2023 U.S. Open Recap

The 2023 US Open was held at Coyote Springs Sporting Clays in Tucson, Arizona. This was the first NSCA Tour Stop Event of the year and the stakes were high for one of the largest tournaments that exists in the sport. This is the second US Open that Coyote Springs has held in the last six years and competitors from across the nation traveled to Tucson to duke it out. The Super Squad was in full effect as the nations top shooters were squadded together on one rotation for the Main Event and shuffled on the final day according to their position on the scoreboard. The vast desert landscape and background at Coyote Springs presents many challenges for shooters with depth perception issues and reading the target presentations on each of the three courses. The three courses were the red, white, and blue course. Both the red and white course had 66 targets on each of them and the blue course on the final day had 68 targets to amount to a final total of 200 targets shot over three days on the Main Event (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). After two full days of competing hard on the Main Event, the top four final competitors on the final Super Squad grouping were David Radulovich, Mike Luongo, Derrick Mein, and Wendell Cherry. Following the final round on Sunday, Wendell Cherry and Derrick Mein finished tied for first place with a score of 190/200. A shoot off was held where the Veteran Cherry prevailed to win his fourth US Open title adding to his already existent decorated resume. His remarkable performance proved that he can still compete at a high level even at this point in his career. Derrick Mein finished with the Runner Up title and Cory Kruse won third after a shoot off with Todd Hitch. In the ladies category, the local Karen Miles won first place with a six target margin over the next closest competitor which was Meagan Harrington with a 179/200 to earn Runner Up and Madison Sharpe placed third after a three way shoot off. These results concluded the 2023 US Open in Arizona. The 2024 US Open will be held at Northbrook Sports Club in Hainesville, Illinois which is known by many as arguably the greatest clay shooting venue in all of the United States. The next Tour Stop on the 2023 NSCA Championship Tour will be the Northeast Regional Championship held at the famed M&M Hunting Preserve and Sporting Clays in Pennsville, New Jersey May 17th - 21st.