The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-01-07
REVIEW OF 1920
TRANSPORTING
Was Best Year in History of Sport
With Frank Troeh the outstand-
ing Individual Figure.
BY Peter p. Carney.

BY Peter p. Carney.
While there wasn't the same number
of sensational performances as in 1919,
the 1920 trapshooting season will so
down in the history OF that sport as
its best.
Never before were so many targets
thrown and in no other year was the
average number of contestants as
great as in 1920. In the 500 tourna-
ments registered by the American
Trapshooting Association. 7,S44,S24
targets were thrown, an average of
1919 per tournament. The average
number OF contestants was 52.S5 anna
tours and 5.87 professionals. The total
number of amateurs entered in the
shoots was 26,123 and the total num-
Der Of professionals was 1888. The
number of Individual shooters was
9,945. which. we believe, is more active
participants than any other sport can
boast of.
Shooters representing the United
States won the Olympic Championship
as a team and Mark Arie won the
individual championship. In England
the same shooters who were success
full In the Olympic games won the
Team championship. and Frank Troeh
won the clay target and live bird
championships of Great Britain. Ben
Donnelly the double targets title. For
est McNier, the gold star-which is
the classic event in England-and
Frank Troeh made an English and
European record of 1913 straight
breaks
We might break in at this time with
the remark that Troeh was the out
standing figure OF the 1920 season. Be
sides his performances abroad he did
excellent work here. His run of 299
was the longest made by an amateur
in one registered shoot, he had IT
runs of 100 or better, won every trap
shooting championship that he was
eligible to shoot for, except the Olym-
pic title, was the high gun in five
state championship tournaments and
tied for high in another, and compiled
an average of 1852 on $3.50 targets
the best of the year. The greatest
honor that trapshooter can win is to
be the high average shooter of the
year. Troeh was first in 1918, third
in 1919, and first again this year. The
singular thing about his 1919 perform
ance, when he finished third, is that
his average was greater than in the
years he finished first. Troeh's aver
age for the past three years is .9746
on 22,470 targets-a most remarkable |
shooting performance.
The longest run made by an amateur
In one shoot was 311 by Charles G. |
oil
over 100. Three hundred and sixty
four amateurs and IS professionals |
had runs of better than 100. Six runs
over 200 were made by amateurs and
seven by professionals. More than
$500 shooters had runs better than so |
straight Guy Ward led the profess
SIGNALS in the averages with 1926 on |
GAPS targets. Rush Race led the pro- |
fessionals in the doubles averages
with .9466 on rs pairs while Clarence
Coburn was high amateur with .9133
on 70 pairs. John Clay of Houston, |
Tex, shot at more targets than any |
one else, 1880 Charley Spencer !
topped the professionals in the great |
est number shot at with 1880 and |
averaged 1863. Spencer has averaged |
better than SO per cent for a dozen |
years, and usually shoots at 10000 or
more targets. Fred Harlow, second |
to Troeh in the averages. was first in |
1916 and third in 1917. and was in
active in 1918 and 1919.
Just to show the class of trapshoot- |
ers we have it might be mentioned |
that the shooters who comprised the
American Olympic team did not dom |
mate the winnings at the Grand Amer |
lean Handicap. True, Frank Wright |
did win the National Amateur Cham
pionship for the second successive |
time--a really great performance-andI
Mark Arie did win the IS yards cham
pionship, but this was all the trav-
ellers won.
The Grand American Handicap was
won by an Fastener. A. l.. WINS, for
the first time in a generation. He won
from 10 yards. Singular. too, 1t is
that the first four shooters in this
event all shot from 10 yards. Only
one of the ten high average men in
the trapshooting classic hailed from
the East, and three OF the ten came
from Houston, Tex. Speaks well for
the training they get in the lone star
state. '...t.
Some shooters who had time to
travel performed exceptionally in sew
eral states. L. f. woodward of Texas
was high gun in four state shoots and /
tied for high in another; Fred Harlow
of Ohio was high in three; Nick BoyIs-
ton of Florida was high in two and
tied for high in another. and Paul
Earle, of South Carolina, was high in
three.