Georgia Horseshoe Pitchers Association

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas to all of our horseshoe family and friends!! Hope that all of you enjoy time with family and friends!!🎄❤️🎄❤️

20/12/2024

The 2025 GHPA Tournament schedule and membership form has been uploaded to the website. I have attached a photo of both the membership form and schedule but both are easier to print and read online. The first tournament is schedule in Cordele on March 29th. Make sure you are getting ready to play!! March is just around the corner!! Missing our horseshoe friends!!

17/12/2024

So here is our next lesson on score keeping! While the score keeper is preparing the top of the score sheet, both pitchers are preparing the courts. Each player uses water and shovels to turn and prepare one end each. In a class that is not handicapped to determine who pitches first, one player flips a shoe and the other player calls out "up" or "down" and the other player flips the shoe. The first photo shows the shoe with the ends up so based on the green shoes guess of "up" they pitch first. In a handicapped class the higher seeded player pitches first on one end and the other player pitches first from the other end every pitch. Many times the pitchers will pitch down and back to warm up before starting to keep score. The second photo is the results of their first frame. Most of our GHPA tournaments are cancellation play. As you can see in the second photo both green shoes and red shoes have one ringer so those cancel each other and are noted on the sheet with a "X" under dead shoes. Red shoe also has a close shoe and scores "1" point. as you can see Red Shoe has a 13 point handicap so they are now at 14 points. Score keepers like for players to give the score with your hands as well as with your voice Red Shoe would call " 2 dead, 1 point". with their hands they would signal 2 dead and then 1 point. See hand signal below. With the chaos and noise around the courts the hand signals help. The next frame is pictured below in photo 5. Green shoe has a ringer and one close shoe. Red shoe does not have any points or Ringers. Green shoe would call "ringer 4" . They would hold up 4 fingers. See photo below. This would allow the scorekeeper to know that green shoe has one ringer and one point. Scorekeeper would put a zero under live shoe and a "1" under Close shoes. the score is now 4 to 14. Stay tuned for more examples. If you have questions please let us know.

12/12/2024

During the course of the winter we want to have some posts on how to keep score at our GHPA tournaments. We have a number of new members who are learning how to pitch and how to keep score and we hope this will help them some. Although this may be information that our veteran pitchers may already know, it never hurts for us to have reminders and also a way to help them to learn this skill better. When you attend a tournament each pitcher will be given a round robin card that has your name, your Class, the rank in your class, your handicap and who you pitch throughout the day and the court number you will pitch on. Please note if you are pitching in a class with other pitchers who have close ringer percentages (usually less than 10 points)then the class will not be handicapped. Our example is that pitcher "Red Shoes", is the Number 6 pitcher in Class D and has a handicap of 13 points. They play "Green shoe" for their first game on court 11. Please look at both the round robin card as well as a sample score card. The score card will have all of the correct information on it. Please note that Red Shoe is the #6 player so they will always be on the right side of the sheet. The highest ranked player will always be on the left side of the score sheet. Over the course of the next couple weeks we will show you visual examples of shoes and how to correctly keep score on the score card. Today we are simply showing how to set up the scoresheet correctly before pitching begins. See a photo of the round robin card and score sheet below.

28/11/2024

On this Day of Thanksgiving, GHPA is grateful for each club, GHPA member, and their family/support! Together we have a caring and loving group of folks that enjoy horseshoes, enjoy fellowship with each other, and always love and support each other! As you gather with family and friends today, know your horseshoe family is thankful for you!!

27/11/2024

We have a GHPA member headed to South Carolina and he wants to know if there are any Horseshoe courts in the Bluffton, Hilton Head or Savannah areas. Please let us know if you know of any.

23/11/2024

I sure hope you are practicing in the off season!! If not you better get started!! Our Columbus Club is traveling to Cordele on Saturdays to practice on clay courts! They are practicing about 5 hours so watch out GHPA members! They are going to be ready for next year!!

19/11/2024

GHPA Membership Application

09/11/2024

GHPA has lost another member. Please remember Perry Club member Mark Walton and his family in your prayers. The initial obituary is below and they will continue to update it but the service is 11/12/24 at 11:30 and visitation is the hour prior to the service in the chapel of Heritage Funeral Home. Our prayers for both his family and horseshoe family are lifted!

Explore Mark Walton's digital memorial and tribute page. Contribute photos, recollections, or videos, extend your condolences, and assist in preserving their legacy.

07/11/2024

See the information and list of awards from the 4 -Stakes award banquet!! GHPA has some great pitchers near Athens! If in the area, you will enjoy pitching with them!!

