With the inaugural Kolar U.S. Open iShoot postponed until 2021 due to the pandemic and no U.S. Open this year, many members are missing the opportunity to shoot at the much-anticipated event. There is now an event for you to shoot that same weekend, June 27-28, to mirror the format of the U.S. Open iShoot, the 2020 Essential Open iShoot. According to Clark Hartness, the Zone VI Executive Committeeman who created the Essential Open, flexibility is the key, offering the opportunity for any interested NSSA club to host a shoot for its members as part of the iShoot. Clubs can participate as a host club with as few as 5 members shooting.

Currently, the following clubs have signed on to participate, with the possibility of more to come:

Coast Rifle and Pistol – Biloxi, MS
Whitetail Ridge Outdoors – Blue Springs, MS
Capitol Gun Club – Jackson, MS
Starkville Gun Club – Starkville, MS
Memphis Sport Shooting Association – Lakeland, TN
Corpus Christi Gun Club – Corpus Christi, TX
National Shooting Complex – San Antonio, TX
Brown County Sportsmen’s Club – Green Bay, WI
Rochester Brooks Gun Club – Rush, NY
Blue Rock Sportsman Club – North Little Rock, AR
Mahaska County IKES – Oskaloosa, IA
Mesilla Valley Shotgun Sports – Las Cruces, NM
Chaparral Skeet Club – Roswell, NM

Hartness says he registered the 2020 Essential Open iShoot because “I believe it is essential that we return to some semblance of normal, even if it is a new normal.” He will manage the event through the iShoots platform he developed and which would have been used for the U.S. Open iShoot.

To participate, shooters can register at ishoots.org.

Participating clubs must be NSSA member clubs, have a licensed copy of Mike Valerio’s Skeet Manager application (www.skeetsoftware.com), and have internet access. You can download the club invitation for more details. Clubs may contact Clark Hartness for assistance at clark.hartness@zonevi.org or 662-324-5353.