Horseshoe Pitching at I 



i the Farm Sports Festival " 



By 

 GEORGE H. DUNGAN, Chairman 



y^N THE 



01 test, th( 

 kU Griggs, 



Horseshoe Pitching Con- 

 the performance of Ellis 

 Adams County; Walter 

 Lindahl, Knox County; and Earl Bomke, 

 Sangamon County, winners of the first, 

 second, and third price ribbons in the 

 "singles" division is an inspiration to all 

 farm sports fans. 



None the less challenging is the record 

 of the Livingston County team, R. Drew 

 and H. Patrick ; the Fulton County team, 

 Herman Standard and Truman Standard; 

 and the DeWitt County team, Floyd Tor- 

 bert and Harry Torbert, in winning first, 

 second and third in the "doubles" di- 

 vision. The pitching record of each 

 man and each team entered is presented 

 here not only for the information of 

 the contestants, but to set a standard to- 

 ward which all who enjoy horseshoes as 

 a game may strive. 



Twenty-nine counties were represented 

 by one or more contestants in the Horse- 

 shoe Tournament held Sept. 5. Fifty- 

 eight individuals participated. Of these 

 30 were in the doubles and 28 in the 

 singles division. 



In the forenoon each team and each 

 individual in the singles division pitched 

 100 shoes as a preliminary test. A ringer 

 counted three points and a shoe within 

 six inches of the stake counted one point. 

 The maximum score any one could make, 

 by making a ringer with every shoe 

 pitched, would be 300 points. Of course, 

 nobody did this, but a number of men 

 went well over 200. 



The eight highest scoring teams and 

 the eight highest scoring individuals in 



"... 29 Counfies were represented" 



the 100-shoe preliminaries were con- 

 sidered qualified for the "round robin" 

 tournament which was played in the af- 

 ternoon. Each individual of the eight 

 in the singles played every other man 

 in that division, making seven games in 

 all. The same was true of the teams in 

 the doubles division. 



From the records kept by the eight 

 score keepers and their referees on the 

 men in the singles the data contained in 

 Table 1 have been compiled. This table 

 includes all those registered in this di- 

 vision. Table 2 contains similar data for 

 the doubles division. 



In general, the better pitchers in the 

 preliminaries were the better in winning 

 games, but there were exceptions. For 

 instance, Moefield qualified as seventh in 

 the preliminaries, and in the tournament 

 he moved up to fifth position. Lindahl 

 qualified as third and pulled up to sec- 

 ond place in the "round-robin." Peoria 

 County team (Doubet and Houghton) 

 qualified in seventh place and advanced 

 to fifth in the finals. 



The percent of ringers was usually 

 lower when the player was in competi- 

 tion than when he was making the 100- 

 shoe throw-off. Peoria County team, 

 however, made a higher percentage of 

 ringers in the finals than in the pre- 

 liminaries. Needless to say the men who 



HAI A RINGERl 

 George Dungan, left, starts the big tourna- 

 ment. 



had a high ringer percentage in the 

 preliminaries and were able to keep their 

 percentage of ringers in the games close 

 to this record were the ones that made 

 the best showing in the finals. 



The individual record of team mem- 

 bers in the preliminary pitching of 50 

 shoes each is set up in Table 3. 



Of all sports none perhaps can be con- 

 sidered any more of the farm than horse- 

 shoes. Even though horses are going 

 from some farms in favor of tractors, 

 they have left their shoes with which 

 boys, young men, middle aged men, and 

 elderly men alike can enjoy themselves as 

 they play together to improve their game. 



Ellis Griggs, the winner of the singles 

 in this contest, was the Illinois state 

 horseshoe champion in 1935 and won 

 second prize at the State Fair last Aug- 

 ust. Practice, according to Griggs, is 

 essential to success. He explained that 

 during the winter prior to his winning 



TABLE I. RECORD OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE SINGLES DIVISION 

 OF THE HORSESHOE PITCHING CONTEST 



Name County 



Ellis Giiggs Adams 



Waiter Lindahl Knojc 



Earl Bomke Sangamon 



Vernal Drager Livingston 



H. Moefield Piatt 



Harley Griffith _ Knox 



R. G. Bright McLean 



Gifford Thompson .... Bureau 



Clyde Gtegson Randolph 



W. B. Jarrett Sangamon 



Martin Larson „ Lee 



Carl Benschneider Champaign 



John Watsek _ Madison 



C. E. Curry „..„ „ Christian 



Roy Larson „ DeKalb 



Wilbur Gibbs Pike 



Rista Thompson Bureau 



Edwin Kunz _ Madison 



Carl V. Galloway DeWitt 



George Bauer _ Iroquois 



Kenneth Neumann Henry 



Harold DeNcal Vermilion 



C. M. Goodwin Coles 



Ray Hayes _ Vermilion 



E. Benschneider „ Champaign 



R. Hughes LaSalle 



Horace Tambling McLean 



Earl Kinder _ Logan 



Preliminary, pitching 

 100 shoes 



Performance in competition 



Points 

 made 



Percent 

 ringers 



Games won 



out of 

 seven played 



Points made 



in seven 



games 



Percent 



ringers 



(Average) 



235 

 220 

 224 

 202 

 181 

 208 

 180 

 187 

 160 

 159 

 15} 

 146 

 145 

 145 

 143 

 141 

 138 

 138 

 136 

 132 

 130 

 128 

 124 

 119 

 107 

 97 

 95 

 51 



72 

 62 

 66 

 SJ 

 46 

 » 

 « 

 )t 

 44 

 42 

 .J« 

 10 

 M 

 38 

 JT 



li 

 M. 

 » 



a 

 M 



M 

 3* 



it 

 n. 

 » 



16 



5 



221 

 «J 

 .MO 

 161 

 130 

 120 

 103 

 70 



68 



57 

 51 

 48 

 29 



2- 

 27 



20 



L A. A. RECX>RD 



