A GLORIOUS bout of spring sunshine Sunday afternoon rounded out Blue Lake Archers weekend events.
A Friday night indoor round had a familiar ring to the winner’s list but there was an added level of activity as a beginner archer joined in on the indoor range.
A standard double round of 18-metre archery was the fare on offer, the odd sight of one of the target butts minus the usual target face being peppered with arrows was all part of coaching a beginner archer while the main competition was conducted.
Ben Kilsby was on the front foot and dominated both the off-the-bow and adjusted scores.
The first round was a regulation high-end performance by Kilsby, dropping just three points from a possible 300 and finishing a comfortable seven points clear of Peter Donhardt, with Paul Freeman a further five points behind.
The follow-up round was not as lopsided as Donhardt made his move, an additional six points to his score line coincided with a minor dip in Kilsby’s accuracy, the adjusted scores for the pair tied on 295 points and the count-back giving the win to Kilsby.
Sunscreen and shady hats made a return to outdoor archery Sunday afternoon with a calm and warm bout of spring weather making a timely return.
A 50-metre Melbourne event was soon underway but the day turned into a more casual social occasion with visits from two of the club’s former members, Louise Abbott and Phil Tremelling.
Abbott is now Adelaide based and Tremelling has moved back to South Australia after living interstate for the past couple of years.
Abbott had visited the outdoor range a fortnight before and on that occasion found time to be involved in coaching a beginner archer.
She again assisted the club in a coaching capacity for part of the afternoon, her family also dropping in to socialise with the archers.
Tremelling generously donated some of his surplus archery equipment to help in the coaching of new archers.
On the main range Garry Jacques made a welcome return to competition joining Freeman, Donhardt and Graham Lock.
A slightly extended sighting session allowed some correction to sights before stepping into the scoring, Donhardt electing to use the day as practice while the others scored the round.
Freeman balanced out his weekend by grabbing the win for the day eight points clear of Lock in the adjusted scores after the pair had tied for the bragging rights to the best off-the-bow score.
Indoor archery continues at the Blue Lake Gymnastics Club, Malseed Park, Friday from 7.30pm followed by outdoor archery at Corriedale Park, 12.30pm Sunday.
Australian Indoor 18 metre, Round 1, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points: Ben Kilsby 298 (off the bow 297); Peter Donhardt 291 (250); Paul Freeman 286 (273).
Australian Indoor 18 metre, Round 2, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points: Ben Kilsby 295 (off the bow 294); Peter Donhardt 295 (256); Paul Freeman 282 (269).
Melbourne outdoor round, handicap scored, benchmark 900 points: Paul Freeman 888 (off the bow 821); Graham Lock 880 (821); Garry Jacques 850 (716).
