First Match of the 2026 Season... Wind Humbles Many
- May 14
- 2 min read
(Match Report by Tyler Patner) May 10, 2026
28 shooters graced us with their presence for the first match of the year at NOA. It was a great turnout considering it was Mother’s Day, which either means a lot of our guys returned home in the dog house, or they bought their wives fantastic gifts to make up for the absence. On top of that, the weather forecast was a little dicey with storms rolling through Saturday evening, leaving the courses at Twin Oaks Air Rifle Range very soggy. But thankfully, we arrived to a brisk 50 degree temperature, with the sun beginning to poke through and warm us up.
As shooters gathered for the briefing, the common word from the sight in range was WIND. And since we were shooting our field course, wind was definitely going to be a strong theme of the day. Furthering that, is the match director's proclivity for long shots in wide open spaces. For the course layout, there were a whopping 17/30 targets over 40 yards. 14 of those 17 were over 45 yards. Without factoring the wind, the troyer was just a touch over 34T. To get a picture of how much the wind impacted the course difficulty, applying the wind factor to all targets over 45 yards bumps the Troyer rating up to 37.9T. In other words, it was a very challenging course, in challenging conditions. I believe the scores reflect that quite well.
As shooters came off the line, you could tell the wind took its toll. The shooters who managed it best were Jeff Swartz and Cam Armstrong in Hunter PCP, shooting a 53 and 51 respectively for the top two spots. Tyler Patner came in with a 50 in WFTF PCP, and Matt Uhler posted a 41 in WFTF Piston. That 41 was equaled by Al Duster in Hunter Piston. And in Open PCP, Roger Barker ended up with a 40. In Unlimited, Dave Hitchcock dropped a 50 to round out our top shooters.
I also want to highlight our lone Junior, Abigail Mueller, whose father Rick and Grandfather Craig Clark helped through the course for the day. She posted a 13 on the day with a Marauder Pistol. Very well done and we hope she will join us again in the future.
Everyone was treated to our usual pizza lunch, and we handed out awards for the day. By the time we tore down the course, the temps were in the high 60s and the sun was shining, making for a near perfect day. I’d like to thank everyone that came out and joined us for the day, and to the mothers that hopefully didn’t mind their absence too much. Our next match is June 14th, and we hope to see you all there!
