Rugeley Club Chairman Martyn Buttery saw history being made on Friday 15th August as official Team Witness for the victorious British team in the historic Roberts match. On a sweltering Century range where temperatures exceeded 28 degrees, teams from GB and the USA shot for the Roberts Trophy, contested once every 8 years.
Britain had pride to regain, having lost the previous Roberts Match in 2017, and also losing away during the reciprocal matches for the Pershing Trophy in 2022 (delayed from 2021) and 2013, hosted in the United States.
The United States brought score potential, with Sarah Beard dominating proceedings. Having already won the X-Class Aggregate during the week, Sarah shot an exceptional 396 across both distances, setting herself well ahead of GB’s top scorer Adam Fowler on 391. GB made up in depth though. Where the USA’s scores dipped rapidly through the 380s into the 370s, GB held steady to finished with a score of 3863 against USA’s 3821.
The Roberts and Pershing Matches are considered somewhat the Ryder Cup of shooting in their pagentry and alternating host continents. Canada also contests the Pershing Trophy. The next match will be 2029. Both Roberts and Pershing matches are a single dewar – twenty shots each at 50m/yd and 100yd – between teams of ten. As a team match, wind coaches are permitted. The only difference between Roberts and Pershing is the use of British vs American targets. The latter have a larger bull meaning it is common for top shooters to drop no points and be tie-broken on inner-tens.
