Another year and another Welsh Open. We’ve been running them for 20 years now, which makes them quite an institution.
The last six or seven years it’s just been down to Andrzej and myself to organise and run them, and I live 400+ miles away. Of course the reality is that people like Mark Treble, Joel, Stefan, Jon Edison and others step up over the three days and provide the real work that the competition couldn’t run without. We’re all indebted to them.
This year I decided that I’d use this year’s event to make up my mind whether or not I attend any more - is it worth all the hassle? For the last few years I have only flown in Spain and at the the Welsh Open (other than one Scottish comp), so I need get to Wales a day early to have a fly. That means three days off work, 18 hours driving and getting home at 1 in the morning for work the next day. Also, because we have so few people to organise it, there’s always a last minute scramble and more pressure that there needs to be. Anyone who didn’t occasionally question the sanity of that should probably not be allowed out unaccompanied!
The competition was, as ever, good fun. It was brilliant to see some old friends come back and to make some new friends too.
Plenty of rounds flown. Plenty of fast times. Notable performances from many, particularly Rich Bago and Mark Abbotts.
A great tussle between Iñaki and Fernando finally saw Iñaki come out on top. He’s always been awesome to watch - 100% commitment - and over recent years has converted exceptional rounds into exceptional competitions, and that's brought plenty of richly deserved trophies.
As for me, I had an excellent time - thanks largely to the aforementioned who helped out. So much so that my pot of enthusiasm feels replenished, hopefully for another 20 years!
| 1 | Iñaki Elizondo | 6672.49 |
| 2 | Fernando Moro | 6507.86 |
| 3 | richard bago | 6420.04 |
| 4 | Mike Shellim | 6296.60 |
| 5 | Joel West | 6225.48 |
| 6 | John Phillips | 6120.35 |
| 7 | Mark Abotts | 6107.28 |
| 8 | Alvaro Silgado | 6076.53 |
| 9 | Greg Dakin | 6071.90 |
| 10 | Kevin Newton | 6067.16 |
| 11 | Arjen van Vark | 6066.52 |
| 12 | Mark Treble | 6000.12 |
| 13 | Graeme Mahoney | 5966.67 |
| 14 | Stefan Bertschi | 5948.36 |
| 15 | Andy Burgoyne | 5889.46 |
| 16 | Jose Luis Alvarez | 5886.74 |
| 17 | Stefan Fraundorfer | 5857.99 |
| 18 | Paul Stubley | 5845.14 |
| 19 | Daniel Schneider | 5803.36 |
| 20 | Peter Aanen | 5800.10 |
| 21 | Dave Rumble | 5797.46 |
| 22 | Thomas Deinert | 5780.94 |
| 23 | Keith Wood | 5741.02 |
| 24 | Jose Ramon Azcona | 5713.63 |
| 25 | Mark Passingham | 5698.21 |
| 26 | Klaus Brettner | 5694.05 |
| 27 | Stefan Bernardy | 5675.20 |
| 28 | Martin Drewett | 5659.08 |
| 29 | Bernardo Gomez-Mayan | 5635.72 |
| 30 | Mike Evans | 5585.87 |
| 31 | Jason Bioletti | 5558.28 |
| 32 | Martin Ulrich | 5530.15 |
| 33 | Tony Livingstone | 5495.09 |
| 34 | Martin Overberg | 5463.77 |
| 35 | Rick Ruijsink | 5460.85 |
| 36 | Nigel Witchalls | 5400.40 |
| 37 | Stewart Wallace | 5395.34 |
| 38 | Mick Walsh | 5348.64 |
| 39 | John Treble | 5342.17 |
| 40 | Tony Robertson | 5239.51 |
| 41 | Jon Edison | 5180.41 |
| 42 | Les Wood | 5172.72 |
| 43 | Allen Elliott | 5150.14 |
| 44 | Peter Burgess | 5122.05 |
| 45 | scott ravenscroft | 3285.93 |
| 46 | George Young | 2614.21 |
| 47 | Peter Gunning | 2613.36 |
| 48 | Dave Watson | 1555.7 |
