Six Sussex archers, including five from Arundown AC, travelled to the GNAS National Clout Championship at Barnsley on 17th October, and Liz Bowyer came back as the 2009 UK Lady Recurve Champion.

2009 National Ladies Recurve Clout Champion - Liz Bowyer of Arundown AC

The wind was cold and variable, and hard to read because the shooting line was protected by trees. Liz found the first round hard work and at lunchtime was trailing in sixth place with 87, six points behind the leader, but she hunkered down in the afternoon and scored 109, fifteen more than the lunchtime leader, to win by nine points.

Another Sussex archer, Graham Brown, took the Bronze in the Gents Longbow division.

Liz was one of six National Champions from the Southern Counties Region, as against five from Northern Counties and two from Grand Western, which shows that interest in Clout archery is now spread quite proportionally between the larger regional associations, and not just in the North. There were seven archers from Scotland, but none from Wales or Northern Ireland.

Northern Counties do a great job putting on this shoot, they manage to find an exceptionally good-natured group of officials, and the whole mood is friendly and inclusive, with the most competitive and accomplished clout archers always ready to advise and assist and encourage anybody, whether it’s first-timers or serious opponents. And like most Northern clout tournaments, there were nearly as many ladies as gents on the field.

Full results from the championship can be downloaded by clicking here.

Rod Brown, Arundown AC

Liz Bowyer managed to retain her SCAS Ladies Recurve Title against a strong potential challenge from Barbara Williams of Stortford, in the process raising the Sussex Record for the 2-way Single Clout by 18 points to 100. Russ French took the 3rd-place medal in the Gents Recurve section.

Current Southern Counties Ladies Recurve Clout Champion Liz Bowyer of Arundown AC lowered her sight to take third place with a new personal best of 233 in the national record status Worcester shoot at RN South Coast Archers on 18th January.

Liz’s fellow members of the team that won the National Recurve Team Clout Championship in October 2008 also weighed in with useful scores. Russell French scored 273 for fourth place in the Gents Recurve, while Jon Stafford shot 258 for tenth place in the same competition.

More of the latest news from Arundown can be found on the Arundown Archery Club blog.

The next annual Arundown Worcester tournament will be held at Angmering School on Sunday, 1st February 2009.

This is always a friendly but competitive shoot and it makes a pleasant change from the usual Portsmouth and FITA rounds. To download your entry from from the Arundown AC website, click here.

The 35th Arundown Portsmouth tournament was held at Angmering School on 16th November 2008.

A full entry list featured some well-known names from past and present. Notable performances included Gary Kinghorn’s 583 in the Gents Compound, 570 from 14 year old Will Martin of Worthing AC in the Gents Recurve and a new County record of 441 by 11 year old Emily Darling of Ditchling AC in the Ladies Barebow.

Full results from the tournament can be found here.