This year, the number of teams competing has doubled from four to eight. In addition to the squad from the Country Club of Buffalo, there will also be teams from: The Country Club of Brookline in Brookline, Ma.; The Country Club of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.; Long Vue Club in Verona, Pa.; The Country Club in Pepper Pike, Ohio, Kirkland Country Club in Willoughby, Ohio, Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill., and Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. Teams will be allowed to bring six shooters instead of five.

Following a successful inaugural event, the Country Club of Buffalo (CCB) will host its Second Annual Sporting Clays Invitational Nov. 3 and 4 with a larger number of teams and some new features.

In November 2022, a five-person team from CCB emerged victorious in a competition against squads from: The Country Club of Brookline in Brookline, Ma.; The Country Club of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y.; and Long Vue Club in Verona, Pa.

“They loved it,” said Event Chairman Kevin Clarke. “The guys were great guys. We had a good time…When we told clubs that we were going to do this again, they said, ‘we’re in.’

One of those people saying “we’re in,” was Rich Knapp from The Country Club of Brookline, the winner of the Top Gun Award for the best individual score. 

“They did a terrific job,” said Knapp, whose squad finished second in the team competition. “…It’s a spectacular facility. I think what stood out the most to us was the professionalism of their staff and also the warm welcome from their members.”

Knapp added his team looks forward to returning to this year’s competition.

“They were very quick to sign back on,” Knapp shared. “I think the day after last year’s event, everybody said they would look forward to returning.”

CCB’s team will try to defend their title in a tournament that will now have an expanded field of eight teams. Joining the 2022 participants are teams from: The Country Club in Pepper Pike, Ohio, Kirkland Country Club in Willoughby, Ohio, Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill., and Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.

All clay shooters must be a member of the club they represent to qualify to participate in the tournament. The competition is a scratch event for all of the field events.

“We’re thrilled to have the event again this year and that the previous participants enjoyed it enough to sign up again,” said Nick Markel, General Manager/COO of CCB. “…I think we have a world-class shooting facility…To bring together some of the top clubs from around the country that also enjoy sporting clays and golf on their own properties, it’s an exciting event. I’m glad Mr. Clarke had the idea. I’m glad that we have the opportunity to host it…It’s fun for us as a staff to show off a little bit to people that we know appreciate a world-class experience.”

Clarke and Markel recently appeared on a Club + Resort Talks podcast to discuss the upcoming event.

Clarke praised the work done by club staff for the event.

“Nick and his staff…knocked it out of the park last year and we’re assuming they’re going to do the same thing this year,” Clarke said.

Noting that the weather was very nice for November in Buffalo, Clarke said a lot of shooting participants played golf on the club’s course after the 2022 competition ended.

“We got rave reviews for our golf course,” Clarke stated.

In 2022, each club was allowed to bring five shooters to the event; this year, each organization can have six shooters attend. All six members will participate in each shooting discipline, but for each event, one member’s score will not count toward the team score. The team captain will decide in advance which member’s score will not count for the team score, Clarke explained. Each shooter’s score will be counted for the Top Gun competition.

Every participant will shoot at 50 birds in each discipline: Traditional Trap 16 yard; Traditional Skeet; Five Stand (eight station); and CCB Brushwalk, on both the left and right sides of a pathway.

With the expanded field of participants, Clarke said organizers are planning to, “include all of the contests within the team contest rather than individual contests. Before we had a team contest and then we had individual skeet, trap… now they’re all included.”

Clarke said CCB is the only country club in the U.S. that he knows of that has five different shooting fields.

“Most of the other clubs only have one or two fields,” Clarke said. “The complexity of our fields make it a little bit of a very challenging competition because you have people that are expert skeet shooters, trap shooters, and sporting clays, but to bring five or six guys on a team that all have to go through that discipline makes it really pretty challenging.”

Clarke noted club officials believe CCB’s Brushwalk “is the last of its type.”

“We have a wooded area in our shooting field,” Clarke said. “…Two men are walking down, they’re ready to shoot, their guns are loaded, and they’re walking down a path that might be 15 feet wide, all treed and all of the traps are hidden in the woods, and the trapper is behind you.… Then you hear (a) bird, you got to find your bird, you got to see if it’s a single or a double.”

The shooter on the left side of the path shoots at each bird that appears on the left side. The shooter on the right side shoots at each bird popping up on the right side. Where the bird/birds will appear is unpredictable: It could be six in a row on the left side and then one on the right side.

“It’s very, very hard,” Clarke said.”…Most of the people that shoot it are enamored with it.”

Knapp agreed, saying the Brushwalk was “a lot of fun to shoot” during last year’s competition.

This unique area also helped attract one of the newcomers at the 2023 event. Shooters from The Country Club in Pepper Pike, Ohio, tried out the Brushwalk and then told CCB leaders, “we’re in,” Clarke said.

The team earning the highest score will win the invitational and receive a trophy that will be engraved with their name and the date of the event. The hardware will be displayed at the team’s club for the upcoming year and then returned to CCB for the next iteration of the event.

The shooter with the highest score out of the 200 clay birds shot as part of the team event will earn the Top Gun Award. The individual field event winners will be determined by the clay shooter with the best score out of the 50 birds shot for each of the four fields. Ties will be determined by a 25-bird shoot-off.

Organizers said all ammo will be standardized 12-gauge, 1 ounce sporting clays shells (#8) unless 20-gauge ammo is requested in advance.

“We went to one-ounce loads so it’s easy for some of the older guys like me to shoot,” Clarke said.

Safety is a top priority for event organizers.

“We have field officers on every station,” Clarke said. “…Every one of our fields…the trappers, are certified, trained field officers. It’s very unique.”

Those field officers have to go through a large amount of training and recertification work.

“We have a whole safety briefing when the clubs come in,” Clarke said. “We have a video, we have all sorts of information that they have to sign and agree to in advance.”

He said there are six or seven volunteers who are “accomplished shooters” and help direct participants to the competition area and answer questions.

Advance registration and gun storage will be available to participants on Nov. 2. Practice rounds will be available to all shooters to familiarize themselves from noon- 5:30 p.m. with CCB’s four fields. 

“We highly encourage (participants) to come in for a practice round because our Brushwalk and five-stand are very unique,” Clarke said. “We don’t really want this to be a home-field advantage.”

Final registration and a breakfast will happen at CCB from 7:15 to 8:15 a.m. on Nov. 3. Competition will then take place from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Participants can then enjoy a five-course gourmet champions dinner from 6:30-10 p.m. There will also be an open bar with fine wines, cigars, bourbon and scotch tasting. Clarke said a guest chef will be invited in to work with CCB’s chef to help prepare meals for the competitors.

On Nov. 4, breakfast will be served from 7:15-8:15 a.m. in the Grille Room. The second day of shooting will happen from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. At 1 p.m., there will be an awards ceremony followed by lunch in the Grille Room. Starting at 3 p.m., guests will have a chance to play CCB’s golf course and try out some special clay shooting opportunities.

Clarke noted there is a possibility that they would allow two more teams to attend this year if they “would commit to it sooner than later, we might be able to get to 10.”

Clarke added he thought 10 teams is the maximum amount they could have under the current one-and-a-half days of competition.

Here is a video that gives an overview of the club’s shooting fields.