First and Second Series
The 1997 National Open began Sunday morning with a Land Double and a Blind. The test dog ran at 7:00 am and Dog No. 18 began the Championship at 7:30 am. The weather was clear and sunny with the early morning temperatures of forty degrees turning warmer to 65 degrees in early afternoon. It began cooling off again later in the day as the soon went down. The first and second series line overlooked a bowl shaped field. The right-hand bird of the double was thrown from right to left and retired at 150 yards. The left hand bird was a flyer shot from left to right at approximately 100 yards. The land blind was approximately 200 yards long and was run behind (the the right of) and deep of the right-hand gun.
The day ended with thirteen dogs left to run tomorrow morning. No partial callbacks were given by the judges. Approximately 25% to 30% of the field had handled on at least one mark today.
