USA OPEN (MINNESOTA) - Clay Shooting USA

MINNESOTA HORSE & HUNT CLUB PROVIDED A WARM WELCOME AND AWEEK OF GREAT SPORTING COMPETITION AT THIS YEARS US OPEN – ANDIT WAS JON KRUGER THAT TOOK THE HONORS IN THIS YEARS 200 BIRDMAIN EVENT.MINNESOTA

USAOPENGREAT OCCASIONS LEAVE LASTING MEMORIES – AND THOUGH IT WAS ONLY TWOMONTHS AGO THAT MINNESOTA HORSE & HUNT CLUB STAGED THIS YEARS USOPEN, THE MEMORIES LINGER ON. “IT’S GOING TO BE A MINNESOTA PARTY,”PROMISED RANDY TRAVALIA – AND IT WAS!Together with his hardworkingteam they’d worked for 16 monthsto prepare the ground and facilitiesto ensure it was worthy of one ofthe nation’s most prestigioussporting events.The acre upon acre of rollingmeadows, crop cover andwoodland provided the perfectvenue for the week long ‘party’that included a 100 bird FITASC,100 bird Five Stand, 100 birdKemen Cup, the 200 bird US Openmain event, side events thatincluded .410, 20 gauge, 28 gauge,Side by Side competitions as wellas a host of games and poolshoots.The debate surrounding targetquality continues and certain it isthat the degree of difficulty at sucha showcase event should be anotch or two up onState and Zonecompetitions – afterall, this event is theultimate challenge bywhich all shooters judge theircurrent ability. No surprise thenthat the organizers called in DavePeckham, the proprietor ofSouthdown Sporting Gun Club inEngland to set the targets for theWINNER OF THIS YEAR’S US OPEN –JON KRUGERPARTY TIME!CLAYSHOOTINGUSA 19

USAOPEN(23, 23, 21, 22) who took 3rd placeoverall and Anthony Matarese 89(23, 21, 22, 23) the runner-up afterbeating Dan in a shoot off.Down in the classes andconcurrents, the honors went toMike Haas in AA class (80),Martin Blanchette (A class – 78),Stephen Redmann (B class – 77),Lucio Gomez (C class – 70), JimCourtney (D class – 64), BenJensen (E class – 68), CaseyAtkinson (Ladies – 82), AnthonyMatarese (Junior – 89), JoeMcHenry (Veterans – 85) and GusMcFaddin (Super-Vet – 77).FIVE STANDThe Gamebore sponsored fourlayout Five Stand event was a 100birds shot over relatively flat cropland. Layout 1 was overly tamewith nine 25 straights recordedduring the competition.Layout 2 in contrast was anearly wake up call for most – withonly 17 shooters achieving scoresover 20 ex-25! High and longbattues mixed with a fast, low rightto left crosser and slow left to rightdropping and edge on crossermade for some difficult doubles.Too often score cards were ruinedby indecision as to which bird totake first in the doubles.Layout 3 was a scratchy affairand included a rabbit not seen forlong (by competitor or referee)because of the crop height infront of stands 3 and 4 and a longbattue that was inconsistentthroughout the days ofcompetition – often not eventurning to show its full face.Layout 4 included apredominance of crossers andquartering birds with distanceused as the main weapon todefeat the shooter. But it didn’tstop Wendell Cherry puttingin an early 90 ex-100 to headthe leaderboard. Two further 90sfrom Pat Lieske (2nd) and DanCarlise (3rd) put the cat amongthe pigeons until Jon Krugerexecuted a stunning round of 94,four clear of the field (25, 24, 24,21) to take the HOA with Wendellleft to pick up M1.Jeff Boyken was five clear (85)in AA, Kyle Hansen took thehonors in A class (76) while otherclass and concurrent winnersincluded Berkley Rodgers (B class– 78), Lucas Skoggs (C class – 73),Paul Shepardson (D class – 69),Armand Brachmann(E class – 57), Linda Joy (Ladies –77), Anthony Matarese (Juniors –89), Connor Oman (Sub Junior –72), Steve Fischer (Veterans – 78)and Ray Newman (Super-Vet – 79).KEMEN CUP100 birds over 12 stations was thetask set for the Kemen Cupsponsored by Fieldsport, the USagents for this Spanish gunmaker.Despite the fact that only 13competitors scored 90 or more, 96competitors recorded scores of 80ex 100 or more. As Pre-lim eventsgo, this was a cracker, with a mixof regular ‘club’ targets togetherwith awkward quartering andcrossing targets, teal and targetsbelow the shootingBEN BRUNTON – KEMEN CUP WINNERTOP: THE FITASCPROVED DIFFICULT FORMANY.CENTRE: SPECTATORSPREPARE TO WATCHTHE MAKE-A-BREAKSHOW DOWN WITH,AT BOTTOM, THE 16TOP GUNS STUDYINGTHE TARGETS.