07/11/2024

We have found out that one of our GHPA pitchers, Chris Hollomon, has lost his wife, Kristy, to cancer. please pray for Chris and family

View Kristy Lynn Hollomon's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

04/11/2024

Marietta Horseshoe Club Annual Spring/Summer and Fall Awards was held on October 24th where members of the Marietta Horseshoe Club celebrated the end of the 2024 horseshoe season with dinner and distribution of awards at Williamson Brothers BBQ in Marietta. Patches and certificates are awarded for Spring/Summer league (March 21, 2024 – July 27, 2024, and Fall league (August 15, 2024 – October 17, 2024).

Spring/Summer League Awards
All pitchers received a certificate containing league statistics. Darrell Allers received a league championship patch for the Highest Winning Percentage. Larry Davis received a patch for league High Average and High Game. Sherry Folds received two patches – a 40% patch and a Rookie patch. Jim McElveen received a league patch for the High Game over Average. Larry Munn received a patch for the league Sportsmanship. John Rackley received a 50% patch. Joey Ray received two patches - a 20% patch and a Rookie patch. Gary Riebeshel received a Most Improved patch.

Fall League Awards
All pitchers received a certificate containing league statistics.
Larry Davis received three patches: league championship patch for the Highest Winning Percentage, High Average and High Game. Sherry Folds received two patches - a 50% patch and the Most Improved patch. Jim McElveen received a league patch for High-Game over Average. Gary Riebeshel received a patch for the league Sportsmanship.

The following pitchers received a certificate for participation in the GA/Florida tournament: Darrell Allers, Larry Davis, Sherry Folds, Jim McElveen, Larry Munn, and John Rackley.

Larry Munn, on behalf of the league, presented Jim McElveen with an appreciation award for outstanding service to the Marietta Horseshoe Club.

Sherry Folds gave each pitcher a Marietta Horseshoe travel mug.

29/10/2024

Karin Myers wanted us to share a video of the Service and Burial for Larry Myers Sr online. Please remember if you want to make a memorial donation to help support young pitchers within GHPA mail to GHPA at 713 East 26th Ave. Cordele, Georgia 31015. If you click the link below, then scroll to the bottom and click the link for video.

https://memorials.fairhavenmacon.com/larry-myers/5501616/index.php

Please continue to pray for Karin and the rest of the Myers family!

Share Memories of Larry & Support the Myers Family

24/10/2024

GHPA held the 2024 State Singles and Annual Meeting on October 18th and 19th in Hull, Georgia at 4 Stakes Horseshoe Club. 4 Stakes Club went above and beyond to ensure we had great courts, food, a meeting venue, etc. and to ensure we had a successful tournament and annual meeting.

Elders Championship Class pitched on Friday, October 18th. It was an exciting class to watch. The regular round ended with Jerry Wingfield (70.45%) and Larry Davis (68.18%) tied at 3 and 1 and headed to a playoff. Jerry Wingfield edged out a win against Larry Davis by a score of 41 to 37 to claim his first Elders State Championship. Zane Goggin celebrated his birthday by pitching horseshoes and took third place with a 2/2 record and 62.4%. Mac McMillian took 4th place with a 1/3 record and 63.70%. Dale Marteney was also 1/3 with a ringer percentage of 60.5% for 5th place.

Elders Class A had four pitchers and did a double round robin. Ray Hudgins was was on fire and had a 6/0 record and pitched 43.75% to finish in 1st place. Royce Byrd (3/3) and 37.92% took 2nd Place. John Rackley (3/3) and pitched 35.42% recieved 3rd place and Georgia Schmidt took 4th place in the class with 31.25% and a record of 0/6.

Elder Class B was a battle to the end. We had a three way tie for 1st Place and had to have a playoff to settle it. The first round of the playoff had Gary Riebesehl face Steven Tigges and the winner Gary Riebesehl then faced Phil Molloy for the Class Championship. Phil Molloy (33.33%, 6/1) not giving in and took the Elder Class B State Championship by a 29 to 24 score. Gary Riebesehl (30.71%, 5/2) took 2nd Place and Stevan Tigges (4/2, 22.92%) took third. Also in the class Dan Sanders (2/3, 24.5%) was awarded 4th and David McCurley (1/4, 5%) took 5th.

