Newtownards Archery Club, Lough Cuan Bowmen, hosted the Northern Ireland 3D championships at Ballywalter Park on the weekend of 06 and 07 June. The ‘Red Kite’ shoot named because of the sighting of a red kite over the park was also designated a World Archery Status shoot.
Ballywalter Park, the home of Lord & Lady Dunleath, provided a perfect setting for this enjoyable and competitive two days of shooting. Fluctuating topography, natural backstops and avenues of trees providing archers with an engaging and challenging course with some tricky shots set up to keep competitors on their toes.
A very strong field of over 50 archers, from many local clubs, as well as from the Republic of Ireland, took part in the competition, making their way round the course of 24 unmarked 3D targets on each of the two days.
Despite a wet start to day one, and after retrieving an escaped gazebo and making some repairs with gaffer tape, practice bosses were opened and judges’ equipment inspections carried out. Spirits remained high as a hardy bunch of archers set off on the course and were rewarded with sunshine by early afternoon.
The 3D targets varied in size and species with a raptor, leopard, crocodile and bears seen on the course – not the kind of things you normally find in a Northern Irish Park. Shooting distances ranged from 5m to 40m challenging even the best of archers, while changes to the course for day two made sure no-one gained any advantage on what was coming up.
Day two started dry, with everyone in high spirits, keen to get back on the course, and a few first timers excited about what they might find. Several changes to the course meant anyone anticipating an easy shoot, having already completed it on the Saturday, was faced with another challenging day.
Some very high scores were recorded and even those shooting for the first time recorded a respectable score for a 3D course. There were however, several entries in the lost arrow register, just to allow the set-up team to play a game of hide and seek at the end of the shoot.
Once all scores were collated and validated, the event ended with a medal presentation, with Lisa Wheeler, Archery GB Sports Development Officer, doing the honours alongside Keith Henderson, chair of Lough Cuan Bowmen.
Henderson, as Tournament Organiser, and his set-up team are to be commended for their imaginative shots. They used a multitude of techniques to ensure that the targets were skilfully placed and employed dark areas and natural vegetation to make some tricky targets, giving archers plenty to think about. The incredible effort they put into setting such a well-run and challenging course was a credit to the club.
The club would like to thank Lord and Lady Dunleath, for their generosity in allowing their woods to be used for club 3D shoots and training days, and to Stephen Brown, Groundskeeper at Ballywalter Park for providing the set-up team ongoing access to prepare for the various shoots.
Thanks also goes to the judges Ashley Russell, Shannon Russell-Cowan, John Gibson and Keith Henderson, who had his judges’ hat on for part of the weekend and to Aaron Craig and Robin Brown who leant their IANSEO expertise to get the results sorted to allow medals to be awarded on Sunday.
The club have guaranteed an even better shoot for 2027 with some new tricks up their sleeve and hope to return all those missing arrows to their owners when the course is reset for next year.
