Gold Valley Lodge hosted the 2026 South African National English Sporting and FITASC Trap 1 Championships on Saturday, September 19 and Sunday, September 20.

Against the backdrop of the Lowveld mountains, shooters competed in FITASC Trap 1 and English Sporting, two international shooting disciplines within clay target shooting.

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Pienaar and Greyling lead FITASC Trap 1

In the FITASC Trap 1 men’s division, Schalk Pienaar came first, with Pierre Reynecke and Colin Mostert in second and third. Amelda Greyling achieved first place in the ladies’ division, with Brenda Robinson and Corneli Strijdom in second and third.

Lillico edges Greeff in shoot-out

The Mpumalanga team, consisting of Matt Greeff, Ernst Zeelie and Riaan Kotze, won gold in the English Sporting team event of the English Sporting division.

After day two of the event concluded, Greeff led the way with a score of 180 out of 200 clays, followed by David Lillico and Terry Quinn on 176. After a super final and a sudden-death shoot-out, Lillico won the national title by one clay from Greeff, the 2025 champion.

The event featured several competitors who have achieved Protea colours in multiple clay disciplines, as well as Michael Gstür from Austria, a well-known shotgun expert, shooting coach, and brand ambassador for the premium Italian firearms manufacturer Caesar Guerini.

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