Southern Inter-Club Match
Gardener’s Farm, Ashburnham, East Sussex
by kind permission of Andrew Ward-Smith
Sunday 31st May 2009
Judges: Glynis Hillier, Ron Jeffery, Keith Broomfield,
Barbara Kuen, Helena Sully and Graham Stanley

15 teams, comprising Open, Novice and Novice Dog/Novice Handler,
representing their gun dog clubs came together on a gloriously
sunny day to compete for the 2009 Southern Inter-Club
Championship. As the winners of the 2008 competition the Utility
Gundog Society, Kent and East Sussex Branch were the hosts.

The day started early with a wonderful complimentary full English
breakfast served in the barn which had been cleared, refurbished
and painted, by UGS committee members for the occasion. The
start was promptly at 9.15am with all the teams departing to their
first tests, accompanied by friendly banter and calls of good luck
to friends and rivals.

The tests had been set earlier in the month, but due to an
aggressive nesting swan and increased growth of some of the
crops, some had to be altered slightly. Gardner’s Farm has an
incredible variety of terrain with several lakes and stunning views,
an ideal setting for such an exciting competition.

Test 1 was three ‘marks’, with shot, through knee-high crops, with
varying degrees of difficulty.

Test 2 was two ‘marks’, with shot, one into water surrounded by
reeds and bulrushes; and a long ‘blind’ over rough uncultivated
terrain into a crop with the dummy back in bushes at the edge of
a wood.

Test 3 was a water test with a ‘mark’ into water, a ’blind’ in reeds
and a ‘blind’ diagonally to a small promontory.

Test 4 was the ‘walk-up’ with a very long ‘mark’, with shot, a
‘blind’ behind and a ‘mark’ in front, with shot.

Test 5 was on the side of the lake with the aggressive swan. The
first was an extraordinarily long ‘mark’ away from the water, with
shot, over a wide ditch, then a ‘mark’ and a ‘blind’ in opposite
directions along the side of the lake.

Test 6 had three ‘blinds’ through thigh high crops with the open
over the brow of a hill down to the edge of a lake, at which time
the dogs were out of sight. The best place to wind the dummy on
this test was from in the water.

All the exercises were challenging and stretched all the dogs and
their handlers.

The day ran through and, due to the incredibly professional
organisation, all the teams were finished by about 2.00pm, to be
welcomed back to the barn with a superb buffet lunch. The
ambience was one of a friendly social event with laughter, chatter,
speculation on achievements and the inevitable ‘if onlys’. The
results were announced after sufficient attention had been paid
to an enormous mountain of profiteroles.

The scores were surprisingly close with the winners URC Essex
on 296 just one point ahead of KSS on 295. SEGS were third with
276 and Bakadam fourth with 275.

Judges and award winners at Gardener’s Farm

The individual trophies went to:

Top Open Dog
Penny Allanson-Bailey’s Kenmilfore of Storm with 113pts

Top Novice Dog
Geraldine Thompson’s Hullabaloo Willie Gunn with 94pts

Top Novice Dog/Novice Handler
Richard Hayden’s Centanni Tip with 117pts

Judges Choice and winner of the Chris Potter Trophy
Katy Parrott’s River Meadow Oak

The event was a resounding success, enhanced by the weather,
blazing sunshine but with a cool soothing breeze. The organisation
and hard work that went into the event for many weeks prior to
the day paid tribute to the dedication, and passion for the sport
of all the volunteers.

Special thanks go to Roger Wade, Julia Smith and Ben Van Praagh
as the driving forces behind the entire day, and to Ben and his
wonderful army of volunteers for the delicious sustenance supplied
throughout the day. The stewards, dummy throwers in fact all the
helpers ensured that the day ran smoothly and efficiently. Without
all these marvellous people events such as this would never
happen, they are all truly the unseen, unsung heroes.

Finally many thanks to our sponsors Roger Skinner Pet Foods
and Chris Potter Country Sports.