It is so great to see our younger pitchers involved and excited about pitching. This year we combined out
Junior Boy's and Cadet Boys so they could pitch each other and enjoy the camaraderie. Hunter Dalton pitched 22% over his entry average
taking 1st Place in the Junior Boys State Championship Pitching. (1/5, 31.4%)

Kendell Beck won the Cadet
Boys State Championship with a ringer percentage of 48.12% and a 6/0 record!! Brantley Cook also pitched well with 3/3 record and ringer percentage of 35.67%. Alexzander Schmidt also has a ringer percentage of 33.67% and got third place!! They clearly love the sport and enjoyed wining patches, plates, and money!!

The Men's State Championship saw Matt Braswell take 1st Place with a
perfect day going 7 and 0 (51.46%) to win the championship Class. Jeff Coile brought home second place on his home courts with (4/2, 44.0%). Ronnie Miller also pitched well with a 4/2 record and 32.09% ringer percentage. Kevin Thomas took 4th place with a 3/3 record and 33.73%. 5th place went to Ray Mitchell with a 2/4 record and 36.23% ringers. Jack Lester and Jim McElveen both had a 1/5 record. Jack was 6th place with a ringer percentage of 37.04% and Jim earned 7th place with a 29.67%.

Men's A class was won by Marcus Waters who had a 5/1 record. He pitched just above his entry average at 32.50% which was enough to seal 1st place. Leonard Cooper was not making it easy and secured 2nd place with a 4/2 record and 30.83% ringer percentage. Todd Holland also 4/2 with a ringer percentage of 25.42% got third place. James Rozier was 3/3 and ringer percentage of 26.67% for 4th place. Trace Mason also had a 26.67% 3/3 record but he was beat by James so he got 5th place. The Echols brothers enjoyed pitching each other in this class. Ronald was 2/4, 25.83% and Donald was 0/6 and pitched 14.17%. Ronald took 6th place and Donald took home 7th place in Men's A Class.

Men's Class B saw a three way tie for 1st Place when Michael Manigo
defeated Jason Race in their final regular round game to force the three
way tie and playoff. First Micheal Manigo had to play Jason Race again to see who would face Michael Exner for the Title. This time it was Jason's turn to take the win and move on to face Michael Exner. In the Final game Jason won the playoff and claimed the 1st place title. Jason was 6/2 and 18.75% for the day. Michael Exner got 2nd place with a record of 5/3 and 23.93%. Michael Manigo took third with 4/3 record and 14.64%. Larry Munn, Peter Willis, and Joseph Edge were all 3/3. Larry Munn got 4th (20.0%), Peter Willis (17.5%) got 5th place and Joseph Edge ( 16.67%) got 6th place. David Beck was (0/6, 9.58% and was 7th place.

Men's Class C saw Shon Harris win his first State Singles Patch with a 6/0 record and 17.92%. David Coile got 2nd place with a 4/2 record and 13.75%. Jeffery Green got third place with a 2/4 record (3.33%). Patrick Schmidt was 0/6 with a ringer percentage of 2.5%.

The Women's State Championship saw Coni Hix (63.46%) ride a perfect 4 and 0 record to the Championship Title followed by Vicki Marteney (51.11%) in 2nd Place. 3rd place was given to Sue Mayberry (0/5, 44.89%). They got to do a double round robin to settle the end results.

Women's Class A saw Dayeann Willis ride a perfect 6 and 0 record (34.17%) to earn her first GHPA State Class Championship. Maria McIntrye was 2nd in the class with a record of 3.5/2.5 and ringer percentage of 25.83% Sherry Folds, the Rookie of the Year winner, pitched 25% and was 1.5/4.5 record with several close games got third place. Elaine Holland was 1/5 and had 20.83% for 4th place.

Tanya Coile survived a play off with Norma Edge after Norma won their
final game of the day to force the playoff for the Title. In the Playoff
Tanya Coile won the final game and took first place with a 4/1 record and 21.0% ringer percentage. Norma Edge took 2nd place with a 3-2 record and 17.5%. Jean Bullington too 3rd place with 10% ringer percentage and 0/5 record.
We also had the state meeting and awards banquet.This years winners are;

Michael Manigo Sportsman of the Year

Sherry Folds Rookie of the Year

Matt Braswell Player of the Year

Jerry Wingfield Big Dog Award

Matt Braswell and Brantley Cook - State Doubles winners

Karla Harris - Tournament of Champions

Longevity awards- Dennis Lanning and Mac McMillian (10 years)
Jeff Coile and David Coile (30 years)

Hall of Fame - Frank Harris, Larry Munn, and John Rackley.

Next year, Marietta will host our state tournaments. Look forward to seeing all next year!! keep practicing and recruit some more GHPA members to have more fun with us!!

23/10/2024

View Larry Stanley Myers Sr.'s obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.