420.18 and John Fleming (Ashburton) on 417.14
The tightest competition of the weekend was in F Open with Ian Hughes (Cheltenham) and Mike Chui (Ashburton) in virtual lockstep. Going into the final shoulder to shoulder 900 yard match they were four X's apart. Ian came out on top shooting a fine 58.2 to win on 565.29 to Mike's 563.27. Chris Peychers (Hawkes Bay) in third with 535.22.
In FTR Murray Cook (Ashburton was a runaway winner on 535.21 from Mark Alexander (Malvern) on 506.19 and Les Grimsey (Oamaru) on 502.11.
In the new FTR Classic class Sharon Grimsey (Oamaru) was a clear winner on 514.16 from Conal Richardson (Cheltenham) on 504.7 and Mike Slade (Kaituna) on 502.10.
In our other new class, F-PR, it was another close-run matchup between David Smith (Ashburton) and Matthew McCallum-Clark (Malvern). Going into the final match where they shot shoulder to shoulder, Matthew led by a point but a strong shoot by David saw him jump out to a four-point win with 520.13 to Matthew's 516.16. Third was Greg Hayes (Cheltenham) on 477.6.
On Monday afternoon there were four club TR teams and two club F Class teams for the coached teams’ match.
The Malvern TR team of Andre Du Toit, Charlotte Flanagan, Alan White and Chris Kershaw, coached by Bevan Mehrtens and Richard Rowlands were dominant with all four shooters scoring in the 70's for the fifteen shots to win with 283.17 from Cheltenham on 266.5.
The only other shooter to better the 70 mark was Megan Snowden (Ashburton) who top scored the match with 73.2, coached by her father John.
In the F Class match the Cheltenham team of Ian Hughes, Shaun Ellis, Conal Richardson and Greg Hayes won with 320.10 from Ashburton on 314.6. Top score went to Shaun Ellis, using Ian's rifle, on 86.3. Shaun had been shooting TR all weekend and shot in both of Cheltenham's teams for the coached matches.
The entry numbers were well up on 2019, due to the strong support of those prepared to travel long distances and the addition of the two new F Classes.
Shooters travelled from as far south as Dunedin and Gore, 9 and 10 hours driving and Te Puke and Hamilton in the north. Your efforts to attend the Marlborough meeting are appreciated.
