Event: Scott Griffin's Pointer Trumps Field of Star-studded Entries in Amateur All-Age
Result: Southern Pines Celebration

Location: Hoffman, North Carolina

Post Date: May 4, 2023

Submitted By: Dwight Smith

Open Derby Winners (first row): Sweet Grass Skipper with Sammy Giddens, Betty's Karma with Darrel Miller, and Send The Bullet with Whitney Stephenson. (Second row): Jerry Raynor, Ray Joye (judge), Mack Hilliard, Todd Williams, and Phil Stevenson. (Back row): Dennis Snyder, John Atkinson, and Grayson Francis.

The Southern Pines Celebration, fast becoming one of the pretious field trials in the southeast, ended a four-day event enjoyed by field trialers and citizens in Northern Richmond County, N. C. The event venue was the Robert Gordon Field Trial Grounds near Hoffman, N. C.
Cecil Cole, a well-known field trial judge from Texas, proclaimed that every night was Saturday night in Union Springs, Ala. Hoffman isn't there yet, but it is well on track to be during the Southern Pines Celebration.

The Robert Gordon Grounds are among the best to be found anywhere, and quail were plentiful throughout the three stake programs. The first day produced at least 13 finds. The second day's running produced at least 19 finds, and the third day averaged about like the previous two days, even in heavy rain on the second day.

The Hoffman grounds are owned and maintained by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, whose staff, supervised by Lee Crisco, works to make the multi-use six thousand acres available to outdoor lovers from nationwide locations.
Crisco works diligently. A good example of his dedication to the Sandhills was shown on Friday. Thursday, the first day of the trial, someone complained about the dust coming from the sand. Lee said, "I will take care of that tomorrow." Two inches of rain fell that night. There was not any dust the next day. Lee might have had a little help from up above with that.
Sammy and Nida Giddens' report of the Central Carolina trials included an excellent description of the quail release. So, there isn't much use in revisiting that part of the grounds at Hoffman.

The members of the directors of the Southern Pines are Grayson Francis, Ray Joye, Til Hinkley, and John Atkinson, plus this reporter. The group has worked together for years on several different projects.
Joye and Atkinson took entries, conducted the drawing, and collected entry fees. Francis does whatever needs to be done and is a man of many talents. He is becoming an outstanding amateur trainer and handler of pointers.

A dinner was prepared for Saturday night by Judge Joye with the help of several ladies. Desserts were provided by folks from the community which added to the friendly atmosphere of the gathering.
Lunches and breakfasts were served daily. Where else can you go and have a judge serve you breakfast before 7 a.m.? That's Ray Joye at work.
A word of thanks needs to be made to Gretchen and John Adsit, who moved to the Hoffman area several years ago. They prepare lunches daily, keep the clubhouse clean, and handle several other tasks. Gretchen's birthday was celebrated at the Saturday night dinner. Mike and Susan Fox served lunch on the last day because Gretchen and John attended Ted Riley's funeral.
Alfred Wood provided dog truck service. He knows much about the Hoffman grounds, bird dogs, and horses and welcomes riders to ride on the dog wagon.

Purina provided dog food and financial support for the Celebration. They allow financially struggling field trial clubs to continue hosting trials. The Richmond County Tourism Council provides support for the quail program. Think about it, what would we do without the quail?

Thanks also to the North Carolina Wildlife Commission for providing some of the country's best field trial grounds and facilities.

Ray Joye and Todd Williams judged the Open Derby and the Amateur All-Age. Williams lives nearby and is knowledgeable about the performance of quail dogs and is pleasant to be around.
Joye does everything from cooking to providing administrative duties for the trial. He is a much sought-after judge and is this reporter's hero. He, too, knows what it takes to win a good field trial.

OPEN DERBY
The Open Derby stake was the first stake of a three-stake trial. The first day was a beautiful Carolina day with blue skies and warmer temperatures than usual for mid-March in the Sandhills of North Carolina.

Sweet Grass Skipper drew the first part of course two, brace No. 3 of the Open Derby, and he, as some folks say, "ate up the course."
Skipper had three well-spaced finds in the half-hour heat. He is a young derby, a July pup, but he showed lots of potential in his application of the countryside as he hunted forward.
The black and white David Huffine setter had a strong finish. Jerry Raynor handled him.
Darrel Miller was on hand to watch Mack Hilliard handle his pointer female, Betty's Karma, to a second-place placement. There wasn't much difference between Skipper's and Karma's ground efforts. Karma had two well-earned finds. Owner Darrel Miller was all smiles at the finish of his pointer's performance.

Send The Bullet, owned by Johnny Keohane and handled by Phil Stevenson, placed third. The big white and orange male might have been the stronger of the three derbies' placement of an entry of 26 youngsters. At times one didn't expect him to be around at the end of thirty minutes, but he was. Bullet had one find to go with his efforts on course five.

Hoffman, N. C., March 9
Judges: Ray Joye and Todd Williams
OPEN DERBY - 21 Pointers and 5 Setters
1st--SWEET GRASS SKIPPER, 1698209, setter male, by Sweet Grass Slim-Tower Hill Zoey Zee. David Huffine, owner; Jerry Raynor, handler.
2d--BETTY'S KARMA, 1696872, pointer female, by Mohawk Mill Trail Warrior-Steel Valley Wardance. Darrell Miller, owner; Mack Hilliard, handler.
3d--SEND THE BULLET, 1696258, pointer male, by Broken Halo-Witt's Sissy. Johnny Keohane, owner; Phil Stevenson, handler.

