Bridwell Wins Partridge Creek’s 2008 O.B. Heyward Open
Partridge Creek’s Annual O.B. Heyward was held on July 18-20, 2008 in Ridgeville, South Carolina. There were 39 shooters at this event including guests from Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Maryland. The doubles event was held on Friday with 17 shooters participating under cloudy and sometimes rainy conditions and a temperature of 85 degrees. Doug Thompson of Cherryville, North Carolina won the doubles event with a score of 96 and Ed Cox of Awendaw, South Carolina took A-1 with a 95. Later in the evening, Mike Fields delighted everyone by having dinner available for those wishing to have a home cooked meal.
Saturday held the 12 ga. and 20 ga. events. Everyone shot under cloudy conditions with a temperature of almost 90 degrees for most of the day. A tropical depression was looming off the coast, but it didn't deter the shooters. In fact, the cloudy conditions made it comfortable to shoot during the day. Shoot-offs were held later that afternoon for 12 gauge and class champions. Five shooters took to the field to claim 12 ga. gun champion with Rod Stroman of Orangeburg, South Carolina winning it with a score of 99. Doug Thompson took AA-1 with a 97 and Mark Howell of Charleston, South Carolina took A-1 with a 99. Doug Thompson also won the 20 ga. gun champion with a perfect 100 score. Kevin Story of Lenoir, North Carolina took AA-1 with a 98 and Mike Curtis of Charleston, South Carolina shot a 99 for A-1. After the shoot-offs, everyone sat down for BBQ and chicken dinner with Partridge Creek's famous banana pudding being served for dessert. As shooters gathered after dinner talking with old friends and making new friends, clouds disappeared giving way to a beautiful full moon. The skeet fields glistened from the dew and the moonlight, making for a perfect end to a perfect evening.
Mother Nature turned up the heat and humidity Sunday with temperatures in the 90's and a heat index of over 100 - welcome to the LowCountry, ya'll! However, Ed Cox also turned up the heat in the 28 ga event, shooting a perfect score of 100. Shoot offs for class were held in the afternoon with Jamie Bridwell of Greenville, South Carolina taking AA-1 with a 99. Charlie Buist of Hilton Head, South Carolina finished the 28 ga. event with a score of 98 for A-1. Jamie Bridwell kept his cool in the sultry heat shooting a 99 in the 410 ga. event and then winning gun champ during shoot-offs. Rod Stroman shot a 95 for AA-1 and Kevin Story took A-1 with a 98.
Congratulations to Jamie Bridwell who captured the high overall championship with a score of 392. We also want to congratulate Larry Hamblin of Charleston, a newcomer to skeet, who shot his first 25 straight in competition.
A big thank you to Lee Revelle, Larry Hamblin and all the referees who worked hard all weekend to keep the shoot running smoothly. A special thank you to Jody Howell who helped with the score board during the weekend; I couldn’t have done it without her help. Ron Bacha was on vacation and it gave me a true appreciation of what he does for these events. Thanks to Mike & Cindy Fields of Mike's Catering for keeping the shooters fed all weekend.
If you haven't been to Partridge Creek, you are missing out on shooting at one of the finest clubs in the southeast. The fields are well maintained; there are 3 clubhouses, with the most recent being completed last year that can accommodate up to 100 people. The new clubhouse also has a screened in porch with rocking chairs, ceiling fans and a fantastic view of the skeet fields. So, come visit us, shoot a few rounds of skeet, pull up a rocker and enjoy a little bit of our heaven.
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