USAOPENpositions. A stinker of a 60 yardhigh, left to right arcing battuefollowed by a 30 yd right to left flatcrosser over water on Station 8 willbe talked about for months! It washere that many a good score cardwas ruined – heaven help thosethat started on this station! Itwasn’t so much the 15-20 feet leadneeded that caught most shootersout, it was the line of the bird thatwas important – too manycompetitors shot it late, after itspeak and on its downward arc witha roll of the shoulder that sawthem behind and off line. Thosethat picked up the bird early usingsustained lead, and shot it at itspeak with a fast crossing swingillustrated that even at 60 yards atarget such as this can be turnedinside out and into a ball of dust.Mick Howells was out on thecourse early in the week andheaded the leaderboard for twodays with a 94. Cole Storey andDan Carlisle came close with93s and then on Friday word gotaround the course that BenBrunton was on for a 97 with twostations to go. A dropped goingaway target on Station 11 and 12was a result of ‘tightening up’ buthis 95 ex-100 was good enough totake HOA despite a late chargefrom Brad Wiley who took therunner-up spot (94) from MickHowells (third). For Brunton – asponsored Kemen and Gameboreshooter – it was indeed a fittingtitle to take.Yet another ‘fairy-tale’ wasunfolding in AA class – thegun-less William Thatcher fromEngland – one of only five UKshooters to make the trip this yearbecause of the difficulty ofsecuring import gun permits – wasputting together a solid round witha borrowed DT10 (courtesy ofBeretta USA), finally taking theclass with 86 ex-100. (Editors note:He obviously took to the DT10 inthat he was also second in AA in theFive Stand and was third in AA inthe US Open main event – inaddition to his trophies did he takethe gun home we ask?) JamesBeckman also recorded an 86 toTOP (LEFT TO RIGHT): RANDY TRAVALIA, JAMIE AND DAVE PECKHAM. CENTRE (LEFT TO RIGHT): OVERSEAS COMPETITORS FROM JAMAICA– BRIAN DU QUESNAY AND EROL ZIADIE.win A class while further down theclasses Kyle Hamilton (B class –83), Brad de Rouchey (C class –76) Kim Lundin (D class – 78),Allen Murphy (E class – 71), DianeSorantino (Ladies – 83), ColeStorey (Junior – 93), ConnorOman (Sub-Junior – 78), VanceBarnes (Veteran – 87) and BobOliver (Super-Vet – 86) all tookhome winners trophies.MAIN EVENTThe US Open main event, of whichATK was the title sponsor andFederal the event sponsor, was a200 bird competition shot overthree course – Red, White andBlue. The Red and White were 66bird courses (14 stations) whileBlue was 68 birds (14 stations).Dave Peckham, who had set thecourse, told me earlier in the weekthat he thought 182-184 would bethe winning score, not just becauseof the wide variety and degree ofdifficulty of the targets butbecause each course was over 14stations. “Stations of two and threepairs are tough – the missed targetshere and there soon add up and itwon’t take much to see your scoreslipping below 60 on each course.A score of over 180 will definitelybe in the money,” said Dave.And so it was. Only twocompetitors – Jon Kruger (60, 62,64) and Will Fennell (60, 60, 61)managed to stay 60 and above onall three courses, while just fiveguns scored the magic 90 per centand over. Sure it sounds tough, butin reality the difficulty was not theindividual targets but the buildingof a score across the 42 stations ofthe three courses.The records show that Redcourse proved the most difficult –only 10 competitors scored 60 andabove out of the 66 targets. Rabbitsfrom under the raised platform22 CLAYSHOOTINGUSA

– Mick Howells: HOA FITASC,3rd in the Kemen Cup and M5in the Open.– Anthony Matarese: Juniorwinner and M2 Five Stand,Junior winner and R/U FITASC;Junior winner and M2 in theOpen.– Dan Carlisle: 3rd Five Stand,3rd FITASC, M3 Kemen Cupand M7 in the Open.– Ben Brunton: HOA Kemen Cupand R/U in the Open.– William Thatcher: AA2 FiveStand, AA1 Kemen Cup andAA3 in the Open.– James Beckmann: A1 KemenCup and A1 in the Open.– Robert Monio: A2 Kemen Cupand A3 in the Open.– Harry Brunnhoelz: A3 FITASCand A3 Kemen Cup.– Lucas Skaggs: C1 Five Standand C3 Kemen Cup.– Billy Campbell: D2 Kemen Cupand D1 in the Open.– Barton Hopkins: E2 FITASCand E1 in the Open.– Allan Murphy: E1 Kemen Cupand E3 in the Open.– Casey Atkinson: 1st FITASCLady and 3rd Lady in the Open.USA OPENSHOTS FROM THE PODIUMUSAOPEN– Linda Joy: 1st Five Stand Lady;2nd Lady FITASC and 3rd LadyKemen Cup– Deean Massey: 3rd FITASCLady, 2nd Kemen Cup Lady and2nd Lady in the Open.– Diane Sorantino: 1st KemenCup Lady and 1st Lady in theOpen.– Gebben Miles: Junior FITASC2nd and Junior Kemen Cup 2nd.– Cory Kruse: Junior KemenCup 3rd and Junior 3rd in theOpen.– Connor Oman: A special word ofpraise for this young man thatwon the sub-Juniors in FiveStand (five targets clear), theKemen Cup (6 targets clear) andthe Open (10 targets clear).– Mike Bittman: FITASC 2ndVeteran and Open 3rd Veteran.– Bob Oliver: Kemen Cup 1stSuperVet and SuperVet winner ofthe Open.Last but not least our specialcongratulations to this year’s truechampion, Jon Kruger – winner ofthe US Open, M3 in the KemenCup, winner of the Five Stand andwinner of the 28 gauge event.What a week!1. L to R, US Open: Brunton R/U, Kruger – Champion and Loberg 3rd 2. Juniors – Main Event 3. Super Veterans – MainEvent 4. Masters – Main Event 5. Veterans – Main Event 6. Ladies – Main Event 7. Sub-Juniors – Main Event8. Jon Kruger – US Open Champion 9. Dusty Welch – B Class winner, Main Event 10. AA Class – Main EventCLAYSHOOTINGUSA 25