The Bunbury Archery Club welcomed local, state, and national competitors with open arms earlier this month.
Competing in the 59th Silver Leprechaun - Western Division at the Leschenault Recreation Ground on Sunday, April 21, each archer shot 180 arrows over three distances - 40 metres, 50m, and 60m.
Ron White, from the Amateur Archery Centre, beat out Bunbury Archery Club members Graham Hutchins and Tim Ey in the Male Recurve category.
The Female Recurve division saw Newcastle archer Miranda Tiong claim the top prize, ahead of Sally Harris (Kalamunda Governor Stirling Archers).
Kalamunda Governor Stirling Archers' Kathy Dickinson took out the Female Longbow title, while Marian Willis (also of Kalamunda Governor Stirling Archers) put in a great performance in the Female Compound division.
In the Dandridge Award category, Male Compound archer Shannon Fitzpatrick, 16, shot 180 arrows over distances of 20m, 30m, and 40m.
Competing in his first tournament, the 16-year-old launched every arrow with conviction.
"The scores from the Western Division archers will be correlated with the scores from the eastern states and overseas archers. The winners will then be declared," Silver Leprechaun director of shooting, and Bunbury Archery Club treasurer, Coral Dandridge said.
Mrs Dandridge and state coach George Dandridge created the Dandridge Award as a way of encouraging young archers to continue with the sport.
"We've changed the competition to include eastern states and overseas archers, which has made it very popular," she said.
Mrs Dandridge was pleased with each archers' technique, discipline, and level of commitment.
"It's wonderful to see these archers visit Bunbury. They all look forward to coming; most of them come every year and make a weekend of it," she said.
"We really appreciate them coming down.
"The Silver Leprechaun is a very prestigious event on our calendar. It's well-known over east and it's also well-known in the United Kingdom.
"There has been quite a lot of interest in the event. We had nearly 200 archers enter into the tournament last year."
The Bunbury Archery Club trains beginners and experienced archers on Sunday mornings.
A handful of members will compete in the 2019 National Indoor Championships in July, at the Claremont Showgrounds.
Interested in learning more about the club? Head to facebook.com/archery.southwest.wa/ or bunburyarcheryclub.org.au
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