2021 South Carolina State Championship Results

[H_T_Davis]

The South Carolina Match Pistol State Championship
Match Report
Submitted this 29th Day, June 2021

Preramble
The South Carolina Match Pistol State Championship was held at Mid-Carolina Gun Club on June 25-27, 2021. Thirty shooters participated in a total of four events. Standard CMP rules and provisions were in force, and the required Affidavits were properly filled out and collected. Individual juries were properly empaneled…

There, are the lurkers gone? Great! Now to the good stuff…

Day 1, June 25
The sun shone brightly on the 21 folks shooting the Opening Day’s Short Course, with all of the rain forecast earlier in the week vacationing elsewhere. It was the Day of Eric Lawrence (of the SC National Guard and All-Guard Teams). When you win all three of the 900s (883-42, 872-44, and 878-37), as well as 9 of the 12 Stages, and naturally the Grand Aggregate (2633-123), it is indeed your day. I will say that Expert Jason Hawkins put in a mighty .22 Event, winning the overall .22 Slow Fire stage with a pair of 98s (196-6) and shooting a PR 900 score of 866-29. Will Cox, son of SC Guard shooter Toby Cox, shooting only his 3rd match put in a solid 2199-24, keeping ‘em mostly on the repair center and turning in several exceptional targets.


Running Totals
Clean Targets: Many
Offers to lend a Tape Measure for Scoring: None
Hats Thrown by Retired Naval Officers: None
Personal Battles with the Infernal: None


Day 2, June 26
Saturday’s sun came up on an even more beautiful, clear sky than Friday’s. Registration went swimmingly, as most shooters had picked up their packages the day before and the Match Director’s wife managed to fix the printer in about 10 minutes after he spent HOURS the night before and that morning cussing at it and moaning about it to no avail. Shooting started promptly about 15 minutes late and the match was on. At the opening gun, Grayson Palmer in Lane 10 was quick out of the gate, opening up a substantial lead on the front stretch, as it appeared he was only going to fire a handful of 9s all day. By the backstretch though, Lawrence in Lane 7, was coming hard on the inside and making up ground fast. At the wire, Lawrence nosed Palmer 876-36 to 875-39 to take the .22 ribbon.


In Saturday’s matinee (Centerfire), Lawrence continued his strong showing, though this time only managing to Place, despite shooting a healthy 868-34. Palmer unfortunately threw a shoe (when he really wanted to throw his Aimpoint), moving him back in the pack. In the meantime, Hard-Charging Sally Talbott of the AMU lay claim to the Centerfire race by firing an 874-30, eating up half of Lawrence’s lead. Quietly, Neil Roberts in Lane 5, was pacing himself with a 1739-56 through two, waiting patiently to make his move in the final leg. The race was on for Sunday’s .45 showdown.


Running Totals
Clean Targets: Some, with frequency wilting in the South Carolina afternoon sun
Offers to lend a Tape Measure for Scoring: 1 (Thanks Hiem, but I’m good)
Hat’s Thrown by Retired Naval Officers: None yet, but some salty language
Personal Battles with the Infernal: None


Interlude
After the last rounds of the Centerfire match were safely downrange, an exhausted crowd of about 35ish assembled at The Pavilion up the Hill. As the lights dimmed and the band began playing the soft strains of some forgotten classic, the grime and weariness gave way to light-hearted merriment on the starlit dance floor. Tuxedoed waiters circulated with glasses of champagne, while the serveuses offered amuse-bouches to all….


Alright, maybe not ALL of that is true, but there was indeed a pile of us that feasted on a Low-Country Boil and all the fixin’s. You just ask any of them - it was The Place To Be on Saturday night, and if you weren’t there, you need to change your ways while there is still time. Our Regional-thing (pending the CMP deciding what their version of an NRA Regional is going to be called) in October would be a great time to atone.


