AFTER battling ordinary conditions in recent weeks, the sun made a welcome appearance for the Blue Lake Archers at the Corriedale Park archery range Sunday afternoon, but a stiff cross wind also made its presence felt.
Programming in a 120 arrow Adelaide round was a step toward preparing the South East archers for their local annual tournament in two months.
After a long series of events of 90 arrows or less over the winter months, the 120 and 144 arrow events will make regular appearances on the club’s calendar to ensure the archers are match-fit as January approaches.
The wind maintained its presence across the archery range throughout the afternoon and reduced the accuracy the archers were striving for.
Len Bayley had won the same round three weeks previously and was keen to prove it was not a flash in the pan.
Paul Freeman was out to again capitalise on his new handicap rating and was in good form to repeat his effort of putting the brakes on Bayley’s run of wins.
Regular visitor William Boksem joined the archers on the main range and continued to impress with his accuracy under the less-than-ideal conditions.
Garry Jacques and Graham Lock soon realised Bayley and Freeman were successfully edging them out of contention for the win.
Jacques and Lock had to settle for an interesting tussle for third place, Jacques falling one point shy of forcing Lock into a count-back to settle third.
Freeman ultimately finished just short in his quest to catch Bayley, who posted a new personal best for the round to claim the day’s win.
Results
Adelaide outdoor round, handicap scored, benchmark 1200 points: Len Bayley 1187 (off-the-bow 979 PB); Paul Freeman 1161 (904); Graham Lock 1145 (1081); Garry Jacques 1144 (989); William Boksem (visitor) 934 (off-the-bow only).
