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.

Not many people know this but Sussex has the current National Recurve Clout Team Champions among its ranks, namely Arundown AC.

They and anyone else interested can find information on five tassel award shoots during August, September and October this year on the Grand Western Archery Society website.