Gulph Mills Shooting Community,

I want to thank all the participants in the 2025 Link, Lock & Load event. This year, we were blessed with perfect Fall weather. The course on Saturday was playing difficult with gusty winds and some tricky pin placements.  With a record-setting 16 teams, the rules and handicap committee knew they would have to make some tough decisions throughout the event, and sure enough, controversy began even before the event started. Although the tee times on Saturday were clearly communicated to the teams, a new contestant arrived 20 minutes after the scheduled start time. Reminiscent of Rory McIlroy's 2012 Ryder Cup late arrival due to a time zone mix-up, the contestant’s excuse was met with deaf ears. Disqualification from the event was discussed and fully endorsed by brother Dick, but sounder minds prevailed, and a penalty of no points on the first hole was enforced. Ironically, this team buckled down and was the leader in the clubhouse after day 1.

Six contestants this year did not have a legitimate shooting handicap, so the committee, with the help of other active shooting members, assigned handicaps. A contestant was caught discussing his dissatisfaction with his handicap in the Merion Cricket Club Sauna Saturday morning before his tee time. The contestant also reached out to the handicap committee members, pleading for a higher handicap. After serious consideration, an additional bird was approved.

A ton of constructive suggestions were made this weekend.  Suggestions included changing the event back to a 1-day event vs. 2 days, changing the scoring system to put more emphasis on the golf portion of the event, offering reading classes to members who disregard the multiple signs stating the forward tee on hole 3 is closed due to active shooting, and adding a women's division. In the future, formal written suggestions can be dropped off in the new Fleitas suggestion box, located 20 yards in front of Station 1, which will be open on Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 during the shooting season.

The winner of the Links, Lock & Load wins a silver replica clay bird as well as gold paint on the hallowed walls of the men’s lounge of Gulph Mill Golf Club. The loser of the event receives a bar of Lightfoot’s soap made famous from the locker room of Pine Valley Golf Club, with the hope that the team will clean up their game.  This year, we had a tie for last place between our first all-women’s team of Ellie Good and Paige Yager and the team of Blakley Page and Tom Doherty. Due to a lack of light, instead of a shoot-off, it was decided that a game of piddle dice would determine who took the soap home.  The team of Page & Doherty prevailed and avoided taking home the soap but were encouraged to shoot more to improve their game.

After the first day of the golf event, the leaderboard was tight, with the newcomer team of Andrew O’Shea and Peter Griffith tied with the veteran team of the Laveran brothers, who were eager to secure their first title.  Looming one point behind was the former champion team of Brian Vogt and John Nemo. The Links, Lock & Load is primarily a shooting event, and the accomplished shooting teams typically prevail, and this proved true this year. Early leaders in the clubhouse were Jeff Sloan and Todd White, who shot very well. Also, Kevin Christine had an impressive, perfect round of 25 with a 20-gauge.

With 25 birds left to shoot, the wily Laveran brothers had a 3-bird lead.  Going into the last station, the Laveran brothers had a clear lead, but as the skies darkened and the pressure of their first championship was on the line, Rudy faltered and missed three birds, making it very close but ultimately prevailing. Congratulations to the Laveran brothers on their first Championship in this event.  I want to thank Matt Rogers and his staff, as well as Dan Hipp and the golf shop, for making this a truly memorable event. 

Next week, our regular shooting season will start. As we did last year, we will use Foretees to reserve times. 

 

Shooting Committee

Mason Flinn
John Cuddeback
Carlton Neel
Hattie Laveran
John Lisle

Dear GMGC Shooters,

I hope everyone has had an excellent summer and early fall. Before you know it, the shooting season will be in full swing.

Last year, we added some new events, which were well-received, so we plan to keep these events on the calendar. The season will begin with the annual Links, Lock & Load. This is a 2-day event with golf on Saturday, November 1st and Shooting on Sunday, November 2nd. With the growth in the event, it was hard to finish by dark, so we extended it to two days. This also gives participants more flexibility in timing.

On Saturday, November 15th we will have an instruction shoot for members that are interested in picking up the sport. The next event will be the Turkey Shoot on the Saturday before Thanksgiving (November 23rd). This is a handicap event with a frozen turkey on the line. The following event is the Black Friday Family shoot, which is a causal shoot. Beginners and family members home for the holiday are welcomed! After the shoot, we will host a dog show. If your dog is afraid of gunfire, please plan to bring your dog after the completion of shooting (@ 3pm). The dog show will have two categories. First will be which owner and dog look most alike. The second category is what dog and any member look most alike. Dressing your dog and/or yourself is encouraged. We will also offer a women day shoot on Sunday, December 6th. Hattie Laveran will spearhead this event.

