THE inaugural Ernie Williams Memorial Shoot was held on Sunday, October 8 at the Wangaratta Clay Target Club, of which Ernie was a life member and committee member for many years. The first event was 50 target sporting clays, shot over two rounds of 25 targets. The event was won by Rhys McGauran (AA grade) with a score of 47/50, second was Shaun McGauran with 46/50. A grade was won by Craig Dixon with 56/60 after a shoot-off with Ross Dodds (54/60). B grade was won by Kerry Smillie and second was Matthew Motha 41/50. C grade was won by John Gibb 36/50, second was Paul Everingham 29/50. Juniors was won by Mitch Benton (35/50), ladies by Marion Barnes, and veterans by Malcolm Hill - trophies for this event were presented by Ernie’s grandson, Angus Griffin, and sponsor for the event Ian McGeoch. The second event of the day was a 50 target Universal Skeet also shot over two rounds of 25. This was a new discipline which Ernie was very keen to have a go at at age 99. Winner of this event and A grade with a score of 40/50 was Ross Dodds, second in the A grade was Craig Dixon. AA grade was won by Rhys McGauran 39/50, ahead of Shaun McGauran 29/50. B grade Matthew Motha 30/50, second Ian McGeoch 29/50. C grade Paul Everingham 16/50, second John Gibb 15/50. Junior - Mitch Benton 31/50, ladies - Alison Harwood 29/50, veterans - Max Kavanagh 40/50. Trophies for this event were presented by Kristen Park (Ernie’s granddaughter) and Ian McGeoch. The overall trophy was taken out by Rhys McGauran 109/125 after a shoot-off with Ross Dodds.
