The Villages Horseshoe Club holds six Open tournaments during the year from October-March.
This past weekend, they held Villages Open VI, the final Open tournament of the season.
There were 40 participants in the six divisions of the event that was sanctioned by the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association.
“A lot of the snowbirds are going back, so we came up a little light,” said Jim Strain of The Villages Horseshoe Club.
Oak Bend Horseshoe Club of Ocala was the big winner as the club swept half of the classes.
Buddy Short took Class A of the tournament.
Finishing fifth in that Class was Oxford’s Walter Ray Williams Jr., who is a nine-time horseshoes world champion and the all-time leading winner of Professional Bowlers’ Association tournaments. He is in the Halls of Fame of both sports.
Oak Bend’s Richard Armentrout took Class B and teammate Michael Dickinson took Class F.
Wayne Trout, of Recreation Plantation, won Class C and Ocklawaha’s Robert Sibberson took Class E.
86-year-old Kit Kittrell saved the day for The Villages by taking Class D.
“We had a rough time,” Strain said.
The pitchers will now gear up for the Florida Senior Games which begin April 28.