In January (1/10/26) we will bring back the very popular Annie Oakley shoot. This is a two-person event (guest are allowed) that was well received last year.

The next event will be the Wobble Trap / Altimus Team event. Last year, we had two ten-person teams. We will wrap up the season with The Club Championships. The Handicap Wobble Trap (new event) will be held on February 28th, The Handicap Altimus Championship on March 1st, The Wobble Trap Championship on March 7th, and finally The Club Championship on March 8th.

The ForeTees sign-up has been very helpful for planning purposes for the staff and time efficiency for the members. ForeTees will once again be utilized this season.

The Gulph Mills shooting program has a long and strong track record of safety. Experienced shooters have helped newer shooters both improve their technique and importantly, demonstrate proper safety habits. The shooting program is not designed to accommodate new participants in the sport. There are several excellent facilities not far from the Club where instructors are available. For parents who would like to get their children involved or members who are a little intimidated by the sport, I will offer my shooting simulator from time to time. The simulator uses a real gun but no ammunition. It's a system that Olympic trap teams use to train in the off-season. Please reach out if you have an interest.

With the commitment to safety, please note the following rules and protocols:

1. Only shotguns with an action that can open are allowed. No semi-automatic or pump shotguns are allowed on the range.
2. At all stations, always ensure your gun is unloaded before leaving the station.
3. At station 1 of Altimus make sure you load your gun pointing towards the ground away from the trap house in front of you.
4. On the Wobble Trap field, all participants must have their own gun. Walking between stations to share a gun will not be tolerated.
5. On the wobble trap field when leaving station 5, please turn to your right away from other shooters when walking to station 1.
6. On the Wobble Trap field, do not leave your station until all participants have finished shooting at their assigned station.
7. If your gun misfires, aim the gun to the ground and wait 30 seconds before breaking the barrel.
8. Safety is paramount. It is everyone's responsibility to ensure safe gun handling by all shooters. If you see anything that makes you uncomfortable from a safety perspective, immediately inform the Ranger Officer.
9. All guests must be approved by a member of the Shooting Committee.
10. Anyone who participates in shooting activities must review the safety cards at the shooting hut and sign a waiver.

We know there are many rules, but these rules must be enforced to protect the staff, members and the program. The cost for a round will be $23 with ammo and $17 without ammo.

A separate sign-up email will go out to the GMGC Shooting Community for each event. If you are not on the email distribution list and would like to know more about upcoming events, please sign up here or contact Mason Flinn.

The first regular Altimus shoot will be on Sunday, October 26th to give Links, Lock & Load participants a chance to dust off the rust.

We look forward to another successful shooting season, and we hope to see all of you on the range.

Respectfully,

Mason S. Flinn

Chair of the Shooting Committee

Shooting Committee:

John C. Cuddeback

Hattie Laveran

John Lisle

Carlton B. Neel

GMGC Shooters,
The annual Links, Lock and Load Tournament will be held on Saturday October 26th and Sunday the 27th. The tournament is our "kick-off" event to the shooting season and is always a lot of fun for everyone. The format has changed a little bit since we have struggled in the past to get it completed by sundown. This year the golf will be played on Saturday with tee times starting at 11:06. The golf format will be 18 holes alternate shot using the Stableford scoring system (50% of combined handicap). Stableford scoring makes the round go much faster as net eagle is worth 4 points, birdie 3 points, par 2, bogie 1 and if the dreaded double bogie appears, the team can pick up and start fresh on the next hole. Sunday we will start shooting at 11:00am. The shooting format is 2 rounds (50 birds) of Altimus trap with 2023 handicaps.  Please let us know your teams and we will create groups; if you have time constraints, we will do our best to accommodate. The winning team is determined by the total birds shot by both shooters, handicap included, plus the Stableford score. At the conclusion of shooting we will have an awards ceremony and cocktail hour 
 
Please contact Mason Flinn to sign up.
 
We hope to see you there on October 26th!
 
Regards,
Mason Flinn
Carlton Neel
Hattie Laveran
John Lisle
John Cuddeback

Mason S. Flinn
610 247-0237
[email protected]