A number of South Wansdyke Archers competed at the Somerset County Championship, held at Dunster Castle, in July.
The standout performance was from Janet Ross, a score of 977 for her “Hereford” (6 dozen arrows at 80yard, 4 dozen at 60 yards and 2 dozen at 5o yards) round set her up to be the lead Somerset County Archers and Recurve County Champion. Janet has been a regular county level archer, competing for Somerset regularly and her shoot at Dunster this year underlined why.
June saw two of our newest archers, Ian Garfoth (compound) and Jake Appleton (Barebow) compete at Bath Archers in their Novice Archer Tournament. It was a great event to experience the formalities and nerves of competitive archery. Both Ian and Jake performed well and received gold and bronze medals respectively for their efforts.
Four of our archers competed in the South West Regional Civil Service archery tournament. The gentlemen shooting a “York” and the ladies a “Hereford”. A “National” round was also available for those competing in the afternoon only. Due to limited numbers in each category, with an open category for non-civil servants, all our archers came away with a medal.
Within the club, July saw the first outdoor handicap of the season. This was delayed due to ArcheryGB’s updated handicap system introduced at the being of the year: Ian and Jake continued their good form and took home the Gold and Silver medals respectively, with Nick Crisp taking Bronze, Gold and Highest Score - Ian Garforth 1455 Silver - Jake Appleton 1448 Bronze - Nick Crisp 1427.
We continue to see the progression of all our archers in the club at every level, in the last couple of months a number of 252 awards have been achived; Andrea Whittle gained her 50 and 60 yard, Jake Appleton 30 yards, Amelie Ball 10 and 20 yards, Kate Ball 10, 20 and 30 yards, Andy Hamblin 50 yards and Elliot Crisp 20 yards.
Finally, during an evening club shoot Sophie Young had the fortune/unfortunate to have a “Robin Hood”. The name is perhaps what you would expect. A second arrow hit the back of an earlier arrow and split it in two. Fortunately, the first arrow was in the gold and so both arrows scored maximum points! Unfortunately, Sophie now has two less arrows in her quiver, neither would be usable again!
The club will be supporting the community and be present at both the Writhlington Flower Show 19th August and the Writhlington Fun Day 3rd September. Come and have a try. We will also be hosting a Beginners Course starting 9th September, see our website for details.
Simon Whittle