2016 Melcher Trophy Match
The Rhode Island Revolver and Rifle Association 3P State Championship
The Smithfield Sportsman’s Club hosted the NRA sanctioned registered tournament on March 19. It was a tri-state affair with shooters from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island competing.
The match is shot in honor of George S. Melcher, founder of the Rhode Island Marksman Association of Tiverton, who also served as a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor and rifle coach at Newport’s Rogers High School from 1952 to 1961. Melcher was the RIRRA’s Smallbore Director and, as such, was a competitor and coach at the National Rifle Association Championships. The trophy is awarded to the high Rhode Island resident or shooter in the Rhode Island-Massachusetts Rifle League.
Shooting on the international USA/NRA 50 target Maggie Flanders, of the Taunton Marksmanship Unit opened with a near perfect prone score of 199 just ahead of Jeff Doerschler, of Digby Hand and Joe Graf, of Smithfield who both poster 197s with each shooting a 100, as did Flanders. However Graf’s shot a 98 to Doerschler’s 97 on the final target putting him ahead of the former national champion.
Flanders, using iron sights, hammered out a 186 standing which gave her a significant lead over Doerschler who posted a 178, and Graf at 175. Tyler Glynn, a senior on the Montville Connecticut High School Rifle who shot a second place 177 but trailed the leading trio in prone.
Going into the final 20 shots kneeling Flanders held a nine point edge over Doerschler. Flanders put up a solid 183 in this most uncomfortable of positions for a 568 aggregate. Graf challenged her with a 184 but his standing score left him with a 556 total for the match.
Usually position matches are won standing and lost prone so Flanders was in a pretty good position to sweep the match. This was not the case today. The struggling Doerschler reached deep inside and opened kneeling with a 98 only to improve on his second card, by one point, to make up the deficit and stagger ahead by four points. His 197 gave him a 572 on the day and the match.
Doerschler notched up another win in the Melcher, Flanders was the silver medalist, while the Ocean State’s Graf took home the Melcher Trophy with a 556.
