Horseshoe club growing in Beloit area says Horseshoe club treasurer Carl Schliem.
By Pat Carome
Daily News staff writer
It doesn't matter whether you win or lose in tournaments. The thing is trying to improve your average.
Perhaps it's the way the molded metal lofts through the air, tossed with a three-quarter twist.
Or the sound that rings out as the 2 pound, 8 ounce open-ended oval wraps around the target stake.
Maybe it's the thud of the horseshoe hitting clay, missing its intended mark.
Fifty-five people from across southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois regularly gather in Beloit, looking to increase their odds of making a horseshoe hit a stake at the Beloit Horseshoe Club.
``We host four tournaments a year at the club,´´ said Treasurer Carl Schliem. This year that means holding the Wisconsin state tournament in Beloit in September.
In addition, people get together each week for horseshoe leagues and the club sponsors Team World horseshoe pitching each year at Telfer Park. The World event, held in March or April, includes 24 four-member teams from across the United States and Canada.
On a regular basis, people from Rockford, South Beloit, Brodhead, Monroe, Madison and Caledonia come to Beloit to pitch horseshoes, Schliem said.
The league schedule includes pitching at 10 a.m. on Mondays, for people who work night shifts and can't play in the evening, Schliem said. Tuesday evenings are for the mixed double league. On Thursdays, the ``ringers´´ or top pitchers play and Saturday mornings between 20 and 30 players gather for informal round robins.
``Our club is the most active club in the state of Wisconsin,´´ Schliem said.
The club holds its league play on 13 outdoor courts and six indoor courts at 2605 Haborn Drive. The indoor facility was constructed 18 months ago, Schliem said.
But the group would like to expand. The world tournament, held the last 12 years in Beloit, currently is limited due to the number of indoor courts available.
``The first 24 teams that register are the teams that can come,´´ Schliem said.
In November, the club attempted to gain a variance and install a holding tank for indoor bathrooms. With their club set on 3\A acres that crosses the city of Beloit/Town of Beloit boundary line, it would cost the club $45,000 to have city sewer lines run to the club.
The county denied the club the variance to build a holding tank, which would have cost about $2,000, although the club had the intention of installing a septic system if sewer lines did not head their way within five years.
Beloit Horseshoe Club members will continue with their plans and install a septic system, expected to cost between $8,000 and $12,000, Schlien said.
More indoor courts ``would provide the avid pitchers an opportunity to pitch year-round,´´ he said. The club currently hosts leagues from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The club began with area men gathering in a South Beloit back yard in the 1960s, Schliem said. After tossing horseshoes, the men would sit down with musical instruments and hold a jam session.
``It all started out on the farm or after people went on picnics,´´ he said.
The group, headed by President Norm Beickus and Tournament Director Earl Paulson, now organizes participants in Class A and Class B pitching. Class A is for players who put the horseshoe to the stake at least 28 percent of the time, said Schliem. Class B is for the more novice players.
Courts run 30 feet for players under 18, women and participants over 65. Others play on 40 feet long courts. A match comprises throwing 40 or 50 shoes, said Schliem.
But everyone pitches horseshoes that weigh 2 pounds, 8 ounces, said Schliem, although the shape and style of the horseshoe can vary. All league shoes must have a 6-inch opening between the prongs.
``Some of them are weighted at the ends. Some are barbed,´´ said Schliem. ``Some have a curve that looks like a `J.´´´
Three points are gained for hitting the stake, with one point tallied if the shoe lands within 6 inches of the stake. If two players set against each other get a ringer, neither is scored, said Schliem, but both receive credit for the direct hits.
For many horseshoe players, the competition is against themselves.
``It doesn´t matter whether you win or lose in tournaments,´´ Schliem said. ``The thing is trying to improve your average.´´
Schliem, 48, in his fifth year of pitching, averages 32 percent. While he counts the number of times he makes a ringer, the top contenders ``count how many times they miss,´´ he said.
Although the club is growing, still, its the horseshoe club members who hold the knowledge of what has them hooked on horseshoes.
``It´s not a spectator sport, so to speak,´´ Schliem said. ``The only people there are the wives and kids and the people there to pitch. You have to acquire a taste for pitching, or watching one pitch.´´
