Norfolk Sporting Championship

Wow, what a scorcher of a day with the phrase “Suns out, guns out” coming to mind for the 170+ entries for the Norfolk Sporting Championship held on the 10th June at Chalk Farm Clay Ground. This was a bit of a heatwave with the temperature in the shade reaching 28 degrees for the hottest day of the year. 

Chalk Farm have built a reputation of being able to put on a round which challenges clay shooters abilities to deal with different angles, speeds and distances. Noteworthy targets are the left to right midi on stand 5 which appeared to be around 55-60 yards against a clear blue background which I saw many top shots drop a few of these. Stand 12 is renowned for being a tester and this didn’t fail with a raised platform right to left standard which at an estimate must have been around 55-60 yards and crossing at a pacey speed.

This championship trophy has had many names of some of the best shots our county has ever produced included England team members.

This years Norfolk Sporting Champion is Stevie Amies with an incredible score of 94/100 to take this years title. I’ve personally shot with Steve a few times over the years where he was an established A class shooter working his way up to AA as well as a really nice chap as well.

Other noteworthy scores Karl Hagan 90/100, Carson Revell 89/100, Darren Wall 88/100, Mark French 87/100, Philip Soanes 87/100, 87/100, Angus Hepworth-Smith 86/100, Jonathan Ball 85/100, Thomas Lawrence 85, Ashley Shuckford 84, Glenn Halls 84, Mark Goddard 84.

Veterans was won by Philip Soanes with his score of 87/100 which was enough to hold of Micky Briggs on 83/100, last years veteran champion Paul Owen 80/100 and Graham Thaxton 77/100.

Ladies was retained by the young up and coming Kate Benstead with her score of 67/100. Close on her heels was Nicola Hassall with 63/100, Susan Hallwood 50/100 and Heather Pointer 46/100.

The juniors title was also retained by the talented youngster Angus Hepworth-Smith with his great score of 86/100. Angus has now won the junior sporting title for the last 3 years. Other junior scores on the day were Kate Benstead 67/100, Reo Freitas 64/100, Danny Nash 55/100 and Kai Reynolds 49/100.

We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Chalk Farm for making this championship possible and for a smooth well run event. Thanks also to all the referees who gave up their Saturdays to help and also a thank you to all the shooters who entered and tested their skills and abilities.