July 29, 2007 -- Greensboro, N.C.
-- If you hunt with a bow or even just like to shoot, it only takes one visit to a Buckmasters Top Bow Indoor event to get hooked. And not only are you guaranteed to marvel at the shooting ability of the competitors, you'll also fall victim to a secret desire to test yourself against the range.
That was certainly the case for Jamie Patterson, who got his first look at the Top Bow range as a Buckmasters employee. Jamie worked for Buckmasters for 11 years in the Information Technology department, and he was part of the Top Bow crew every year. As he retrieved arrows and helped world champions lift up their trophies, Jamie wondered how he would do in the spotlight.
Three years after leaving Buckmasters to take a supervisory position in IT, Jamie decided to find out. He purchased a bow and a target sight on e-Bay and began to shoot -- not often, but on a more regular basis. Sunday afternoon on July 29, Jamie raised The Rack trophy above his head as the 2007 Top Bow World Champion.
"I had wanted to shoot the Buckmasters competition for 14 years," he said. "The whole time I worked at Buckmasters, and then the three years after I left, I wanted to shoot the range. Now that I've shot it, I can say that there's nothing like it. It just gives you chills.
Jamie outscored Top Bow veteran and past champion Justin Martin 226-211 in the final round, and the difference came down to Jamie hitting the special orange dot on the final target. It was the second straight year that Justin was beaten out in the final round by a matter of inches.
While Jamie was the newcomer, he looked like a seasoned veteran throughout the World Championships, which took place as part of the 2007 Buckmasters Expo in Greensboro, N.C.
He was never far from the top of the field and shot a perfect score in round 4 to head into the quarter-finals in second place. Once the format changed to head-to-head scoring, he defeated each of his counterparts before facing Justin in the finals.
"These guys are all amazing," Jamie said of Martin and the other shooters. "They all know each other, and they're all friends. If you make a mistake, they try to pick you up. Colin (Boothe) was leading almost the whole time, and he kept kidding around with everybody to keep us all loose."
Another big winner was spectator Sheila Gay, who won a Yamaha Grizzly 350 ATV thanks to Jamie's good shooting. Sheila was paired with Jamie by winning a raffle drawing earlier in the Expo, along with three other spectator/archer pairs.
The Buckmasters Top Bow Indoor World Championship is the highest-paying archery event in the country, with a grand prize of $25,000, and a second-place prize of a Yamaha ATV.
The top six place winners for the event were:
1) Jamie Patterson
2) Justin Martin
3) Mark Herring Jr.
4) Jackie Caudle
5) Colin Boothe
6) Darren Collins
ROUND 4 RESULTS
1 - Colin Boothe, Harrisonburg, La., 152, 207, 164, 228
2 - Jamie Patterson, Tallassee, Ala., 147, 200, 142, 251
3 - Jackie Caudle, Gadsden, Ala., 128, 200, 168, 228
4 - Sonny Hawthorne, Fosters, Ala., 124, 207, 144, 217
5 - Justin Martin, Enterprise, Ala., 122, 146, 156, 251
6 - Tom Pruitt, Stotts City, Mo., 128, 127, 189, 228
7 - Darren Collins, Galena, Kan., 131, 199, 156, 181
8 - Mark Herring Jr., Diamond, Ohio, 115, 184, 151, 215
9 - Randy Barley, Brown Summit, N.C., 156, 176, 189, 142
10 - Larry Goza, Crossville, Ala., 133, 179, 126, 200
11 - Joseph Goza, Henager, Ala., 143, 123, 156, 200
12 - Lynn Morrison, Northport, Ala., 127, 158, 168, 168
13 - Skipper Booth, Northport, Ala., 152, 127, 161, 180
14 - Jesse Lane, Chatham, Va., 125, 176, 123, 159
15 - Dale Howington, Buford, Ga., 105, 146, 189, 133
16 - Ricky Joe Pearson, Berry, Ala., 112, 179, 130, 151
ROUND 5 RESULTS
Colin Boothe, Harrisonburg, La., 190
Mark Herring Jr., Diamond, Ohio, 206
Sonny Hawthorne, Fosters, Ala., 142
Justin Martin, Enterprise, Ala., 178
Jackie Caudle, Gadsden, Ala., 126
Tom Pruitt, Stotts City, Mo., 115
Jamie Patterson, Tallassee, Ala., 229
Darren Collins, Galena, Kan., 182
SEMI-FINALS
Mark Herring Jr., Diamond, Ohio, 213
Justin Martin, Enterprise, Ala., 218
Jackie Caudle, Gadsden, Ala., 180
Jamie Patterson, Tallassee, Ala., 213
FINALS
Justin Martin, Enterprise, Ala., 211
Jamie Patterson, Tallassee, Ala., 226
-- by Ken Piper