We can’t believe that more than 2 weeks have passed since Courtlough Ladies Club hosted National Ladies Shooting Day (#NLSD2017) on behalf of The Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club. NLSD 2017 very conveniently coincided with the CLC’s first birthday so there were multiple celebrations on the same day.

Here’s ALL the details…

To say that the day was a HUGE success is an understatement, Nicola & Áine from the CLC put so much effort into making the day amazing, it’s safe to say that Courtlough has never looked so good or pink for that matter. On Saturday June 10th, 30 lovely ladies turned up to take part in National Ladies Shooting Day, some seasoned shots but the majority of whom where complete beginners.

They were greeted with goody bags and a welcoming chat from the CLC hosts before meeting their instructors & making their way to the shooting stands. Once the safety briefing was done, the ladies got stuck into some serious Clay breaking with cheers & rounds of applause following all the hits, some of the lucky ones even hit the flash clays which blew up in a burst of pink smoke. In between their shooting rotation, the ladies wandered over to the bespoke Pink Clay Wall photo backdrop for selfies and memento pictures of the day.

Fieldsports Magazine Selfie Competition

There was plenty of hash tagging and fun to be had between shots with a prize for Best Selfie sponsored by FieldSports Magazine – our very own Áine was the proud winner (we look forward to reading her interview in the coming issue of the magazine). Storm in a Teacup even stopped by in their custom ice cream van, Mabel, to tickle the ladies tastebuds with their delicious desserts, whipped ice cream, Ferrero chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries & whole load of other yummy toppings.

Prizes…

After all the shooting, selfie taking, ice cream eating, it was time for the obligatory Tea & Cake in The Clay Cafe. While the ladies chose from the delicious cakes supplied by Take the Cake, sipped on their tea and coffee, the winners of the Beginner & Intermediate shooting classes were counted along with the winners for the Best Dressed and Best Cake. The prizes (3 NLSD silk scarves, a voucher for Sporting Hares and a beautiful rosette) were then presented followed by lovely recap of the day from Áine & Nicola. After a quick round of ‘Happy Birthday’, the hosts blew out the candle of the CLC’s first Birthday cake and raised a toast of pink bubbly to Ladies Shooting everywhere.

We’re finding it difficult to come to terms with it all being over. Don’t be surprised if you see some pink bunting still hanging up, we’re definitely keeping the Pink Clay Wall anyway.

What’s next?

We are looking forward to NLSD2018 already Ladies but if you’d like to try shooting before then, you can. The next CLC Ladies only shooting event is taking place on Sunday July 23rd and it’s only €30pp.

If you’d like to see more from the day, check out all of the pictures over on the Courtlough Ladies Club Facebook page www.facebook.com/Courtloughladiesclub

Courtlough Shooting Grounds Silver Anniversary Xmas Draw.

• Over €40,000 Worth of Prizes
• Limited to 350 tickets
• Tickets €100
• 1^st Prize Beretta SO5 Sporting Valued at €26,000
• 2^nd Beretta 687 EELL 30” Field Gun Valued at €8,000
• 3^rd Beretta 690 Field Gun Valued at €3,000
• 4^th Beretta A300 Semi Automatic Valued at €1400
• 5^th Tikka T3 Lite .243 Valued at €1200
• 6^th Le Chameau Arran GTX Boots value €350
• 7^th Le Chameau Vierzonord Wellies value €250
• 8^th Musto Packaway Light Shooting Jacket  value €250
• 9^th Hunter Balmoral Neoprene Wellies value €250
• 10^th 1,000 Game Cartridges 32gram 6’s €250