AMATEUR ALL-AGE
The Amateur All-Age stake is the flagship stake of the Southern Pines Celebration. Twenty-eight entries were entered from five different states.

K H Game Train took first place with an outstanding performance that excited everyone. When possible, those in the car gallery got out to watch the white and black pointer hunt the countryside. His groundwork was just about beyond criticism. He seemed to be always up front, crossing to the long edges where possible, and he impressed by hunting where long-time Hoffman veterans know that quail are usually found. Train backed his bracemate early on in the hour, then had three finds.

The first find was before 30 near the turkey pens, then two more at 45 and the other at 50 before going toward the Naked Creek country.

All three finds were handled with the proper manners, lots of style, and intensity.
The Scott Griffin pointer had drawn the third course. When judges Joye and Williams called time, Griffin and his scout, Derek Bonner, rode far to the front toward the Bill Andrews water hole to return the fleet-footed white and black pointer to show the waiting judges.
Mac's Silver Chief had set the bar high when he ran on the second course in brace No. 2, and Judges Joye and Williams thought that only one entry topped Chief's performance.
Chief's first find came before the area of the grapevine field and in a location that this reporter couldn't see. His second find came near the soldiers' camp, and the third before McGee's Castle. All were handled with the required manners and with style.
Tim McClurg, an Ohio sportsman, handled his white and orange pointer confidently and acted as though he trusted Chief to set his range and select his objectives.

What separated the first and the second-place winners must have been their ground race.
Bonner's Hot Rize placed third. The white and orange pointer male went on a game-finding expedition seldom seen on the Robert Gordon Grounds.

Judges Joye and Williams credited Rize with five finds, but it is believed he had a sixth. One find he was seen pointing, his bracemate came into the area and, according to the judges, went in front of Rize. The bracemate was taken up. Bonner elected to take Rize on without attempting to flush, a wise move on the part of Bonner.

The other five finds were spaced throughout the hour, all handled as they should be.
Rize's groundwork matched his bird work. He could be seen far ahead at time, hunting every step with one thing on his mind: quail.
Bonner seems to have a relationship with dogs and horses that few people have--always calm, always demanding the best an animal has but never showing it.
Bonner's Hot Rize was entered under the ownership of Derek Bonner. We were notified later that he now belongs to Jannie Chapman.
Among the entries not placed was Cape Hickory Bucky, handled by Paul Gadd. Bucky had four finds and a strong race but was out of pocket often.
Dialed In, owned by Jim Pendergest, had a whale of a race and two game contacts that this reporter saw but had an extended absence.
Stormchaser seemed to be putting it all together with three pieces of bird work until he had a wreck.

Amateur All-Age Winners (from left): K H Game Train with Scott Griffin, Mac's Silver Chief with Tim McClurg, and Bonner's Hot Rize [now owned by Jannie Chapman] with Derek Bonner.

AMATEUR ALL-AGE [One-Hour Heats] - 25 Pointers and 3 Setters
1st--K H GAME TRAIN, 1681832, pointer male, by Cole Train-Tallgrass Bella. Scott Griffin, owner and handler.
2d--MAC'S SILVER CHIEF, 1665549, pointer male, by Mac's Silver Dollar-Hilo Southern Tea. Tim McClurg, owner and handler.
3d--BONNER'S HOT RIZE, 1687893, pointer male, by Miller's Speed Dial-Miller's Martha White. Derek Bonner, owner and handler.

AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG
The Amateur Shooting Dog stake was a good one, even if there were just six entries. John Atkinson and Grayson Francis judged.

Ray Joye's pointer Rocky River Loaded, ran in the last brace of the trial, and had a great performance to cap off a thrilling four days of the Southern Pines Celebration.
Loaded had three well-spaced finds, the last one at the end of his hour. The three finds were handled with excellent manners, loaded with style and intensity.
His groundwork was about as good as possible, maybe just a tad extreme in range for a shooting dog.
One Last Time's, Nan Hilliard's pointer female, the groundwork was similar to Rocky River Loaded, coupled with two finds.
One Last Time is an attractive moving female handled expertly in the wet weather. There is lots of class wrapped up in this pointer female.
Third was Backcountry Missy. Seeing Chris Catanzarite ride in the saddle after an illness was good. Missy had one find and two unproductive.
The Amateur Derby wasn't run due to the lack of available use of the grounds.

Judges: John Q. Atkinson and Grayson Francis
AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG [One-Hour Heats] - 4 Pointers and 2 Setters
1st--ROCKY RIVER LOADED, 1696572, pointer male, by Broken Halo-Morgan's Mountain Maggie. Miles Ray Joye, owner and handler.
2d--ONE LAST TIME, 1686212, pointer female, by Stoney Run's Buddy-Legendary. Nancy Hilliard, owner and handler.
3d--BACKCOUNTRY MISSY, 1672663, pointer female, by Erin's War Creek-Backcountry Tornado. Chris Catanzarite, owner and handler.

Amateur Shooting Dog Winners: Ray Joye with Rocky River Loaded, Nan Hilliard with One Last Time, and Backcountry Missy with Chris Catanzarite. (Back row): Tim McClurg, John Atkinson (judge), and Grayson Francis (judge).