Day 3, June 27
After Saturday, it was down to 3 main contenders – Eric Lawrence (1744-70), Sally Talbott (1739-59), and Neil Roberts (1739-56). The day started pleasantly cool, with some light morning clouds. From the start, Sally “Queen of the 99s” Talbott established that she was the one to beat. Taking the .45 Slow Fire stage with at 195-7 and the .45 NMC with a 294-11, she wiped out Lawrence’s lead and built one of her own. Roberts put in a noble effort taking the Master Class’s .45 NMC, Timed Fire and Rapid Fire stages, but it was not enough to catch Talbott who recorded the Championship’s highest single gun aggregate with an 880-30. In the end, it was Sally Talbott (2619-89) for the Win, Eric Lawrence (2600-103) for the Place and Neil Roberts (2592-80) for the Show. Michael Gasser finished just off the podium in 4th, with a 2590-99.


For Aggregate Class Winners, Michael Gasser won High Master (2590-99), Neil Roberts took Master (2592-80), Hiem Trang captured Expert (2539-74), Russ Gill rang up Sharpshooter (2379-35), and Jimmy Glenn landed Marksman (2047-13). And I’m out of synonyms for “won.”


Running Totals
Clean Targets: …Say, How about those Gamecocks?
Offers to lend a Tape Measure for Scoring: No new ones – we were still laughing from yesterday
Hats Thrown by Retired Naval Officers: Not yet, but we know it’s coming
Personal Battles with the Infernal: “Not Today, Satan” heard a number of times at the Short Line


Meanwhile, In Other News
We also managed to work in Service Pistol and .22 Rimfire EIC matches. For the .22 Rimfire match, we had 17 shooters, 16 of whom were not yet Distinguished. Sally Talbott won the match with a 280-7 and Mac Shealy of the SC National Guard team took second with a 279-5. Neither had won their badge yet, so pending CMP certification, should be awarded 8-point and 6-point legs respectively. For the Service Pistol EIC match, we had 14 shooters, with Hiem Trang shooting a 283-19 to win. Unfortunately, it appears that only 5 were not already Distinguished, so no legs will likely be awarded.


What Does It All Mean?
It means we had a heck of a match! For the 30 folks who shot with us over the 3 days, it means that you did a great job of representing what this sport is about – serious competition combined with good-natured gamesmanship and constant good-sportsmanship. For those who couldn’t shoot with us this time, it means that you missed a great match. On the other hand, now that we’ve had yet another match on which to hone our skills, it’ll be even more greaterer when you come. And lastly, it means that all of the folks that helped put on this match can sleep peacefully for the first night in quite a few and let the world spin on its own.


Final Totals
The Sally Tally: Match Winner, High Military, High Woman, Queen of the 99s (10 of the 18 Short Line targets), .22 Rimfire 8-point leg, PR
X-Man: Eric Lawrence, with 234 shot in competition over weekend
Hats Thrown by Retired Naval Officers: 1, but it was strictly ceremonial
Mr. Consistency: Tom Ratledge shot 766.13, 765.05 and 766.07 for the Championship!


Thanks
To Ken, for calling a great match.
To Dianne and Ray, for taking care of feeding everyone
To Sam, for getting everyone’s attention
To The SC National Guard Team, for helping anyway they could, whenever, asked or not
To Eric and Toby, for heading off problems before they happened
To Grayson, Neil and Jason, for the foresight to have some repair centers in the car
To Karen, maker of pies, fixer of printers, enterer of scores, FOR EVERYTHIING
To Everyone Who Came, because you are the match and you are the sport.


p.s.
Our Regional-thing is October 22-24, 2021. It will feature a Short Course, a standard 2700, Service Pistol and .22 Rimfire EICs, hopefully a revolver match, at least one side-game (to subtly separate you from your money), good food, great people and high times. Please come join us.


p.p.s.
Don’t forget the Florida State Championship on October 16-17, 2021, in Jacksonville, FL. Sue Carter, who shot with us this weekend, and her assistant Ted, put on an excellent match and it provides an excellent opportunity to get everything tuned up for our Regional-thing. Karen and I will see you there. You can get more info by emailing Mr. Sue Carter at CDRCoach@Reagan.com. Tell Mr. Sue that “Tom sent me.”

p.p.p.s. A .pdf of the Match Bulletin can be found over at Bullseye-L, as I can't upload it here.